For example, many universities have struck restrictive deals with companies in exchange for lower prices and small grants. Most of these deals involve consumer goods, such as soft drinks or office supplies, that have little or no effect on education. However, in the case of computer hardware and software, these deals can have a major effect on education and the future of the students. In the past year, over a dozen universities have publicly announced plans to require their students to buy laptop computers that use the Windows operating system or indicating that they will support only software that run on Windows operating systems. If one examines the argument for these sweeping changes, one finds a litany of misinformation and faulty logic.
Administrators often use statistics from business computer sales and market share data.
Computer sales do necessarily not reflect usage. For example, since Macs have nearly twice the lifespan as most Windows computer, their usage rate is twice that of Windows. The data also pertain to the business world. The publishing, graphics, and music industries are almost completely dominated by Macs. Fields that require imaging are usually dominated by Macs whereas fields that require number-crunching have a higher proportion of Windows users.