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Sorry, but that is just fundamentally untrue as it implies that with equal 'interest and commitment' all platforms are equal when they are just not.

We're on the verge of buying SIMS Learning Gateway and I have just discoverd Frog Parent Engagement, which from a users point of view looks a lot nicer: http://www.frogtrade.com/index.phtml?d=360661 Has anyone got this or got any experiences of using this? We're not using any of their other products and we've got SIMS.Net.

We are a mix of CC3 and vanilla and gradualy moving away from CC3 to vanilla as machines are replaced. We're also OS X too.

I take it from the lack of replies that the concensus is that there is nothing we can do.

Our internet connection is provided via a 10mb link to the local authority, they provide firewall and replaced the RM webfilter last academic year with NetSweeper. For over a month now all school's connections have been up and down, often required refreshes to finish loading pages combined with times of complete unavailability. They claim the cause is related to the web filters and the suppliers were supposed to have solved it two weeks ago. Our SLA states that we can expect 99% up time, which we are certainly not getting. It is a constant blight on lessons and calling their helpdesk provides little assistance. The question is what can we do?

Can anyone sugest effective ways of keeping an external school website up to date with dates, news, course information etc.? I am currently sugesting a mix of automated data sources (such as the school calendar) and wide-ranging delegation to departments etc plus the use of a centralised 'Editor' role. I'm looking for experiences of the organisational side rather than technical solutions (i.e. CMS).

What do you need it to do? A number of commerical products are based on Sharepoint, such as RM Kaleidos and Capita SIMS Learning Gateway 2. There is also the Microsoft Learning Gateway (http://www.microsoft.com/education/slk.mspx)

I have been asked to buy a small number of copies of Adobe Acrobat Pro. The box price for this from one of our usual suppliers is £ 168.00 but I know there are loads of educational pricing plans. Does anyone know what the cheapest way to buy up to 5 copies is?

Apparently they can, from the Start Menu 'Arrow' (next to Search), users can select 'Switch User', lock the computer is disabled but if they click 'Switch User' the machine locks that user anyway and returns to the logon screen. We're happy with the Vista logon screen post-LogonStudio customisations.

We have some Vista domain workstations, all our servers are 2003. I may be missing something obvious but can anyone tell me how to disable 'Switch Users' on the Vista workstations using GPO or something else?

We've got an HP LaserJet P2015 with an original cartridge. Recently we've had a couple of incidents where a print job has been corrupted and a mass of mostly blank paper has gone through the printer and consequently run up the print counter. Since the pages are mostly empty there is almost certainly plenty of toner left in the cartridge but it wants a new cartridge. Anyone know how we can over-ride it?

I tried the SGD demo (https://sgddemo.sun.com/) from home this evening and still no luck! I can open 'Gnome Calculator', 'JSpider' and 'Secure Global Desktop web site' from the left hand list but not the Excel, PowerPoint or Word Viewers: http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/dmtmeaney/SGD-Error1.jpg As for MyDesktop, I get an error screen: http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/dmtmeaney/SGD-Error2.jpg I'm running the newest version of Java, IE8 and Vista but have also tried Firefox. Does anyone have any pointers? If it's this hard to access I can't see our kids, let alone staff being able to benefit from it.

We used a Virtual PC on CC3 to run RM Application Wizard from a 'clean workstation'. We could not do it by building from scratch but instead by installing XP from CD then using RM Smartbuild afterwards to turn it into a CC3 station.

We've just had a hall install by a company called PureAv (Pure AV | Home), 01772 457 520. They did a very professional job.

Just as an aside, I have been trying to run SSGD demo (https://sgddemo.sun.com/) but it fails when I try to launch software or click on 'My Desktop'. Not sure why, but presume it could be a port issue. Does anyone have any ideas on that?

We're currently planning a project which will introduce thin client. Our main priority at this stage is to provide remote access to school software and desktops from home but we also would like to put a cluster of thin client terminals in as a trial. We have two solutions on the table: Sun and Citrix and Sun seems to be much cheaper. Is there anyone out there already runing the Sun SGD and Sun terminals in their schools and if so what experiences have you had? Any pitfalls and would you recomend it if you were starting from scratch today?

We use Xerox 6360dn with PagePack annual inclusive printing contract. It works well and for us has dropped the per-page cost down quite a lot.

I think a world-class network does not depend on OS (within reason) but on whats on top of it, its reliability, how its suported and how well it meets the needs of its users.

I'm looking for a new CMS for our public-facing school website, which is nothing to do with the VLE / Parent Portal / Learning Platform. I know there is Joomla but can anyone recommend the best business-grade CMS, ideally based on .Net rather than PHP? We are looking to be able to delegate to HODs but retain editorial control and to customise widely.

I can't upload the files because the email from Sky says I must not. But you can contact Sky Business Division for a copy.

Am I right in thinking you have a price of £1500 for a Smart 685, Projector and Cabling/Install? That sounds really cheap to me.

Can you not just back-up to more than one LTO tape?

Just to provide an update to this. We received an email from Sky today with school-specific literature attached. Basically they do provide a schools service with a Schools Pack which also comes with free installation, free equipment and free upgrade from Sky+ to Sky+HD. The cost is £ 15/month for the Schools Pack plus £ 10/month for Sky+, with free upgrade to HD. So the per annum cost for the Sky Schools service with PVR is £ 300, with no extra up front costs.

That's probably the wrong question since we're looking at what we want to achieve first, then what the best solution to that requirement is. We are currently gathering requirements but it is possible that SLG2 won't meet our Requirements Specification and in addition is pretty expensive. Finally, our LA appear to have put a (presumably) cheaper LA hosted SLG2 solution firmly on the back burner. As I say, we are only at the stage of gathering requirements and assessing feasibility at this point.

Our LA bought Uniservity for all its schools last year. We, along with a number of other secondaries have not taken it up and have stuck with things like Moodle, Sharepoint and Kaleidos. Our assessment of the Uniservity offering was that it is fine for primaries or secondaries with nothing currently in place and little expertise but otherwise that it is certainly not technologically the best or educationally the best.