NComputing announced that its products were chosen to supply a computer education program by the Andhra Pradesh state government and partially funded by the Central government. The program will provide computing access for the first time to 18 lakh schoolchildren throughout the state. Each of the 5,000 secondary schools will have a 10-seat computing lab with 2 desktop PCs and 8 NComputing systems. The win marks the largest deployment of NComputing's solution in India. The decision to deploy NComputing's low-cost and eco-friendly solution establishes the Andhra Pradesh government as an innovator in educational computing and a model for other governments considering similar projects.

By leveraging NComputing, the government will save nearly Rs. 80 crore in up-front and ongoing costs. The government will also use 90% less electricity compared to a traditional all-PC solution. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Stephen Dukker, chairman and CEO, said, "NComputing is proud to have been chosen by Andhra Pradesh to fulfill its vision to improve learning and computer literacy throughout the state," said Stephen Dukker, chairman and CEO of NComputing. "At about Rs. 4,500 per seat, our solution is the ideal platform to enable schools, businesses, and governments to maximize their PC investment. We are the world leader in desktop virtualization and the scale of this deployment further extends our leadership position."

The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today's PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of applications only use a small fraction of the computer's capacity. NComputing's shared computing solution taps this unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously shared by many users. NComputing uses only 1 watt of electricity and is rugged, durable, and easy to maintain.

The computing labs will be used to teach computer skills, office productivity (such as spreadsheets and word processing), as well as subjects like reading and math. The systems will run the Microsoft Windows Server operating system and Microsoft Office Suite. "India holds a strong position in the knowledge economy today due to the country's investment in education over the years -- and as a country, it is critical that we continue to focus on this," said Ravi Venkatesan, chairman and corporate vice president, Microsoft India. "Aligning ourselves with the country's priorities, we at Microsoft India are committed to enabling affordable access to computing for education. Through Microsoft's Unlimited Potential commitment, we are continually looking for innovative and affordable technology solutions that can sustain social and economic progress. Initiatives such as this announced today that leverage the value to educational computing provided by the Windows Server platform represent yet another solution that can help move us towards this goal."