Very impressive! – Seton Hall University is offering Windows 8 tablets to freshmen and Juniors – Video

Now this is the kind of news that I want to be publishing on here!

In what can only be described as a PR and marketing coup, Microsoft have convinced a US University to distribute Windows 8 to their incoming students.

New Jersey’s Seton Hall University is offering about 2,500 students, including all incoming freshmen and junior students, the choice of either a Samsung Series 7 tablet or Samsung Series 5 ultrabook running Windows 8 Release Preview version.

In addition, they are being offered Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phones.

Here’s the cool part of the story.

The laptops and tablets will be updated to the official RTM (Release To Manufacturing) of Windows 8 after its release on October 26.

Very well played by Microsoft because typically this is an Apple iPad story.

Seton Hall officials are saying they chose Windows 8 because:

• Windows 8′s strong enterprise features, including its manageability via Active Directory and Group Policy;
• Problems distributing apps to large groups on the iPad;
• Apple’s lack of enterprise-wide warranties for its iPads, making the process of getting support cumbersome, according to Landry.

Also interesting is the fact that the school is choosing to pay MORE for the Windows tablets than they would an Apple solution.

Here’s some promo video from the school.

Download Video | YouTube Converter

Based on list prices, deploying 2,500 Samsung Windows 8 tablets (the lower-end one is $1,100) would cost the university about $1.5 million more than buying the same number of $499 iPads ($2.75 million versus $1.25 million).

They are obviously making a long term calculation that Windows will be easier to maintain. Whether that’s true or not is unimportant to me.

What is important is that these stories need to continue to hit the press every week through the actual launch of Windows 8. This is hopefully the beginning f the Microsoft/Apple fight for the tablet space we have all been waiting for!

What do you think?

Seton Hall’s decision to give out Windows 8 Tablets? A good idea?

Let us know…

Join the forum discussion on this post Tags: promotion, Samsung, Samsung Series 7, Seton Hall, University, Windows 8