“Bill Gates used to brag that Microsoft made more money from each Macintosh sold than Apple Computer did. Apple’s hardware is now plenty profitable, but Microsoft software remains an important part of the Mac ecosystem. Microsoft’s latest effort for the Mac, Office 2004, could even persuade some corporate technology managers to take a fresh look at Apple,” Stephen H. Wildstrom writes for BusinessWeek.
“I believe that for ease of use, reliability, and security, Mac OS X is the best desktop operating system available today. Still, the Mac is not a good choice if you depend heavily on a Windows-only application. But with a more compatible version of Office, plus Virtual PC to run the occasional Windows program, the Mac should get new life in business. It has definitely earned the chance,” Wildstrom writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The success to the Mac in corporate settings depends on how well the Mac deals with Windows. Sad. It didn’t have to be this way. But, that’s the current situation. Someday, we hope Windows is judged not by what it can do by itself, but by how well it integrates with Macintosh. IT people, if you get the opportunity to speak with a small or medium-sized business owner who’s standardized on Mac OS X, do so – it’ll shock you. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll probably have to severely downsize your support staff if you make the leap to a pure Mac OS X environment.
Most corporations won’t think different.
100% Microsoft free.
20 people and not a single Windows machine.
I consider all Windows machines as security risks that are unstable and unreliable that are also too expensive to keep and maintain.
One Guy from Finalnd,
SNAP! 20 people in my office and we all use OS X 10.3.4
My boss has an XP laptop that plugs into the network so he can access the net. First time he plugged it in he got Netsky, then 3 other viruses. He is throwing it away next week when his PowerBook arrives
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I would never, ever switch to Windows. Been using Macs for 12 years and I intend to keep on using it, especially now it’s UNIX based…
On a completely different subject, I bought Salling Clicker yesterday. All I can say is… WOW!
MS Office is an important application in corporate world, however there are much more applications, which are available only for Windows. Unfortunately, many of them are custom appications written for Windows.
Only solution I can see is Apple Service organization, that says “We do Windows.” Then Apple can get in through the corporate doors and start changing the IT infrastructure from inside (by writing Mac only applications… Ok, they need to start with multi-platform applications, preferably Java applets).
twelveightyone,
If your boss is trying to get rid of his windows laptop, I might be interested in buying from him. Let me know.
Paul,
Sorry I think he’s giving it to a school. We like to do our bit for charity
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The school uses Red Hat, by the way.
Ofice is a money spinner for M$. but there must be another story here. M$ needs Mac Office to only be good enough, but they’ve taken it further. Good business? Maybe. But I think it’s because Apple must have a black program with a ready alternative to M$ Office for Mac. Would you take the risk that M$ releases a shonky version of Office for Mac? I think not. Common sense dictates that one has to be ready for any eventuality. So, as long as M$ plays fair with Office, Apple can keep this super-AppleWorks out of the market. But if M$ fails to keep pace (I.E; PowerPoint ~ Safari; Keynote) Apple is ready.
Farfetched or sensible?
Hmmmm, Less is More, possible but I don’t know how probable. Do you think Apple would spend all the development costs for a product that they only intend to use as a threat and not release? I guess it could be an interim step to use it as a threat and THEN release it
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Anyway I think that the reason Office 2004 is so good is that the Mac mind set has infected the MacBU at M$. They march to the beat of a different drum and are inspired to excellence by the system they are programming for. Also they are doing all their work on Macs so they can be much more productive than other developement teams at M$.
It’s not necessarily true that an IT department would have to downsize. For exaple, where I work the staff numbers are woefully inadqueate for supporting an enterprise of our size. We’re a non-profit research and educational institute with three locations in the States and seven overseas: (Bankok, Tokyo, Seoul, Milan, Paris, London, Moscow and soon somewhere in India).
They could really benefit from the better reliability of Macs. One of them asked me to make sure to include him when I run an OS X training class for our graphics people in the next few weeks.
Jack A:
It’d be an extension to AppleWorks; it’s not like they’d have to reinvent the wheel. And you wouldn’t fund the group much. Doubt that it could be kept under wraps this long. Just pure speculation.
Atatakaku natteru, sochi?
” Someday, we hope Windows is judged not by what it can do by itself, but by how well it integrates with Macintosh.”
Actually, I hope someday Windows is judged by what it is, i.e. crappy OS.
Sorry Scott but most corporations are thinking different, which is why they are moving to Linux. Apple is the ultimate in Corporate America thinking “buy everything from us and us alone”, Linux will free people from monopolies be it MS or Apple.
I had a mac then when to a PC, of course a mistake, and now i have to go back to a Mac, In the past 3 months I had to reinstall Windows Xp, 3 times, as for the article, I believe in a matter of 4 years to 6 years, windows will be nothing more then “another” OS. OS X is amazing and people will see it, hopefully a few more software companies will see the light too.
Hey Voltar… Linux is great, but not quite ready for primetime on the desktop. Each of us read and contribute to this forum because we are interested in computers – but business needs machines that are easy to operate for the majority, and cost-effective for the business.
Windows is not cost-effective, simple or stable. Linux is far more stable than Windows, but needs a higher level operator.
The Mac is currently the best all-round computer solution for small and medium businesses. It’s very cost effective (ya ya ya, Windows PCs cost way less to purchase… but factor in the costs of downtime and lost data and the costs go through the roof.
Windows computers are a liability. If everyone was starting from scratch again – MicroSoft wouldn’t even be in the running.
Unfortunately, the office where I worked has standardized on not one, but three applications, all of which are browser-based and work only with MSIE. So not only are we locked into the worst operating system, but also the worst browser.
It’s sad: I know the higher-ups here are not fond of Microsoft, in fact harbor quite a bit of resentment toward them, and yet here we are making ourselves even more their slaves.
(At least the servers are all going Linux…)
Haven’t we heard this before, when the last version of Mac Office came out? Great reviews, better than on the PC etc, then when users got it the reports were of terrible slowness and file incompatibility with current PC versions of Office. This version sounds very similar, “Entourage 2004 brings nearly all the features of Microsoft’s Exchange enterprise mail and scheduling service to the Mac. It will only work with recent versions of Exchange server with Web access enabled, and it fetches mail more slowly than Outlook on Windows”.
I’m MS free, I can’t imagine any circumstances when I would use any of their products. I don’t support criminals who refuse to reform even when they are caught out time after time after time.
I tend to agree. Most corporations could actually do like we did and save money over the long haul by using the Mac. It always amazes me when I see Windows users spending inordinate amounts of time just trying to make the software work. For the majority of people, Windows is just way too much. It reminds me of the time when I was a Windows user and you have to have this loose knit chain of techie friends so you can call when your machine doesn’t work. Please note that “when” your machine doesn’t work. It’s not if, but when.
Mac OS X: bad netizen. On a windows network, OS X leaves “.DS_Store” files all over the place. It drives our IT guy, a huge Machead, nuts.
It is important to have Office for the Mac and have it be cross compatible to provide a comfort zone for switching users and companies. I am all for the “Add a Mac” campaign. All companies should add a Macintosh so they can be sure they will have a computer that is working in case of virus attacks etc. They should also probably keep they highly sensitive documents on the Mac since it has much better security.
Less is More
ototoi wa atsukatta kedo, ima wa suzushiku narimashita. ame ga yoku futte imasu.
Apple is a Monopoly. 1.8% market share in the computer business and you have a Monopoly.
Voltar, do you have any idea what constitutes a Monopoly?
Didn’t think so.
Linux has a Monopoly in indecipherable desktops. Switch to linux desktops and increase your IT department. Go Voltar!
While there are certainly a zillion spurious reasons not to go Mac, as well as some personal ones (justifies large IT departments), the real reason for larger enterprises not switching is short-term costs.
The lowest cost Mac is about $800, while the lowest cost Dell is about $500. Multiply that by 1000 stations and the initial costs to replace that many stations would be around $300,000.00. And, they would have to buy all new software to run on the Mac.
Never mind that IT costs would be lower. Never mind that when you add the same features to the Dell that are alreadly in the eMac, the prices are the same or lower for the eMac. Never mind that you’ll probably have to replace the Dells years earlier than the eMacs. Never mind that you’ll have to pay for upgraded software, too. The bottom line is what they think it will cost them today.
IMO, the real direction to “attack” the market would be to go after smaller businesses (20 stations and lower). Show how the prices for the Macs are comparable to the Dells. Obtain discounts for for desired software.
Don,
Usually a Win -> Mac migration is not done all at once. It can be done department by department so the cost is spread over multiple years as aging PCs need to be replaced.
Second, most businesses do not buy the cheapest piece of PC junk. $1000 per desktop is not uncommon, especially as firms are going with flat panel displays to minimize disposal and ergonomic costs.
Third, most software is sold by license not by the boxed media. In other words, if you buy Photoshop for the PC all you need is the Mac CD in order to use the original license on the Mac. I don’t recall MS’ licensing agreement but outside of them, most of the time the license is platform neutral.
So, it is possible to migrate while mitigating costs such that the cost advantages of the Mac (in areas of security, ease of use, productivity gains, lower repair costs, etc.) can easily overcome any initial hardware cost differentials.
B
don’t say SNAP, 1281..
Whispers at the company watercooler about outsourcing our department to India motivated us to approach management with a 10 year plan.
Our computers were a mix of windows boxes that always in constant need of repair and turnover was like every 2 years. Workflow was constantly getting interrupted by plague of virus and other problems.
Management thought that the only computers that were available were x86 based and their only choice to reduce costs was to partially outsource.
We suggested a alternative solution that was a lower total cost of ownership over the long haul:
132 iMacs, Powerbooks, a few G5’s for the graphics department, Appleworks, Filemaker, use existing network, a replacement of 15 HP printers.
Rotate 4 of our staff to other positions, (unfortunatly for lower pay, but it’s a job). Other job restructuring as well.
After a brief adjustment period of about three weeks, and a few stubborn asses, we have a all Mac solution. A erie quiet came over our department, the phone no longer constantly rang with problems, coworkers were helping each other learn the new software, and actually everyone has this sort of happy look on their faces.
My job now consisted mainly of maintenence, backups, a few kicked cables and a lot of “wow I can do that?” instances.
What brought this all about? The bosses secretary (due to security reasons) has been using her old Mac SE off the network for over 15 years. She swore up and down and wouldn’t let it go.
She proved the Mac is reliable, stable, secure and cost effective.
She saved our jobs and our families.
Nice Story PortSmith. I wish it could be repeated a bit more.