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Wilkes U. Goes All Mac
3/2/2007
Wilkes University in Pennsylvania said it will be switching over to the Mac OS X platform across the campus. The switch will be implemented over the next three years.Wilkes is a smaller university in northern Pennsylvania serving some 2,400 FTE undergraduate students. According to the university. nearly all of the computers in its labs are already equipped with Mac systems. It will replenish about 1,700 computers in its enterprise over the next three years for faculty and students to take advantage of Mac OS X apps and continue to run the Windows operating system.
“Macs are constructed with superior technology and hardware, and their ability to run Windows means we still have access to any Windows programs,” said Scott Byers, vice president for finance and general counsel at Wilkes University, in a prepared statement. “We’re making working and learning more efficient. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Apple's latest generation of Intel-based Macs have the ability to run Microsoft Windows natively, either by using a dual-boot configuration or by running Windows (and other operating systems) via a virtual machine, such as Parallels Desktop, offered by Parallels Inc. All of Apple's current systems are based on Intel chips. Apple's own technology for creating a dual-boot system, called Boot Camp, is presently still in beta (and available as a free download) but will be rolled out in full release with the next rev of Mac OS X, Leopard, expected in the spring.
Wilkes' investment in the switchover is expected to be around $1.4 million.
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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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