Are M$ worried schools are not going to like Win8?

[tmcd35]

The aim is for these to be personal devices which can be used within schools as part of 1:1 schemes.

Am I reading the story right? Eligible teachers and students can buy the kit at discount for home use - not schools mass purchase the kit for staff/pupil use? A bit like the old £100 student edition of MS Office. Then the idea being they'll want to bring their new kit onsite to use?

If students took that up then it'd mean a massive rethink of some of our network and BYOD policies (ours is currently, "go away"). From the teachers point of view, we are ready giving them laptops (by more reputable brands, with a usable OS) so I doubt many here would be interested...

[sted]

The next year's worth of updates for Windows 8 will be very important for Microsoft. As it stands, Windows 8 is not suitable for schools in my view. If they can fix piles of the issues by next summer, then they *may* have a chance of selling some to schools. If not, then schools are simply going to ignore it and wait for Windows 9.

Things to fix:

1. Management of RT
2. Proxies in 'Metro' UI

thats the thing its aimed 100% at single users (or at least non managed) having to sysprep a pc to get items on the start screen which idiot thought that was a good plan (so i install say textease to be 100% sure its not hidden alway under all apps i have to set up 1 pc as i like it sysprep it and then distribute im not even 100% sure that dosent mean reimaging every pc for what is a minor change)

yes on my home laptop i quite like windows 8 the start screen is actually quite nice (wish it would "bong" though when i get mail rather than relying on me seeing it) but no management tools i cant support it in schools im even loth to install it on the 4 touch screens i have in 1 school where it could be great. Surely it couldnt be that hard for ms to create an mmc/gpo to add /remove icons from it its only editing a file isnt it?

[mthomas08]

We are simply waiting.

At the moment one of the choices we have would be iPADs but we know what stilll will want from them - a lot of hard work and cost will be involved. If we miss Windows 8 like we did Vista then windows 9 will be the perfect thing to upgrade to.

We rarely update quickly but we dont sit behind the times either, although there are other options - frankly we dont like those other options including the free ones.

[Sylv3r]

My gut feeling is that the surface isn't here to stay - it's Microsoft's way of a proof of concept to show other manufacturers that Windows 8 works on a tablet. I don't think we will see as many versions as devices such as iPADs certainly.

[sted]

My gut feeling is that the surface isn't here to stay - it's Microsoft's way of a proof of concept to show other manufacturers that Windows 8 works on a tablet. I don't think we will see as many versions as devices such as iPADs certainly.

im not so sure i think its a test product to try the market with a view to having a "premium" apple esque product

[CyberNerd]

We are simply waiting.

At the moment one of the choices we have would be iPADs but we know what stilll will want from them - a lot of hard work and cost will be involved. If we miss Windows 8 like we did Vista then windows 9 will be the perfect thing to upgrade to.

We rarely update quickly but we dont sit behind the times either, although there are other options - frankly we dont like those other options including the free ones.

I don't really understand your post. It sounds like you don't want to support any non microsoft products, and although you don't like the direction they have taken with windows you'll just wait around incase they fix it. I may be wrong, but it does seem a bit naive to me - given that many schools design their network specifically so that are not boxed into a corner by MS. There's a big bright world out there full of stunning, innovative and cost effective technology. It only takes fairly minor adjustments, some out of the box thinking and you will be able to accommodate these devices.

[CyberNerd]

If students took that up then it'd mean a massive rethink of some of our network and BYOD policies (ours is currently, "go away"). From the teachers point of view, we are ready giving them laptops (by more reputable brands, with a usable OS) so I doubt many here would be interested...

I somehow doubt that after Christmas you'll see too many of these on your network. It'll be nexus 7's and ipad mini's.