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Thread ID: 21434	2002-06-26 01:35:00	School operating systems	sdempsey (653)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
57359	2002-06-26 01:35:00	We are upgrading our server, which will be running Win 2000 server. We have three classrooms of PC's ( currently running Win 98) they are all capable of running XP or 2000. I know Win 2000 is a very secure and stable operating system. Would anyone recommend XP over 2000 in a school environment and why?	sdempsey (653)
57360	2002-06-26 02:03:00	Won't the Min of Education (or whatever they're called) supply you with XP pro for free or cheap?? MS support for XP is current & ongoing, MS support for win 2000 workstation (& NT) is limited until what - end of 2002? Possibly 2003. Whatever the date - the end is in sight. Win 2000 server support however is current & ongoing. XP pro's not a bad OS as far as Windows goes - quite easy to set up & your apps will <probably> all work at least as well as with win 2000. Security's probably better. If your PCs are really up to it, why not go with the new, instead of getting a system that MS obviously consider to be at or even past it's sell by date? All of the above should be considered to be 'IMHO' and not a pro microsoft rant - but you need to be realistic and it's pretty clear that generally, the way ahead for confirmed windows clients is with XP.	nick (601)
57361	2002-06-26 05:06:00	I'd be tempted to go for Windows 2000. You want to make sure that you know how to use the OS yourself, no point in putting something on that you can't use all that well. (not that I'm saying your thick). With XP there will be more people screwing around with themes and the like.	-=JM=- (16)
57362	2002-06-26 12:46:00	Why is it necessary to change a perfectly good operating system? What a waste of good money . If you are going to install 2000 on the server (and promote it as a domain controller), what is the difficulty in creating new groups reflecting the classrooms and teachers, creating new users with roaming mandatory profiles and setting access permmissions to suit on the server? And to configure each Windows 98 computer to logon to the domain? Or to install 2000 Professional on each machine used by a non-student for increased security? To create, on the server, home directories for each student permits the setting of quotas to limit the amout each student can store in personal directories? And auditing allows checking for hackers from within and without? That using a properly configured proxy server can limit internet access and also trace who is going where? Or that setting up automated installs using - say Ghost - or unattended installational files, using DHCP (which is the best method when working with more than 10 clients) with all installation files on the server is the easiest method to reinstall a workstation? And the list goes on . . . . As I said at the start, why is it necessary to change a perfectly good operating system? Especially when there are 30 of them?	Merlin (503)
57363	2002-06-26 22:08:00	Why don't you ask around a few other schools & see what their experiences have been? In fact, the M o E offer both win2000 and XP to schools for free, so that's good....there must be quite a few around who are doing this upgrade now. Personally, I'd be inclined to take the bull by the horns & go for XP - it really isn't any harder than 2000 or 98 to configure and it's certainly better than win98. You can also make it look pretty much like 98\2000 if that's the look you're comfortable with. Having said that - win2000 is <imho> a pretty good OS as well. I like them both much, much more than win98 for the netwok environment. Make sure you can get appropriate drivers for your printers etc etc before making the choice.	nick (601)
57364	2002-06-26 22:18:00	Unless there is something really wrong with the OS you have at the moment, don't change. XP would probably be more student friendly. :)	NathanTheKind (472)
57365	2002-06-27 07:31:00	The main difference between XP and 2000 other than the desktop that I can think of is remote access to XP PCs within the network. There is also the XP system recovery, but I have never tries this. Here is the Microsoft pitch for people thinking of upgrading W98SE to W2000 www.microsoft.com If there are any features in there that you like, it is easy to see if they are supported in Windows 2000. The main reason for sticking with Windows 2000 is that a lot of software still does not run on Windows XP eg Norton Antivirus 7.5. There are also no service packs out for XP yet while Windows 2000 has become "stable" at Service Pack 2.	Marty2001 (421)
57366	2002-06-27 08:08:00	I would opt for win2000. We have it at school and it is good - it will run on a 166 machine with 64mb of ram, although most have better. and the machines that dont have the capability just load off the terminal services server. 2000 will run faster as it is less graphical, and again with the use of software and drivers it is more friendly. And it is up to service pack 2. The security is locked down as hard as you can possibly get and it is great. The only down time has been when one of the two main servers (they have both done this) lost the power supply due to failure. awesome system. If you want any more info about our school sys email me porsche@vectorstar.net Brendon ;\	nzporscheboy (603)
57367	2002-06-27 08:10:00	I see also that you are in west auckland, in massey - same as me. If you want to meet up and have more of a chat about our school system (henderson high school) - porsche@vectorstar.net Brendon ;\	nzporscheboy (603)
57368	2002-06-29 10:30:00	In case any of you were wondering what is happening, SDempsey has decided to keep the Win98 system and just tighten security as setting up new servers are time consuming etc. And if it's not broken, why fix it? Brendon ;/	nzporscheboy (603)
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