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Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001
NCES: 2002018
September 2002

Operating Systems, Memory Capacity, and Disk Space

In order to gather information on how current the computers available to students in public schools are, the survey asked respondents to indicate which operating system/platform was used most frequently5 on instructional computers, as well as the memory capacity and disk space of most instructional computers.

  • The single most common response, given by 40 percent of public schools in 2001, was that the operating system most frequently used on their instructional computers was Windows 98 (table 9). Twenty-five percent had Mac OS 7.6 or greater, and 19 percent had Windows 95. Overall, 95 percent of schools reported using Windows 95 or a newer version of Windows, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater most frequently on their instructional computers (see table 10)6.
  • Twelve percent of schools reported that the latest versions of Windows (NT or 2000) were the most commonly found on their instructional computers (table 10). Secondary schools (19 percent) were more likely to report these types of operating systems than were elementary schools (9 percent), which reported using the latest versions of Mac OS (Mac OS 7.6 or greater) more often than secondary schools (28 percent compared with 14 percent).
  • Eighty-two percent of schools had 16 megabytes (MB) or higher memory capacity (not shown in tables) on most of their instructional computers. Sixty-three percent of schools had 1 gigabyte (GB) or higher disk space (not shown in tables).
  • Overall, 58 percent of the schools used Windows 95 or a more recent version of Windows, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater, combined with 16 MB or higher memory capacity and 1 GB or higher disk space most frequently on their instructional computers (see table 11)7.


5 The question was worded this way because more than one operating system/platform can be used in one school.
6 This estimate is derived from the percent of public schools using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater most frequently on their instructional computers. Although estimates for the details are shown in table 10, the total in the text is based on the raw data and because of rounding, it differs trivially (i.e., 1 percent) from the estimate that would be obtained by adding details directly from the table.

7 This estimate is derived from the percent of public schools using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater and having 16 MB or higher memory capacity and 1 GB or higher disk space most frequently on their instructional computers. Although estimates for the details are shown in table 11, the total in the text is based on the raw data and because of rounding, it differs trivially (i.e., 1 percent) from the estimate that would be obtained by adding details directly from the table.

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