School computer
This page has been designated a "MASMCWiki historical page". The information is highly outdated, but provides a glimmer of knowledge into how early Academites lived.
The school computer provided by the Academy is a desktop computer, of the following specifications (taken from the Missouri Academy FAQ):
MASMC Computer Specs[edit]
- 933 MHz Intel Pentium III processor
- 10GB Hard disk drive
- 128MB SDRAM
- 48x max CD-ROM
- Integrated AGP video
- Integrated Sound Blaster compatible Audio
- Integrated Intel 10/100 Network Interface
- 2 USB ports, 1 parallel port and 2 serial ports
- 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy
- Logitech PS/2 wheel mouse
- 104+ keyboard
- Microsoft Windows XP (Operating system)
- Microsoft Office 2000 professional (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access)
- Internet Explorer 5.5
- Norton Antivirus
Now looking at this, you may be thinking "Wow, that's a pretty nice computer to get for free!" And you'd be wrong. Notice the 128 MB of memory. WinXP requires at least 256 to run like it's had its legs chopped off from underneath it, so chained to our desks now are very large and ugly paperweights. In years past, Windows 2000 was installed on these machines, which made a lot of sense, considering Windows 2000 was more about functionality than eye candy, so 128 was plenty. We've had many a conversation with the Computing Services folks, and they assure us that any problems will be cleared up next year, when they remove these computers and give us laptops. Yeah, thanks guys.
(At the time of this writing, it is planned for the next year's Academy students (the classes of '06 and '07) to receive laptop computers, similarly on loan from Computing Services.)
We strongly recommend bringing your own computer if you have the means, as our experiences with Computing Services indicate that we'll be getting the lowest tier hardware they have, and any problems are probably our fault.
