Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
The Mac Beat
BSU Standardizes on Apple Hardware for Dual-Boot Initiative
12/11/2007
In early 2006, Apple rolled out its first Intel-based Mac systems. Apple had for years been moving away from proprietary or exclusive technologies toward widespread industry standards inside and outside their systems--from connectivity to drive interfaces to GPUs. But the final move to Intel chips last year brought about a possibility that had never existed before: running Windows and other operating systems natively on Apple hardware, rather than through emulation (which had always had both performance and functionality limitations).
Soon after the first wave of Intel-based Macs began rolling out, Bemidji State started experimenting with a concept that would eventually lead to significant savings in both support and cost: replacing mixed hardware in its labs with Apple systems that could run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
It was a fairly risky proposition to begin with. Not only was the hardware new, but the proposition was, by all accounts, unique on this scale in higher education. Furthermore, the technology used for the effort--Apple's Boot Camp--was, at the time, still in beta.
(Boot Camp, for those of you who are unaware, is Apple's software solution that allows users to create multiple bootable partitions on Apple machines capable of running Windows and Linux natively. Once the partitions are created, normally users just hold down the Option key at startup and select which OS they want to boot into. Boot Camp had been in beta until Apple finally shipped Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in October. It's now full-release software.)
Said Brian Allen, director of technical support for Bemidji State University, "When the Intel Macs came out, we had so many labs on campus with both Windows and Mac, and they were just growing and growing ... out of control, and we all kind of saw this as a cool opportunity." Allen is one of a triumvirate of IT directors at Bemidji State, with dominion over tech support and the help desk.
Lab Tests
Once the idea came up, he and others began doing some testing, getting a machine up and running and trying it out with various pieces of software--including high-end 3D and engineering apps running in the Windows environment--to try to spot any kinks.
Recommended Reading
- California Community Colleges Partner with Waterfall Mobile on Statewide Emergency Notification Coverage
The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) has awarded a statewide emergency alert notification contract to Waterfall Mobile. The contract establishes Waterfall's AlertU as an approved technology through the official non-profit foundation for the California Community College (CCC) system office. Through this partnership, individual colleges may directly implement emergency communication services, eliminating lengthy technology evaluation and RFP processes.
- King's College and ASU Add e2Campus for Improved Emergency Notifications
King's College and Arizona State University have switched to Omnilert's e2Campus for emergency notification. Omnilert also has introduced a new program called the ENS Conversion Service that allows schools to bulk upload data from their previous emergency notification system into e2Campus at no charge.
- Saint Joseph Builds Out Wireless Network in Multi-year Upgrade
Saint Joseph's University has begun deploying a Meru Networks wireless local area network across its Philadelphia campus as part of a multi-year effort to bring wireless coverage to every building on campus.
- Vista Ramp Up Is Happening Now, Study Says
Organizations may have been slow to adopt Microsoft Windows Vista, but expect that to change by late 2008 to 2009, according to a Forrester Research report by Benjamin Gray et al., published last week.
- Talisma Launches New Version of CRM with Built-in Application Management
Talisma Corp. announced version 8.0 of its constituent relationship management (CRM) application for higher education. The new release includes application management, a revamped user interface, two-way text messaging, personalized Web portals, and an ADA-compliant Web client, among other enhancements.
- Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using Skype's free videoconferencing technology.
