Windows 8 Deemed Superior Tablet Solution To iOS and Android at Seton Hall U.

CIO’s Shane O’Neill reports that in a world where iPads and Android devices are the rage, Seton Hall University bucked the BYOD trend and opted for Windows 8 tablets and ultrabooks for students and faculty, even though the OS doesn’t ship officially until October. He looks into why the university opted for Windows 8.

The report notes that Seton Hall did test iPad and Android tablets in pilot programs, but decided that standardization on Windows 8 made the most sense, finding that while students were excited about the iPad’s form factor and long battery life, but would observe: ‘This is great, but it’s not a replacement for my laptop,’ complaining that they need the full Microsoft Office suite on their tablet in order to be efficiently productive, wanting a real computing experience on a tablet rather than computing-lite, and Windows will bring full desktop OS power and compatibility to tablet form factors.

The university also determined that Android tablets and iPads would be relatively difficult to manage because neither provide a blanket warranty that covers support for all devices, with Apple for example being willing only to provide Apple Care support for each iPad based on a serial number, meaning IT techs would be obliged to root around for a warranty code for each iPad in order to get support. Additionally, Apple’s individual device oriented app distribution mode would make adopting t a simple 99 cent app for the whole university “a huge administrative pain.”

For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/MoqkKL