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An employee of Cal State informed me that the final decision has been made: the California State University (Cal State, CSU) Chancellor's Office has put a freeze on future Macintosh purchases and will begin buying Dell PCs over the summer.

The plan is to phase out Macs over a three year period, part of CSU's Integrated Technology Strategy. (Remember, it's easier to integrate when everything's the same.)

This decision was apparently made in a closed door meeting between the Vice Chancellor and the Director of Finance. Tech support was not involved in the decision.

Although the original case was that Macs were more expensive than PCs, in the final analysis, these Windows NT systems are costing $2,000 to $3,000 each - and PC support costs are significantly higher than Mac support costs.

But this goes beyond the Chancellor's Office. As a February article noted, "The Chancellor's Office will be the first to switch, and it's supposed to be the example for the rest of the system."

In short, the entire university will be going to Windows at the expense of not only Macintosh, but also Suns, SGIs, and any other platform. This is not only an expensive move in terms of initial purchase and support, but also one that restricts choice.

California students and taxpayers, I urge you to contact the Chancellor (Charles B. Reed), Vice Chancellor (Richard West) and the Director of Business and Finance (Lenor Rozner) to voice your concerns about the direction CSU is taking.

In searching the CSU web site, the only published email address seems to be for the webmaster. However, there is an online feedback form, which can be used to communicate with the Chancellor's Office.

This is not a call to flame. Angering people puts them in a defensive mode, which is the last thing we need if we are to convince these individuals that the Macintosh remains a viable platform in terms of purchase price, ease of use, and long-term support costs.

Update, June 10

• My source notes that this move does not have support ofAcademic Senate or Trustees, most of whom use Macs.
• About 40% of staff want to spend year-end funds on Macs.
• These email addresses should work:
  Charles B. Reed, Chancellor, creed@calstate.edu
  Richard West, Vice Chancellor, rwest@calstate.edu
  Lenor Rozner, Dir. of Bus. & Fin., lrozner@calstate.edu
• As of Wednesday afternoon, the CSU web server forwarded over 8,000 messages on this issue - thanks to all who have already written.

Further Reading

• CSU Feedback, 6/14/99
• MacInSchool email list, forum for issues like this
• Backward migration underway at Cal State?, MacCentral, 6/10/99
• Cal State, a step into the vacuum, MacBC, 6/10/99
• Misguided administrators switch CSU to NT-only, Mac Observer, 6/9/99
• Cal State Going NT, 2/8/99
• Microsoft Agreement, CSU, 12/9/98

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Recent on MacInSchool

• A Macintosh summer vacation, 6/23/00. Mac software for use during summer vacation.
• Gone fishing for the summer, 6/13/00. "Even on the Macintosh, where things are generally considered to be easier, Murphy's Law seems to work overtime."
• More in the View From the Classroom index

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CSU Going Windows Dan Knight 9 June 1999

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