Murray, NEB- At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, Conestoga made the controversial decision to start phasing out Apple products and replacing them with Microsoft.

While Microsoft is common in the workforce, a majority of students use Apple at home. According to Statista, 125 million people in the United States use Apple devices. So, why is Conestoga switching to something out of most students’ comfort zones?

Christopher Hilliard, the head of the technology department says using Microsoft will be cost effective and prepare students for life after high school. “This is a significant cost savings. MacBooks are $1000 to replace. The most common repair needed on a MacBook is a broken screen.” He explained that Apple requires their devices to be repaired by certified vendors and a screen alone is $500. “The new Windows devices are under $400 and can be repaired at a much cheaper price, especially when repairing in house rather than sending the device out.”

On the other hand, some students have found that their new Microsoft PCs have caused more harm than good. According to Ava F., freshman, “I was working on a project for school over the weekend and I started getting pop-up ads for viruses on my computer. I would get them every 30 to 40 seconds.” She added that she prefers Apple.

Switching to Microsoft will be a big change for both teachers and students. The Conestoga Technology Department’s decision will hopefully pay off in the end by preparing students for technology after high school.

**Update as of Sept. 15: According to Hilliard, “Today I have made a settings change that should block these notifications that were popping up. These are actually small ads from random websites, they try really hard to get the end user to click on them. They are not viruses but that is the campaign they use to get a person to click on the notifications. I have issued a computer policy that should block these notifications for the future.”