Windows 95: A Plus or Just a Pane?

For more than a year, Roger Geyer lived the life of a Microsoft guinea pig. The Chesapeake, Va., computer resource teacher explored the vast dimensions of preview versions of Microsoft's long-awaited and greatly hyped Windows 95 software, jotting down his opinions of the product.

He became so skilled using the software that he is writing a guidebook for teachers and students on how to use Windows 95. Although he is now a veteran user of the product, he'll never forget the feeling he got when he first used it.

"Initially, it's kind of a shock," Geyer says. "You'll say to yourself, 'My, this is totally different.' But it doesn't take too long to get that comfortable feeling back, and all of sudden, before you know it, you're up and running."

Despite his enthusiasm for Windows 95, Geyer does not expect schools to take immediate leaps into widespread use of the product. Rather, the high school computer teacher expects his school, and other schools, to take a "crawl, walk, run" approach to Windows 95.

This conservative approach is shared by other school districts, which are excited about the coming of Windows 95 but aren't so sure they'll make major adjustments in technology programs before the product hits the market and they can get some feedback from organizations using the software.

Some school officials also say the timing of the release of Windows 95 -- at press time it was scheduled to be released Aug. 24 -- isn't good for them. (Windows 95 originally was supposed to be released in early 1994 but has suffered a series of delays.) They say teachers and technology coordinators would have less than a week to get the product ready for students to use -- and that is not enough time.

And still others recommend that technology coordinators spend between six months and a year using the software before they start training teachers how to use it. If the product is released in August, that means most schools would not be ready to use Windows 95 until at least March.

"We've all heard the advice to let the early adopters work out the problems," Geyer says. "And our school system is conservative and has just begun to embrace technology, so it does not look to lead the way yet."

Geyer says he plans to install Windows 95 on a few systems at his school. As the interest level among teachers heightens, he expects the use of Windows 95 to spread. He predicts it will take at least one semester before a majority of teachers begins to use the product.

Whatever the pace of change, many school technology coordinators say Windows 95 will have a major impact on the way teachers teach and students learn -- and on how school administrators organize information.

Since May 1990, when Windows 3.0 hit the market, Windows has proved to be extremely popular. It gave computer users a more "user-friendly," image-based method for controlling the basic functions of personal computers that didn't require memorizing all sorts of computer codes, analysts say.

Now, Windows comes installed on more than 80 percent of the personal computers sold in this country, and Microsoft officials and many educators who have tested the new software say it is a substantial improvement over the current Windows software.

For instance, Windows 95 makes it easier to retrieve documents, those familiar with the product say, even if you can't remember a document's name or where it is located. Also, the new software no longer has an eight-character limit on file names.

Microsoft officials also say Windows 95 has enhanced network security. The first thing most users encounter after booting their Windows 95 systems is a logon dialog box, which varies depending on the type of network that's in use. When the username and password have been validated against the network server's security authority, Windows 95 is displayed.

One major benefit of the new software -- a new on-line service called Microsoft Network -- also has been a source of controversy. At press time, the Justice Department was investigating Microsoft's plans to distribute software with Windows 95 packages that allows customers to sign up for the Microsoft Network. Justice officials were concerned that Microsoft was taking advantage of its market position in operating systems to gain ground in the on-line service business.

Whatever the outcome of the investigation, educators warn their peers not to be swayed by the publicity blitz that's likely to accompany the product. It will take a lot of patience and work for schools to make the switch to the new Windows. And they say schools that try to make the transition too quickly will be setting themselves up for frustration.

"You'll definitely need more disk space than [Windows] 3.1, and you'll probably need more memory," says Charles Grissett, assistant superintendent for advanced business systems for the Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky. "Microsoft says it can run on 8 megabytes [of RAM], but it'll probably take 12 to 16 to give you more flexibility."

Grissett, who has been testing Windows 95 for six months, says he has run into some very basic problems, too. "Sometimes, I've had to reinstall Windows, and I haven't been able to identify exactly why.

"As with any new software, you expect it to have some problems. That's why we don't want to release it widespread. We want to be sure all of the bugs are out. All in all, I'm very impressed with it."

Grissett says, from what he's seen, most application software will run easily on Windows 95. But he says some companies haven't released versions of software compatible with the new product. Schools will have to wait for updated versions of those programs before they can use them at maximum efficiency on Windows 95, he says.

Microsoft says one of the benefits of the new Windows software is that it is designed to prevent people from fouling up computer operating command files, a common problem in schools. But Grissett isn't so sure the product is as goof-proof as Microsoft says. "Where there's a will [to make a mistake], there's a way," Grissett says.

So, the question arises: Is Windows 95 really ready for school use? Or do the kinks still need to be worked out?

Jesse Rodriguez, director of information technologies for the Tucson Unified Schools, says Yes and No. His staff has been testing Windows 95 for more than a year.

"If you run it in a stand-alone fashion, it's ready," says Rodriguez of Windows 95. "But if you run it as a shared copy, off a server, it's still a little quirky."

Because schools rely heavily on running shared copies, that quirkiness could prove to be a problem. To avoid frustration, Rodriguez says schools should have Windows for Workgroups already installed before they start running Windows 95. "Otherwise," he warns, "it will be a nightmare to try to get to run."

Rodriguez' staff is currently making training tapes and manuals for using Windows 95. He says by the summer of 1996, he expects Windows 95 to be fully integrated in the Tucson schools.

But Rodriguez, too, says schools should proceed slowly and carefully. "If you haven't had the opportunity to play with the operating system and really spend some time with it, you're nuts" to advocate widespread use of the product within your schools, he says.

"You better take the time to learn how the program differs," he says. "Any district that just institutes the operating system immediately is setting itself up for heartburn."