That's a problem because, according to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle program, which the company introduced in 2002 to provide at least 10 years of support for its major OS and productivity products, Windows XP won't receive any support - including security updates - past April 8. "The problem is they come with Windows XP." "We'd buy about 1,200 refurbished computers each year because it's all we could afford," says Bob Walton, information technology officer for Worcester Public Schools, a district of 50 sites serving 25,000 students in Worcester, Mass. When it comes to acquiring computing resources - whether for administration or classroom learning - PUSD and many districts like it have purchased refurbished PCs. Arizona recently slashed education funding by 26 percent and eliminated capital funding for four years. PUSD has experienced the same budgetary constraints that many K–12 districts have faced. "If it becomes a problem, we'll have to fast-track the desktop virtualization, starting with our labs and moving to the classrooms." Tight Budgets, Used PCs "There's no way I can have everything replaced by that April date," she says. As the new servers come online, her staff will virtualize most of the district's desktop environment on Windows 7, repurposing the newest PCs to function as dumb terminals and replacing the oldest computers (some of which are 18 years old) with thin clients. For starters, de Szendeffy will replace PUSD's existing server farm with leased HP blade servers. Make no mistake: Replacing all XP systems is part of the district's $2.5 million infrastructure modernization plan. "We don't want to do it for years, but we should be OK long enough to get a virtual desktop infrastructure in place." "Between the filtering we do and the anti-virus systems we run, I think we'll be OK running XP for a while," de Szendeffy says. And frankly, upgrading the district's server farm, where systems range in age from 9 to 16 years, is just as big a priority as migrating PCs to a modern - and supported - OS. Just last year, she replaced PUSD's 20-year-old network router. Her department is flush with its first-ever, board-approved IT budget and has a five-year plan to upgrade much of the district's infrastructure. The director of information technology for the Payson Unified School District knows that on April 8, Microsoft will cease extended product support for its Windows XP operating system, leaving roughly 1,200 PCs in the central Arizona district of 2,500 students to face the world unpatched and potentially vulnerable.īut de Szendeffy also is an optimist.
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