With regards to the discussion following Ian Lynch's posting I offer the following: 1. The issue of the quality of Linux applications have not been raised. I'm not a Microsoft "bloatware" fan at all but most users would feel that their office applications, at least, work faster, better and are easier to use than the Star Office suite. 2. Managed services may be a government priority but school ICT staff will not believe that the issues they face day to day will be able to be sorted within an acceptable timescale or that responding to "in house" cross-curricular development ideas and possibilities could be done at all. 3. Using "old" machines as thin clients may be a good idea and an efficient use of resources but saving some money is often balanced against the perceptions engendered in parents and students by the age and the "appearance" of the workstations. I'm very happy to see a drive on OSIE and am trying to exploit a few linux boxes for file sharing, web & proxy serving etc., myself. The advent of better guis and more configuration by browsers is reducing "the learning curve" but I really don't see linux desktops and applications on the workstations being common in schools in the near future. At best progress with OSIE may prompt Microsoft to reduce the cost of educational licences. As I'm fairly new to this forum I will be happy to be made better informed and for the above to be torn apart. Stuart Morris