Unix based system

[Ralath]

I don't know how techie you guys are but I'm doing some research into this subject (and I'm not a computer science-y person at all) and I'm hoping one of you guys could help me. And there might not be anything to do this at all; it could be a dead-end. I've read the Wikipedia article on this and that hasn't really helped.

My school recently told us that they were moving from a unix-based system (I'm going to assume it's for things like e-mail) to a Google Apps Email accounts which has a lot of variety of features such as more storage, use of Google other applications, etc.

Basically, what I want to know is why they would cause such a switch like this? Phrased differently, what are the inherent weaknesses or lack of capabilities about a unix-based system? Or, what is the benefit to outsourcing a school's e-mail system?

Thanks for your help. Sorry if I'm confusing. If you can't tell, I really have no idea what's going on.... @_@