New College policy towards Macs


Recommended Posts

Well I'll give a little background info first, during the summer my college bought 25 new Macs for a the new Media suite. Apparently we spent close to ?40k (does this sound about right, not sure of the exact specs). Anyway for the last few weeks students and teachers alike have began steadily more frustrated with them. They claimed that they were the least reliable computer they'd ever used or that was the general feeling we were getting. I thought this didn't sound right so I went to try once for myself (as I'm doing Computing I can get in to the Media suite). I was surprised it wasn't some joke they were dreadful, the crashed every ten minutes or so, very disappointed Apple :-(

Anyway now the Principal has gotten involved, we spent so much on these and there totally unusable, the rest of our campus use HPs and Senior Management is annoyed that we colud have bought so many more HPs with the money we "wasted" (not use of the "s) on the Macs, overall there's a huge shortage of computers across the campus with every computer in the Library nearly always in use and a room full of macs being unused, seems a bit of a waste. Anyway our Principal has made his decision, the plans for two more Mac powered Media suites called off and we not allowed any more Macs period. Were not sure what's going to happen to the ones we already have, some of the computing teachers are saying they'll being removed next week, belief that when I see it.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/843688-new-college-policy-towards-macs/
Share on other sites

either they bought some mega crap ones from years and years ago or there not setup properly somehow?

my music course had old imac's setup in the rooms, all streaming off a cheap mac server and the reliability of them was excellent.

do you know what macs they are etc?

well. first thing i would do is swap out a harddrive and have a clean install of the latest mac os for it without anything else installed.

if the problem persists i would be inclined to say it's either the ram or power supply. It is entirely possible that apple may have gotten a bad batch of components from their venders.

of course of the problem goes away with a fresh install i'd start to look at the software installed more closely. i'd remove any startup items and see if it still crashes. and then reactivate each piece of software one at a time to find which one makes it unstable. Something else to remember about macs is that they can only allocate memory in contiguous blocks. that said their could be simply a lack of memory on them.

If worst comes to worst, they could always bootcamp them and load Windows (only) on them!

Strange that they've all performed that badly though... And yeah, my Macs have been great too!

We cant do that, we could have saved a few thousand and just bought HPs but you never know that might yet be one of are only options.

well. first thing i would do is swap out a harddrive and have a clean install of the latest mac os for it without anything else installed.

if the problem persists i would be inclined to say it's either the ram or power supply. It is entirely possible that apple may have gotten a bad batch of components from their venders.

of course of the problem goes away with a fresh install i'd start to look at the software installed more closely. i'd remove any startup items and see if it still crashes. and then reactivate each piece of software one at a time to find which one makes it unstable. Something else to remember about macs is that they can only allocate memory in contiguous blocks. that said their could be simply a lack of memory on them.

This might be a wild guess but I'll through it in to the ring anyway, I Apple know they have a bunch of below average quality Macs I probably better to send them to a College rather than private companies because Colleges buy them at reduced rates.

I just checked with someone doing Alevel IT, they are brand new. This is actually slightly embarrassing.... *runs away*

Well I'll give a little background info first, during the summer my college bought 25 new Macs for a the new Media suite. Apparently we spent close to ?40k (does this sound about right, not sure of the exact specs). Anyway for the last few weeks students and teachers alike have began steadily more frustrated with them. They claimed that they were the least reliable computer they'd ever used or that was the general feeling we were getting. I thought this didn't sound right so I went to try once for myself (as I'm doing Computing I can get in to the Media suite). I was surprised it wasn't some joke they were dreadful, the crashed every ten minutes or so, very disappointed Apple :-(

Anyway now the Principal has gotten involved, we spent so much on these and there totally unusable, the rest of our campus use HPs and Senior Management is annoyed that we colud have bought so many more HPs with the money we "wasted" (not use of the "s) on the Macs, overall there's a huge shortage of computers across the campus with every computer in the Library nearly always in use and a room full of macs being unused, seems a bit of a waste. Anyway our Principal has made his decision, the plans for two more Mac powered Media suites called off and we not allowed any more Macs period. Were not sure what's going to happen to the ones we already have, some of the computing teachers are saying they'll being removed next week, belief that when I see it.

Yep, sounds like a Mac to me. Same experience. They far from "not crashing" as all the BS ads are portraying Windows.

Finally smart logic. They should just dump all of them and get 3 times more PCs with Windows 7 and be done with it.

So it is either a problem with the machines/OS, or it is a problem with the software running on them. Does anyone there actually know enough to tell the difference between the former and the latter?

Not really our main guy at IT support just knows about Windows and a bit about Macs and we can't really afford someone just to manage 25 Macs.

Yep, sounds like a Mac to me. Same experience. They far from "not crashing" as all the BS ads are portraying Windows.

Finally smart logic. They should just dump all of them and get 3 times more PCs with Windows 7 and be done with it.

It's to late for that now where stuck with them now, anyways anyone doing Media has a room change now so the Macs won't be used at all. I've got Computing tomorrow second lesson I'll see if theres been any updates over the weekend.

My record uptime for my PowerBook G4 is like 150 days before I got tired of the updater popping up.

Only time I've had it crash is when I was mucking around in the terminal.

You lucky git, most media students here would love uptime of 30 mins without something going wrong.

I find OS X frustrating to use, sure, being a Windows user...

I've got a couple of modern (and classic!) Macs and I've only seen them crash now and then, they run into far less trouble than my relatives who all use Vista OEM-crapware laptops from PC World.

If multiple Macs are failing for you, then it has to be something you guys are doing with them. I can't think what though, it's a very strange issue... and also a tasty snack for the mindless Apple haters around these boards. Hurr derp! Windows 7 neva failz!1

Care to explain exactly how they were set up? Fresh installs I presume, what software are they running, how are they networked, etc.

I find OS X frustrating to use, sure, being a Windows user...

I've got a couple of modern (and classic!) Macs and I've only seen them crash now and then, they run into far less trouble than my relatives who all use Vista OEM-crapware laptops from PC World.

If multiple Macs are failing for you, then it has to be something you guys are doing with them. I can't think what though, it's a very strange issue... and also a tasty snack for the mindless Apple haters around these boards. Hurr derp! Windows 7 neva failz!1

Care to explain exactly how they were set up? Fresh installs I presume, what software are they running, how are they networked, etc.

Speaking of 7 the tech guys (the guys that practically live in the basement, not the buffoons from PC world) are stilling evaluating the possibilities of a full Windows 7 roll-out.

I agree. I really suspect it's a software/configuration issue or a bad batch of hardware.

Did you guys ever call Apple support (still under warranty?). Usually large volume customers get better support than regular customers as well.

I'm not sure we count as large volume, and I presume some contact has been made with Apple, also yes they are defiantly under warranty there to new not to be.

I find that to be rather unusual, because in my experience, I've had no issues with my Macs. My MacBook Pro once went about 60 days without restarting (the only reason I had to restart was because I needed to update OS X), and the Macs in my school run flawlessly. At my school there are about 16 G3 iMacs, 8 Power mac G4s, 3 Power Mac G5s, and 3 Mac Pros. None have had any problems; I spend about an hour a week running basic maintenance on them and keep them well-updated. They run faster than the new Dells.

This isn't the first time I've heard of this story, with Macs being terrible at school. I can only trace it down to two main factors: the students are completely mac-illiterate, or that there's no tech guy to fix the small problems that eventually cause the crashes. I don't find it plausible that 25 brand-new Macs are complete lemons.

Gotta be the software they're using. Is it possible that your school is pirating the Media software?

I know that's a far fetched, and maybe even offensive, idea. But if your school just got a bunch of new Macs, for a media lab, then it really wouldn't surprise me. The media software is damn expensive. I wouldn't suggest it if I hadn't heard of schools doing this before.

Because that isn't the OS X I know. No OS I've used has been unbearably unstable, unless it's a beta/alpha... and even then I usually find it somewhat workable. What you're talking about sounds more like ReactOS :p

I've had no real problems with my Mac, until I bought a HP c5580 printer last week. My Macbook has bluetooth, the printer has bluetooth, so why in the world don't they work together. I gave it a quick google and since Snow Leopard has been released a significant amount of people have had all sorts of printer issues.

I know that's a far fetched, and maybe even offensive, idea. But if your school just got a bunch of new Macs, for a media lab, then it really wouldn't surprise me. The media software is damn expensive. I wouldn't suggest it if I hadn't heard of schools doing this before.

Having experienced the fun of dancing around software protection policies, I have to mention here that the software doesn't need to be pirated to be mucking up the system. One classic case is Adobe CS packages. Absolutely awful, and essentially requires that all users have administrative rights unless you actually modify both the installer and applications. It just doesn't play nice in a lab setting.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Passkeys: Think of them like a broken heart necklace. Imagine one of those heart necklaces that breaks into two matching pieces. One person keeps one half, and the other person keeps the other half. With passkeys, the website has one half, and you have the other half. If the website gets hacked and someone steals its half, that stolen piece is useless by itself. It cannot unlock your account without your matching half. This particular heart necklace is one of a kind, there is only one in existence. Your half of the necklace has to be stored somewhere. It might be stored on your phone, tablet, computer, security key, or a password manager that can sync it between all your devices. A security key is a small physical device that you keep with you, kind of like a house key, car key, or flash drive. I would not usually recommend a security key as the first option for the average person. For most people, it is easier to use their phone, computer, or a password manager that can sync passkeys between their devices. A security key is more like a spare key you keep in a safe place, just in case you lose access to your other devices or your password manager. Some security keys plug into your computer. Some plug into your phone or tablet. Some get tapped against your device. The idea is simple: a security key can hold another passkey for the same website. Think of it like creating a second one-of-a-kind heart necklace for the same account. One necklace could be paired with your password manager, while another necklace could be paired with your security key. That means the website has more than one matching half on file. One half matches the passkey in your password manager. Another half matches the passkey stored on your security key. So, if you lose access to your phone, computer, or password manager, you would still be able to log in using the passkey stored on your security key. Think of it like keeping an extra special necklace piece on a tiny keychain, stored somewhere safe. The website still has the matching half for that security key, but your half is safely stored inside the little key. A passkey does not automatically exist on every device you own. It lives wherever you save it. If your half is stored on one device, then that device is the one that has the matching piece. For example, if you create the passkey on your Windows computer and it is only saved to that computer, your iPhone does not automatically have that same half. If you create it on your iPhone and it only stays on that iPhone, your Android phone does not automatically have it either. That is where password managers come in. A password manager can act like a protected jewelry box for your passkeys. Instead of your half of the necklace being locked to only one device, the password manager can securely sync that half to your other approved devices. For example, Apple Passwords and iCloud Keychain can sync passkeys between your Apple devices. Google Password Manager can sync passkeys with your Google account. But password managers such as 1Password and Bitwarden can sync passkeys between everything, your phones, tablets and computers. Now, you might ask: “What happens if I lose access to the device that has my passkey?” That depends on where your passkey was saved and what recovery options the website gives you. If your passkey was synced through a password manager, you may be able to sign in from another device that has access to that same password manager. For example, if your passkey is saved in iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager, 1Password, or Bitwarden, another approved device may still have access to it. If your passkey was saved only on one phone, computer, or security key, and you lose that device, then you may not have your half of the necklace anymore. In that case, you would usually need to use the website’s backup login or account recovery options. A lot of websites that support passkeys still let you fall back to your regular password. So if you lose access to your passkey, the site may still let you log in with your password, a code sent to your email, a text message, a recovery code, or some other account recovery process. That is convenient, but it is also important to understand: if the website still allows password login, then your password still matters. Passkeys are safer than passwords, but if your account still has a password as a backup, you should still use a strong, unique password and turn on two-factor authentication if the website offers it. This is why it is a good idea to have more than one safe way back into important accounts. For example, you might keep your passkey in a syncing password manager, add a second trusted device, save recovery codes somewhere safe, or set up a backup security key. A passkey is very secure, but just like a real key, you need a backup plan in case you lose access to it. Now, you might ask: “What stops a hacker from copying my half of the necklace?” That’s the important part: your half is protected. It is not something you type in, and it is not something the website gets to keep. Think of your half as being locked inside a tiny safe on your phone, computer, security key, or password manager. That safe only opens when you approve it with your fingerprint, face, PIN, or device password. When you log in, the website does not need to see your half. It only needs proof that your half matches its half. Your actual half is not handed over to the website. This is different from a password. With a password, you type the secret into the website. If you type it into a fake website, the hacker now has it. With a passkey, you are not typing your secret into the website. Your device is proving you have the matching half without giving the half away. That also helps protect you from fake websites. If someone makes a fake login page that looks like the real site, your device can tell it is not the real match. It will not use your passkey there. Now, could someone use your passkey if they stole your device, got into your password manager, or somehow unlocked the safe that holds your half? Yes, that is why your device password, PIN, fingerprint, face unlock, and password manager security still matter. But a hacker cannot just steal your passkey from the website or trick you into typing it into a fake page like they can with a password. That is why passkeys are safer than passwords. The two matching pieces have to come together, like two lovebirds who were once separated and are finally reunited.
    • Newegg offers insane combo deal on Amazon Prime Day 2026 that beats Steam Machine by Sayan Sen Building a PC is undoubtedly difficult nowadays but with this epic combo deal, Newegg is trying to make it as easy for you as it is possible. If you are making a new one or even upgrading an old system to a new Windows 11 device, this combo bundle is truly unmissable as you get AMD's Ryzen 9800X3D, a compatible X870 motherboard, a 240mm AIO liquid cooler and finally a Samsung 990 PRO SSD all for under $1000 (purchase link under the specs table down below). This should beat out the newly launched Steam Machine from Valve in terms of performance and performance per dollar especially if you are willing to set Linux up on it. Essentially with this combo you will get the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core 3D V cache CPU, Samsung's 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD, the MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX Motherboard, and finally the Cooler Master Elite Liquid 240. Thanks to that massive vertically stacked L3 cache, the X3D desktop processors, including the 9800X3D, also come with the benefit of not needing fast memory. Even DDR5-5600 should be plenty for it. The technical specifications of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D are given in the table below: Specification Value Architecture Zen 5 Cores / Threads 8 / 16 Base Clock 4.7 GHz Max Boost Clock Up to 5.2 GHz L1 Cache 640 KB L2 Cache 8 MB L3 Cache 96 MB Total Cache 104 MB CPU Core Process TSMC 4nm FinFET I/O Die Process TSMC 6nm FinFET Socket AM5 Default TDP 120W Max Temperature (Tjmax) 95°C Thermal Solution Not included Memory Type DDR5 Max Capacity 256 GB Memory Speeds 2x1R: DDR5-5600 2x2R: DDR5-5600 4x1R: DDR5-3600 4x2R: DDR5-3600 PCIe Version PCIe 5.0 PCIe Lanes (Total/Usable) 28 / 24 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) 4 USB 2.0 1 Graphics Cores 2 CU RDNA 2 Frequency 2200 MHz DisplayPort over USB-C Yes Overclocking Unlocked Up next we have the tech specs for the MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI Motherboard: Specification Value Chipset AMD X870 CPU Support AMD Ryzen 9000 / 8000 / 7000 Series Desktop Processors Socket AM5 Memory Slots 4 × DDR5 UDIMM Maximum Memory Capacity 256GB Memory Support DDR5 8400–5600 MT/s (OC), DDR5 5600–4800 MT/s (JEDEC) Integrated Graphics Outputs 1 × HDMI 2.1 FRL (up to 8K 60Hz) 2 × USB4 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 (up to 4K 60Hz) Expansion Slots PCI_E1: PCIe 5.0 x16 (CPU) PCI_E2: PCIe 3.0 x1 (Chipset) PCI_E3: PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset) Audio Realtek ALC4080 Codec 7.1-Channel USB High Performance Audio Supports up to 32-bit/384kHz playback on front panel S/PDIF output M.2 Slots 4 × M.2 M2_1: PCIe 5.0 x4 (CPU, 22110/2280) M2_2: PCIe 5.0 x4 (CPU, 2280/2260) M2_3: PCIe 4.0 x2 (Chipset, 2280/2260) M2_4: PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset, 2280/2260) SATA Ports 4 × SATA 6Gb/s RAID Support RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 for M.2 NVMe storage devices Rear USB Ports 4 × USB 2.0 3 × USB 5Gbps Type-A 2 × USB 10Gbps Type-A 1 × USB 10Gbps Type-C 2 × USB4 40Gbps Type-C Front USB Headers 4 × USB 2.0 4 × USB 5Gbps Type-A 1 × USB 20Gbps Type-C LAN Realtek 8126-CG 5G LAN Wireless Wi-Fi 7 (M.2 Key-E module pre-installed) Supports 2.4GHz / 5GHz / 6GHz bands Up to 5.8Gbps Supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.4, MLO, 4KQAM Internal Power Connectors 1 × 24-pin ATX Power 2 × CPU Power Connectors 1 × PCIe 8-pin Power Connector Fan Headers 1 × CPU Fan 1 × Combo Fan (Pump/System) 6 × System Fan RGB Headers 3 × Addressable V2 RGB (JARGB_V2) 1 × RGB LED (JRGB) Other Internal Headers 1 × EZ Conn-header 2 × Front Panel Headers 1 × Chassis Intrusion 1 × Front Audio 1 × TPM 2.0 Header Debug Features 4 × EZ Debug LEDs 1 × EZ Digit Debug LED Rear I/O Ports Clear CMOS Button Flash BIOS Button HDMI 2 × USB 40Gbps Type-C 1 × USB 10Gbps Type-C 4 × USB 10Gbps Type-A 3 × USB 5Gbps Type-A 4 × USB 2.0 5G LAN Port Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Antenna Connectors Audio Connectors Form Factor ATX The Samsung 990 PRO is a PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD and still one of the fastest drives available today for under $500. Speaking of fast, sequential reads and writes are rated at 7450 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively. The random throughputs for reads and writes are 1400K IOPS and 1550K IOPS, respectively. The 990 PRO is based on Samsung's 7th Gen V-NAND flash, and it too is TLC. It packs 2 gigs of LPDDR4 DRAM cache, which helps the random performance. The endurance rating for this is 1200 TBW (terabytes written), which should be sufficient for most users. The Samsung 990 PRO is compatible with the PlayStation 5, but if you are going to use the 990 PRO on a PC, check out the Samsung Magician app that lets you track your drive's health, update its firmware, customize various settings, and more. The tech specs are given below: Specification Value Interface PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0 Form Factor M.2 2280 Controller Samsung In-house Controller NAND Flash 3D TLC DRAM Cache 2GB LPDDR4 Sequential Read (Max) 7,450 MB/s Sequential Write (Max) 6,900 MB/s Random Read (4K) Up to 1,400,000 IOPS Random Write (4K) Up to 1,550,000 IOPS TBW (Endurance) 1,200 TBW MTBF 1,500,000 hours Operating Temperature 0°C to 70°C Storage Temperature -40°C to 85°C Shock Resistance 1,500G / 0.5ms Heatsink No Get the combo deal at this link: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, Samsung 990 PRO 2TB, MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI motherboard, Cooler Master Elite Liquid 240: $784.99 + $25 off with promo code FTTF77: $759.99 (Sold and Shipped by Newegg US) Good to know This Newegg deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • I heard from a lot of people that driver support for the latest games when RDNA first came out (Radeon 5000 series) was pretty bad, but if you didn't buy the card on day one, or were not trying to play the latest titles, then you were isolated from that issue. Other than that, it's been good and only getting better.
    • Meta launches new AI glasses in 26 styles and Muse Spark multimodal capabilties by Pradeep Viswanathan Meta today announced a new line of Meta Glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. The new AI glasses build on the company’s existing smart glasses portfolio, which is sold under the Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta brands. The new Meta Glasses start at just $299, are compatible with prescription lenses, and will be available in 26 styles across different colors, lenses, and frames. At launch, Meta Glasses will be available in three frame styles. The Meta Adventurer features a clean rectangular design and comes in Standard and Large sizes. The Meta Fury is a bolder frame for users who want a stronger look. Meta Glasses by Kylie is a slim oval frame designed in collaboration with Kylie Jenner. Similar to existing Meta AI Glasses, the new Meta Glasses include a dedicated action button that can be used to quickly access Meta AI or launch a favorite feature. They also feature open-ear speakers for calls, music, and more. Meta has also included a multi-mic array with wind noise reduction for calls and messaging. Users can capture photos and videos hands-free using voice commands. Meta claims more than eight hours of battery life, while the portable charging case can provide up to 40 additional hours. As expected, Meta Glasses come pre-loaded with Meta AI powered by Muse Spark from day one. Muse Spark is the first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs with improved multimodal capabilities. The same Meta AI upgrade is also now available on existing Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta Glasses in the US and Canada via an update. With the Muse Spark-powered AI assistant, Meta AI in the new glasses can provide smarter answers, understand what the user is seeing, and help with daily tasks such as calendar management and navigation. Meta also announced an upcoming feature called the dynamic photo feature, which captures multiple frames and recommends the best one. Pedestrian navigation is also coming soon to these glasses. Meta is also adding support for 14 new live translation languages, including Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Korean. The new Meta Glasses are available starting today through Meta.com, Best Buy, Amazon, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, and select retailers.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      469
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      166
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      104
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      87
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!