Don’t put Windows Vista and Office 2007 in classrooms
The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), the organisation that implements government educational technology policy, has claimed Windows Vista and Office 2007 should not be deployed in schools because of potential compatibility issues with earlier versions of Microsoft’s software, as well as software produced by Microsoft’s rivals.
Although Becta is the organization that oversees tech policy in the UK, I’d have to believe that school districts here in the US have the same feelings towards upgrading to the software giant’s latest offerings.
Read the article at ars technica.
In our district, not only is compatibility a concern, but cost is an even bigger one. The cost to upgrade Microsoft Office products has become such a burden, we are installing OpenOffice on any new computers being added to the inventory. Although there has been a bit of a learning curve with OpenOffice, the experience has turned out to be a pleasant one. With regards to the operating system, Windows XP has proven to be quite reliable and stable…why change?
The question is, however, if we are not upgrading to the latest and greatest software products, are the students prepared for life after school? The evidence might lead you to believe that they are not. Fox Business is reporting that, CDW through their third Windows Vista Tracking Poll, almost 50% of businesses are currently using or evaluating Windows Vista. In addition, almost 50% of respondents have upgraded or are planning to upgrade to Office 2007. Almost all of our computers, with the exception of Outlook 2003, are still using Office 2000. It works for us so there has not been any reason to upgrade. We did need to upgrade our business computers due to the latest textbook adoption process. But those upgrades were to Office 2003 not 2007.
I’m curious to find out what other schools or school districts are planning to do regarding upgrading their software. Drop me a comment and let me know.
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