Microsoft has signed up a huge new education-based customer that plans to order and use a ton of Windows 8 devices. In a post on the company"s official blog, Microsoft announced that Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest public school system in the US, will offer 100,000 Windows 8 devices to students and staff members by August 2015.
The blog states that the roll out will begin this spring when 13,000 of the school systems elementary school students will get laptops, and 15,000 7th grade civics students and 9th grade world history students will be able to use Windows 8 devices. The blog did not state the specific hardware products the students will be using.
Margo Day, the vice president for Microsoft"s U.S. Education division, stated:
We believe that choice in devices is critical and we support the variety of our hardware partners with their diverse Windows 8 offerings. It may be that 4th graders will benefit from a more ruggedized laptop, whereas Middle- and High schoolers need the flexibility of tablet devices. Yet even with a diversity of devices, all students will have the consistent, secure, privacy-respecting experience of one platform.
The announcement comes just a few days after Microsoft said it will join with President Barack Obama"s ConnectED program, which aims to offer 99 percent of U.S. students access to broadband Internet within the next four years. Microsoft said it will offer Windows 8 devices from a variety of OEMs to schools at much lower prices as part of its ConnectED participation, along with 12 million free copies of Office for students.
Source : Microsoft | Image via Microsoft