30 million Euro for Vienna school computers

By Rob Hyde

Schools in Vienna are to benefit from a 30 million Euro project to upgrade their existing computers.

The scheme, titled “Vienna education network”,  aims to ensure that by 2015 around 16,000 PCs will be using the latest operating systems.

Whilst the capital city’s schools are generally using Windows XP as their operating system, concern has been raised about as Microsoft will no longer be able to support this after 2014.

Another major problem is that upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is currently not possible with the existing hardware schools are using.

Reinhard Pinger, IT director for the Vienna department of school administration (MA 56 ) said: “The preparations have been underway for a long time.”

“At the begining of the new school year the successive change-over. In total 16,000 computers will be replaced”.

The new wave of technology will also include 500 new printers.