“In what may well be Apple Computer’s largest coup in the Australian enterprise space, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) will deploy 1200 Apple G4 iMacs across 140 registry offices. A statement Computerworld obtained from the RTA reveals the G4s will be used as point-of-sale terminals for its counter staff to handle RTA customers transactions across ‘prepared business applications’ as well as for ‘collecting data and payments and issuing licences, registration certificates and receipts for various transactions,'” Julian Bajkowski reports for Computerworld.
“The move away from Wintel desktops also appears to reiterate the recent strong stand by the NSW government to seek alternatives to wholly proprietary operating system kernels – and the licensing models that go with them – where cost-effective and viable alternatives exist. To this end, the RTA is making no bones about its preference for open standards and open source, with what appears to be more open source action slated for the near future,” Bajkowski reports.
“‘The Apple rollout is a continuation of RTA usage of open standards-based software and systems. The further adoption of open source is being undertaken to provide more choice of vendors and to guarantee RTA systems are providing value for money,’ the RTA statement said,” Bajkowski reports. “Unix, it appears, will also remain firmly ensconced at the RTA for the foreseeable future fronted by Apple’s OSX 10.3 Panther operating system. ‘Apple OSX 10.3 was the major advantage sought as it fit neatly into the Unix-based registry network. [The] cost of the machines was comparable to machines being offered by other vendors. [The] technical capability of [the] iMacs was superior and users definitely preferred the ergonomic design and look and feel of the terminal,’ the RTA statement said.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ahhh, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority gives the green light to Apple Macintosh! The worm has turned, so to speak. May other enterprises take notice.
yes, QLD police have used macs for at least 10 years, but, they are making the ‘switch’ to pc’s unfortunately.
on the flip side, we hear many stories about pc users in business switching to macs, but, there are many mac businesses switching to pc’s.
a prime example of this is the Australian Travel Company, Flight Centre (largest travel co in Australia, 3rd largest in the world) who have switched from mac to a Citrix thin client solution using Winterms. Flight Centre were one of, if not the largest mac user in Australia.