“During the 1990s, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was split down the middle – not by anger or intolerance, but by computer technology,” Mark Mahoney reports for The Daily Nebraskan.

“Windows PCs and Macintosh computers were all over campus, split evenly across the university in residence halls and department computer labs as the age of the Internet was taking off,” Mahoney reports.

Mahoney writes, “Tom Eads, who has managed UNL’s Information Services computer labs since 1997, said the current ratio is no longer even. It now favors PCs, which make up 70 percent of the 500 machines in the 31 labs Eads is in charge of. ‘Over the years, I’ve adjusted that ratio based on how users are actually using the computers and the labs,” Eads said. “I think the ratio we have now is about right, based on the fact that we track very closely user preferences.’”

MacDailyNews Take: Get ready to adjust that ratio again, Mr. Eads.

Mahoney continues, “Eads said PCs and Macintoshes are on an even playing field since they usually have the same programs, but he said Macintosh has a slight advantage in security.”

MacDailyNews Take: We hereby announced the Grand Prize Winner of “The Understatement of the Decade Award” to Mr. Tom Eads, who is, amazingly, the UNL’s Information Services computer labs manager. For the Grand Prize, we award Mr. Eads a clue, as he obviously needs to get one: According to the FBI, Viruses, spyware, other computer-related crimes cost U.S. businesses $67.2 billion per year. According to Sophos, there were 114,000 known viruses for Windows PCs as of the end of 2005. Apple’s Mac OS X has had zero viruses and no known spyware for it’s over five years of existence which cost businesses worldwide $0 per year. Just “a slight advantage in security,” you see.

Mahoney continues, “Although each college has its own computer labs, Eads said his office doesn’t keep track of the number of computers in individual colleges. ‘I can’t speak to what other colleges and departments have,’ Eads said. ‘I know certain colleges, like journalism, used to be specifically Macintosh, but I think recently they turned to Windows, but I’m not positive on that.’”

Full article here.