I even wonder whether IBM might not still be upset with Bill Gates over the shrewd deal he made with them back in 1980 and are trying to get some revenge by replacing all their Windows PCs with Macintosh computers.MacStadium is the only provider of enterprise-class cloud solutions for Mac and iOS app development. And while a large enterprise like IBM can say that using Macs can save them hundreds of dollars per user per year, my own experience together with conversations with my colleagues in the IT profession leave me somewhat skeptical about such claims. On the other hand, supporting Mac computers can be a struggle for those who do IT within your company or organization. This requires the use of Microsoft’s file-sharing protocol, Server Message Block (SMB), which presents significant compatibility issues in mixed Mac/Windows environments.Users love the Mac platform and frequently favor it over traditional Windows PCs. The only real solution to accommodate large heterogeneous Mac/Windows workloads is to use a Windows File Server, in combination with network-attached storage (NAS) or a storage-area network (SAN).
![]() Server Solutions Environment Large Business Mac And IOSWe found the Macs to be equally temperamental and glitch-prone as PCs. I engaged a Mac-only consultant whose office was down the hall to assist. Our small contracting firm did a wholesale switch of all eight workstations to iMacs and a Mac Mini as the server. When a client was encountering a problem, Mac-using family members would comment that Macs just work. Sage is the industry standard. Businesses have to run an accounts package. A colleague named Steve who works for an IT and business services consultancy in the UK states this plainly as follows: “No one every mentions the massive elephant in the room when talking about Apple. So it’s not a small matter when several of my IT pro colleagues who support Mac computers in their environment tell me that wholesale replacement of PCs with Macs in business environments faces a major challenge, namely, the fact that Macs just can’t run certain types of must-have business software applications. It’s also about providing the computing, storage, and networking resources your company or organization needs to get the job done whatever that might be. For someone just looking at email and browsing that’s not a big deal, but for our average business user it’s a half to all day project to get them back to where they were.”IT support is more than about fixing things and managing stuff. There is a mountain of business software available on a PC that isn’t available on an Apple.”Of course, there are a number of different solutions for running Windows software on a Mac. There is not one piece of business software available on Apple that isn’t available on a PC at a lower price. And for the small business Sage Instant (and its replacement) are £85 if you shop around. It isn’t even in the same league. Please don’t try and tell me the Xero is an alternative, it isn’t. There are alternatives, but they are always a mess of complication and compromise. A colleague named Richard, for example, told me that: “Five years ago I was a 100 percent PC person. This made for some very expensive Windows desktops, compared to what they would have cost if Mac hardware was not already purchased!”Other colleagues disagree, however, about the challenges of integrating Mac computers into Windows shops and supporting them. Long story short, within six months, more than two-thirds of them had a flavor of Windows loaded on the Macs, so they could get their work done in a timely manner. For example, Tim, who works as a Senior Technical Systems Engineer II for a large enterprise, shared this story with me: “I worked with a company that wanted to jump on the Mac bandwagon, so the entire company switched to the Mac. Is there a windows 10 for macThe cost and administration of a Citrix farm will easily blow the TCO calculation for the Mac. Today, Citrix works great, get a Windows 7 desktop and can access all software as if in the office.” Tim, however, disagreed with Richard’s evaluation and said: “Having run a Citrix farm in the past, there is no way that the Mac can be cheaper than a PC if this is needed. To my surprise after about a week of frustration on learning how to use a Mac, it integrated beautifully. Three years ago I was told to purchase a MacBook Air to test and see if it was viable for the law firm. Back then, a Mac did not integrate very well into a Windows shop and legal software via Citrix. ![]() ![]() I would much rather support Linux systems than the Macs because Linux is easier to connect to the network. If WiFi is a different subnet than LAN, then Mac can’t find a network printer unless configured by IP address instead of name.” And Ron, who runs a small business environment of just under 100 computers, concurs with this interesting observation: “Trying to tie the Macs into our Windows AD network has had its challenges. Mac is designed for a home network where everything is one subnet.
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