“When you think of the Apple Macintosh, you might think of a smooth-running, elegantly designed, though comparatively expensive, laptop or desktop computer that is used largely in homes,” Joab Jackson reports for Government Computer News. “But can Macs also play a part in the workplace?”

MacDailyNews Note: When compared with similarly-spec’ed PCs (as closely as possible, you can’t match Mac OS X with a PC), Macs are often the same price or less. Macs are not “comparatively expensive” to Windows PCs.

Jackson continues, “The answer seems to be, increasingly, yes. For instance, the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department recently purchased 175 iMacs and MacBook laptops, which will work within the department’s Microsoft Windows environment. ‘They are used in regular office space for all types of assignments,’ said Assistant Sheriff James McDonald. ‘We also use them in the training room and we use some for video editing and podcasting.’”

Jackson reports, “Orange County is not alone. A recent study conducted by analyst firm Information Technology Intelligence Corp. (ITIC) seems to suggest Apple is creeping into the enterprise. A survey of 700 organizations — about 9 percent of which were government agencies — found that 23 percent reported that they have a significant number of Macs in their organizations. Significant, in this study, means more than 50 percent of the desktop computers. ‘There is a distinct, discernible trend’ of more Apple hardware use in the enterprise, said Laura DiDio, a principal at ITIC.”

“The Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Md., uses Macs to run modeling and simulation projects to help create safer vehicles for soldiers. The Army Aberdeen Test Center uses a fleet of Mac Pros for high-definition video editing. Forensics labs also seem to like Macs. Both the New York State Police and the Miami-Dade County Forensic Labs use them for computer forensic analysis. San Antonio just completed a proof-of-concept evaluation of whether it could use Macs for city operations,” jackson reports.

There’s much more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "hooty" for the heads up.]