Given that the Assistant Head's main argument is purely aesthetic - he wants a Mac suite in the school to impress visitors
Keeping out of date computers because they look nice!
Madness. :bonk: Shiny computers will only impress those that don't know what they are looking at, anyone who does will think 'why are they using computers that are so old?'
While Macs are beautifully designed, and look very nice, they are designed, and so easily aged when the design changes. PC's are just boxes, for the most part, and could have any combination of components in them. The PCs in work are very old, but were transformed by putting more RAM in them, not something potentially easily and cheaply done with Macs.
A computer room should have the best cost effective equipment available, if they come in plain beige boxes, so be it. :shrug: Technology, especially computers, changes so quickly, and while Macs seem to hold their performance longer, it has to be balanced with cost. Those that have to make those decisions would hopefully make the right decision between type of computer, (influenced by choice of software) cost and longevity. :shrug:
You can always get PC's which also look nice, if that is important.