The SMU Cox School of Business is officially making the switch from PCs to Macs. More than 30 classroom podiums have been retrofitted with Mac minis, while around 100 lab computers have iMacs. All platforms dual-boot both Windows XP and Mac OS X Tiger.
“By installing Intel Macs, we’re enhancing and diversifying our computer platforms by keeping Windows XP while adding OS X,” said Allen Gwinn, senior director of technology for the Cox School, in the press release. “Upgrading to Apple platforms is the only way to do this.”
With Microsoft’s rollout of Office 2007 and Windows Vista, both Office 2003 and 2007 on the Windows side of the Macs have been installed, with Office 2004 on the OS X side.
“Obviously, our primary goal is service,” said Gwinn. “We believe that, by diversifying our computing platforms, we will enhance the experience for faculty and students, many of whom are walking in the door with Apple platforms.”
Upgrading to Macs is in step with current user trends. While Microsoft has historically claimed over 90 percent desktop penetration, SMU Cox reports about 20 percent Mac use by its students and expects this number to increase, which could signal a trend reversal in desktop market share. The integration of Intel Mac platforms will allow the school to remain consistent with computing trends whichever direction the trend takes.
“Computers have become indispensable tools for the modern business worker and 21st Century organizations,” said Amit Basu, SMU Cox chair of the Information Technologies and Operations Management Department and the Charles Wyly Professor of Information Systems. “Moving to an environment where low-level limitations such as operating systems and drivers disappear will make people more productive and organizations more integrated and effective. The combination of Intel-based Macs and modern virtualization technologies is a big step in this direction, and thus places the Cox School at the forefront of current computing trends.”
The school will continue to support all platforms and hardware, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Macs.
SMU’s Cox School of Business offers a full range of business education programs, including BBA, full-time MBA, Professional MBA (PMBA), Executive MBA (EMBA), Master of Science in Management (MSM) and Executive Education. The school also offers a number of unique resources and activities for students, ranging from its Business Leadership Center (BLC), Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, Maguire Energy Institute and American Airlines Global Leadership Program (AAGLP) to its Associate Board executive mentoring program and an international alumni network with chapters in more than 20 countries. SMU Cox is ranked among the top business schools nationally and internationally by major publications, including BusinessWeek, The Economist, Financial Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report.
Source: SMU Cox School of Business
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “BuriedCaesar” for the heads up.]
“And another one down, and another one down, and another one bits “the last of the MS dust!
These news releases must really chaff Ballmer’s a*s!!!
en
“These news releases must really chaff Ballmer’s a*s!!!”
Isn’t it great?
MSFT’s shareholders really need to kick that clown to the curb.
-jcr
get’em while they’re young and they’ll be yours forever
Let’s give the SMU guru’s credit where it is due, they are hedging their fence in a way others have been hesitant to.
The upshot of this is that all their students will be trained on a Mac whatever OS they use, meaning that they will be the future movers and shakers in industry demanding their employers invest on platforms they are comfortable working with.
So in a few years time, it will be M$ 20% against Mac 60% on the basis that M$ will retain that margin from legacy users through Mac/Intel, others will comprise Linux and Google for users who do not wish to pay for software.
Those crazy southern Methodist…..
MW:study
Wouldn’t those computers have to upgrade to Leopard in order to get Bootcamp now? Bootcamp was only Beta in Tiger.
@en
Who’s “Ballmer”?
“Moving to an environment where low-level limitations such as operating systems and drivers disappear will make people more productive and organizations more integrated and effective.”
Never have truer words about Winblows been written.
Had Steve donated the computers, we might have seen a wing named after him, such as the Cox’s School of Business, Job’s Mac Department, or Cox School O’ B J’s Mac Unit, for short….
Uuuuh huh huh…you said Cox.
SMU could of saved more money by using iWork instead of Office for Mac.
Pages would create great looking documents and using Keynote would make their presentations absolutely kick ass. Great looking presentations and documents make fantastic impressions in the world of business.
Chaffing Ballmer’s Balls more likely!
Balmer’s staff have allready swapped all office chairs with inflatable furnitures… Now they laugh each time someone gets a chair thrown upon!
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@loopy_nj
It is most likely that those Macs SMU will have Leopard preinstalled because it takes a while to roll out the entire order to completion.
School of Business? Business?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
OMG….I can’t stop laughing HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Awesome!
Take THAT Beau! (listeners of the PC/MAC SMACKDOWN show will get the reference)
Has no one noticed that the main reason they upgraded this way is so they can run MacOS X AND Windows. That means they’re still going to be buying software from Windows.
The Good Thing™ in all this is more Mac exposure and more Mac sales, but we have a long, long way to go if we want to take over Microsoft’s operating system market share.
MW = began, as in “It’s already began…” (okay so that would be “begun” but whatever. I was on a creative roll….
Congratulations to the future business leaders of America, who will be expert enough and experienced enough once they arrive in the work world to not listen to entrenched IT retards whose only interest is preserving their relevancy by recommending Windows PCs to the exclusion of anything else, even if that something else is better and more secure.
Speaking of IT staff, kudos to SMU’s enlightened and visionary Allen Gwinn and Amit Basu, who are awake and aware enough to see the future, and it is Mac. The higher-ups who had to sign off on a move like this also deserve a special shout-out for wanting the absolute best experience for their end-users, the students! Going Mac can only enhance Cox Business School’s already stellar reputation.
As Mac fans/users ourselves, we should expect to see more and more stories just like this in the next 12-18 months.
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
Don’t these people understand that successful businesses use PCs with Windows? With the exception of Apple, who else uses Macs as their computer of choice? Forget it, boy, you ain’t goin’ to SMU. Why you’re goin’ to daddy’s alma mater, Havard!
Wait until the next virus or worm hits. The Windows XP side will be kaput, while the OS X side will continue working. That’ll get a few more minds thinking.
Harvard huh? I hear they have an even higher incidence of Macs on campus than SMU.
Maybe you meant “higher percentage” rather than “higher incidence” of Macs on campus at Havard than SMU. Unless, of course, you consider Mac usage a form of social disease.
Or maybe you just don’t understand sarcasm.
Actually I chose “incidence” on purpose to go along with the tone of the post that I feel inferred that Macs are inferior. As to what you refer to as sarcasm, I feel the writing in this case is not obviously sarcasm. It is very close to some serious troll baiters actual posts. This post could be interpreted either way. I chose to believe it was a troll. Sue me.
Note to self: Avoid recruiting from the “business” school that spends it ‘s time training people on obsolete office versions, on home operating system.
What else do the teach, Abacus 101? Home Movies 101? How to use other newfangled devices like the Telephone and Fax?
Does Vista come with knee pads or is that a third party after sale purchase?
Does anyone remember that 80’s era Apple commercial that had dozens of students walking onto campus all carrying their Macintosh 9″ Pluses at their side?
Mac is Back Baby!
Magic Word: “hope”, as in “there is hope for afflicted Windows users”