Apple's window of opportunity closing

     WASHINGTON When Principal Mark Kelsch needed to outfit the computer lab at Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, Md., five years ago, figuring out what kind of machines to buy was a no-brainer: Apples.
     From the introduction of its popular Apple II units in the early 1980s to its more recent Macintosh machines, Apple Computer Inc. long had been the top choice of educators because of the company's deep discounts to schools and user-friendly software.
      "If you were a teacher, it was what you bought," Kelsch said. But when faced with equipping a second computer lab at his school a few months ago, Kelsch's choice was far tougher. Most of his students who have home computers have machines that run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software and are incompatible with the Apples. He got better prices for computers that run Windows. And he worried how well financially beleaguered Apple would be able to maintain its machines. His choice this time: 30 computers that run Windows. "If they've got Windows at home and their parents use Windows at work, I realized that I'm teaching the wrong technology if I'm using Apples," Kelsch said. This year, for the first time, most of the computers bought by primary and secondary schools will use Windows, a recent study by market research firm International Data Corp. found. The educational defections couldn't come at a worse time for Apple, whose share of the home and business markets has slipped as it struggles to compete against the booming popularity of Windows. "They're losing their grip on one of the few franchises they had left," said Scott Miller, an analyst with Dataquest Inc., a market research firm in San Jose. "This hurts quite a bit." Miller estimates that education sales made up about 31 percent of Apple's 1996 revenue, or about $851 million. One of the computer industry's most dominant players a decade ago, Apple has struggled in recent years because of lackluster sales, weak acceptance of its hand-held computing products and an exodus of top managers. Apple, however, points out that 60 percent of the computers in K-12 classrooms are Macintoshes or Apple IIs. "There are an awful lot of people who like our computers," said Mike Lorion, vice president of Apple's education division. Apple disputes the International Data numbers, saying they are based on predictions and not purchases. But even a study it cites, by a firm called Quality Education Data, says IBM-compatible computers' share of the school market grew from 27 percent to 39 percent from the 1992 to the 1995 school years. (Most such computers use Windows.) In the same period, the survey found, the share of Apple machines dropped from 64 percent to 58 percent. Most analysts expect Apple to stay in business, but they and educators question the level of discounts, training and support the company will be able to give teachers after the company's latest round of cutbacks. The move away from Apples in schools also has been spurred by a steadily growing number of educational software titles for Windows computers and new school discounts for Windows-compatible hardware. At Sligo Middle School, the transition has been remarkably smooth, Kelsch said. Recently, more than 40 students crowded into a computer room that contained 30 new Windows computers, while next door, five children milled about in a room with 30 five-year-old Apple Macintosh LC machines. "I'm more familiar with these because it's like what I have at home," said eighth-grader Neal Kim, 13, who was using a computer with Windows software. "It's pretty cool."