Licensing for school computers

iwb

First of all, I know people are going to suggest linux but I don't see it as the solution for primary school kids who probably won't be using it at home or elsewhere which will make it confusing for them. For the linux v windows discussion, I would prefer to keep it separate.
If anyone has any advice for me I would appreciate it. I am involved with my sons school to get computers sorted. They need 26 or so altogether. Buying them new isn't really an option as they don't have the cash. Assuming we had them as used machines, I wanted to put XP home on all of them for reliability and familiarity. It is horrendously expensive to but the OS imho. Cheapest I can find is €86 at Komplett for XP home OEM. I think we can probably meet the OEM qualification but it is still a lot of money. Academic licenses apparently don't apply to schools for OS, except upgrade and that is more expensive by a large amount than OEM.
I could live with Win2k if it was cheaper but it doesn't seem to be. Do companies upgrade from 2k to XP and have the old licenses available, or is that too simple?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

astec123

ebay usually has some bargains when it comes to OS software. You can just pick up an OS for as little as £10 a pop and if your lucky a CD too. Just be sure its the real deal and not a key gen etc.

iwb

For anyone in a similar situation to us on this, where you have donated computers for schools, I was just told about a Microsoft program designed for this. Fair dues to them, they offer a free license of 98 or 2000 (not XP unfortunately) for each pc donated to a school. More info here.
Also, thanks astec123 for you advice. I had a look and there are great prices on eBay. I'm glad we don't have to go that way though:)

Sleipnir

My company may have some machines if you're interested.
I need to test them but could have 5-10 plus some 15 or 17 inch monitors?

iwb

Hi Sleipnir,
Yes, we are interested. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but we are only interested in anything with a P3 600 processor or above. Also, the more ram the better as we are buying quite a bit for the machines we have.
Where you located? We can collect them from most places probably.
Thanks, iwb.

Sleipnir

I understand.
I was ready to dump them but it's a bit of a waste. Also, sometimes giving them away can bring more trouble. Having done so before, I found that the charity I gave them to kept calling me for support!
I will of course only give them to you if they are up to spec and working (obviously!) They will also be formatted (blank) machines.
It may take up to a month for them all to be tested as my collegue is on holiday for the next three weeks.

As I say, I need to test the machines before I can tell you what's in them but they should be around that.
Based in Dublin city centre around Harcourt st.

Chalk

if you read that ms page you posted,
the machines need to be pii or lower,
so if you get piii's youll be back to buying licenses.

Sleipnir

Oh dear.
We get about 4 new machines a month in here which come with XP Professional OEM.
But we use Win2k so they just get wiped. What a waste!

seamus

Sleipnir wrote:

Oh dear.
We get about 4 new machines a month in here which come with XP Professional OEM.
But we use Win2k so they just get wiped. What a waste!

Same here. We get in orders of about 40 or 50 then wipe them all and reinstall WinXP on a corporate licence.

Agent Smith

I know you said No Linux, but may i Sugest Lindows?


www.lindows.com


Very simular and a Hell of a Lot Cheeper

Capt'n Midnight

iwb wrote:

here.

Popped in Ireland in to it.

Only personal computers with Intel Pentium II (or equivalent) and older processors are eligible for inclusion in this programme.

at the side

Donated PIII Computers with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA)

Please note: Do not report to the Fresh Start for Donated Computers programme:

* Donated personal computers with Intel Pentium III (or equivalent)
* Newer processors bearing a Windows Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker and accompanied by some form of proof that they were donated.

In these cases you already have sufficient documentation for a valid Windows operating system licence and do not need to report your machines to the Fresh Start for Donated Computers programme. You can use any media that you have, including Microsoft volume licensing agreements, to reinstall the Windows operating system.

So what do you do with PIII's without a COA ??
Very few brand name PC's were sold Without windows.

An in typical microsoft fashion does the * above mean OR or AND ??

From October 2003, a one-year period begins during which qualifying donated personal computers will be automatically considered licensed to run Windows 98 or Windows 2000. At any time during this year, schools have the opportunity to report the total number of qualifying donated personal computers in their installed base and receive the documentation they need to ensure proof of a valid Windows operating system licence.
... Last updated: 11/03/2003 8:24:02 AM

Anyone know the current status of this program as it would be nice for PIII's

Red Alert

There's really no difference as far as primary school kids are concerned between windows and linux desktops. They actually do look the same in many cases - and kids tend not to have much of a problem switching between different systems (you never saw a kid turn down a game on a SNES because he had a SEGA did you?). Try it - you might be surprised!

Capt'n Midnight

Red Alert wrote:

There's really no difference as far as primary school kids are concerned between windows and linux desktops.

Any links to decent apps educational apps ?

Capt'n Midnight

seamus wrote:

Same here. We get in orders of about 40 or 50 then wipe them all and reinstall WinXP on a corporate licence.

Microsoft lost that court case so you can get a refund of maybe €40 on each of them !
Or you should be able to get the systems in without it.