“Macintosh has now ‘crossed two of the three barriers to enterprise computing,’ says Scott Parkin, a product manager at LANDesk Group Ltd. in South Jordan, Utah. Parkin says the first barrier was the need for a Unix-based operating system, which Apple Computer Inc. provided with its Mac OS X software. The second was, of course, the need for Apple to build Intel-based hardware — mission accomplished with the dual-core laptop and iMac systems it announced this month. The third barrier will be crossed when end users can run Windows on Macintosh machines, Parkin says. No one expects Apple to ship and support Windows,” Mark Hall writes for Computer world.
“But, Parkin says, ‘market dynamics will mean someone will come out with a hack to run Windows on the Mac.’ The likely scenario will have one of Intel Corp.’s processor cores running OS X and the other running Windows, he says. LANDesk has already ported its client code to the Intel-based Macs and will make the expanded software available this week for users of its systems and security management suites. Parkin says any company with 5,000 or more PCs has plenty of Macintosh systems on its network. Most of those Macs are ‘self-managed,’ he suggests. But in the new era of regulatory compliance, Parkin thinks IT managers will want to keep a closer eye on their heretofore unfettered populations of Mac users.”
Full article here.
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AutoCAD for UNIX? You’ve got to be kidding. What was the last version? How much did it cost?
Seems like this guy doesn’t have a clear grasp of the difference between operating systems (Unix, OSX and Windows) and applications (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access, Appleworks). I wonder if this lack of clarity carries over into his value to his customers. Or maybe clarity is not needed when your goal is to fetter.
I don’t believe Windows running on a Mac will help much at those companies where the dollar is the most important criteria in commodity purchases. Sure, Apple will discount on volume, but will they discount as much as Dell or H.P. does??
If Apple were going to get serious about the enterprise, they would need to release something like a baby PowerMac in a smaller case (something like the old LC series), with easy changes to components such as memory, disks, power supplies, motherboards etc, one or two expansion slots, standard VGA output, networking etc. That is, everything looked for by the enterprise for a basic, but very cheap desktop solution which sells for around $500.
Now, a Mac mini might do for the price and will be useful in some places, but they aren’t easy to upgrade, have no expansion slots and have slow disks (you might as well get a notebook). PowerMacs start at US$2K. That’s a crazy price and complete overkill when you’re buying 100s or 1000s of them. iMacs aren’t internally expandable (beyond memory and disk) and you don’t get a choice of the monitor.
My feeling is that Apple doesn’t really have a cheap, enterprise-ready desktop Mac, and that will be more of a hinderance, even if Windows runs. The next question is though – is this even the market they’re going for?
Apple supplies many ways for IT managers to “manage” their Mac users. Any Mac running Remote Desktop could do this nicely. Also the IT departments may want to consider purchasing Mac OS X Server and some XServes and XRaids, which wil give them more control — er, allow them to manage — their Mac users and their machines even better.
Windows we do not need I think! Hmm.
Booyah!
“self managed” …. bet that phrase makes IT departments cringe.
Based on my experience in a number of organizations, “self managed” means either
1) They run flawlessly so IT never has to deal with them
or
2) IT, being dumber than a fencepost, can’t fix them when there is a problem so the user does it himself
Ah, and so another Mac themed website idea has emerged from the fertile grounds of MDN…taking Macs into the realm of enterprise computing. This would be handy for those of us who must deal with the devil (and by devil I mean Windows) on a daily basis. Hmmm…I may have to go warm up the old RapidWeaver, put on a pot of coffee and see if I can think up a catchy domain name. Anybody interested in contributing their expert advice? [crickets chirping] Hello? Anyone?
Spot on Other Steve… the bastards like having crap Windows systems so a) they’re needed at all and b) because that way thay keep complete control of the users.
Just what we all knew – Microsoft Windows is just a nasty conspiracy amongst a bunch self serving so called IT managers.
One day the truth will out hey! What fun this is becoming…!
No mercy guys, go for the jugular every time.
qka: Correctly put.
dab2: The problem is that Access come with Office and is readily available. If that can be overcome (tough, I know), DB users should not develop their databases in Access in the first place! As you point out, it is not cross-platform. Not only are Macs increasingly entering the workplace, but clients of these corporate entities often also run Macs – in and out of certain Mac specialty fields. Corporations seem to want the clients to come into the real world and use Access and the accompanying Windows maladies that go with it. Instead, clients should be complaining that they want a cross platform database. Even if the primary client has Access, their next level of servicing may deal with Mac users. FileMaker is not the only cross-platform database application, but it is certainly one they should be considering.
I don’t use Access. I know that it had a pretty bad reputation for a long time. But I have heard that it has been strengthened and it working better than it used to. Of course, I don’t know. I don’t use it.
So the only way to accomplish enterprise computing is to have a computer that dual-boots Unix and Windows?
There are now three new barriers that must be crossed to be used in enterprise computing:
Firstly, a minimum of security holes to maintain a manageable environment.
Secondly, an operating system based on open standards and able to run multiple operating systems simultaneously.
Thirdly, full optimisation between hardware, operating sytem and applications.
I’m sorry, it seems we’ve reduced our choices to only one, so we’ll have to lower our standards to allow us to keep using the ‘preferred’ system and our jobs.
MW: ‘paper’ as in, sounds nice on paper, but when will the enterprise ever change?
It seems like Apple shouldn’t even worry about this niche of a niche market; how many people HAVE to administer Windows networks but really want to buy Apple hardware to do it on? Is it enough of a market for Apple to take on the unpleasant task of handling Windows tech support on their hardware? I think not.
HGWells:
Apple OS X includes Apache (web server), PHP (Windows/UNIX coding environment), MySQL (SQL databease). Really not seeing a point in your comments. You make it sound like Mac users would need to buy Filemaker Pro or some other software to get a database running when that is flat out NOT TRUE.
HGWells,
Thank you for your comments. I think we are in general agreement.
Rasterbator,
I use MySQL with custom Java front ends. That way I can create fast cross-platform solutions with a better look and feel than that of a website. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are many good uses for the Apache, PHP, MySQL solution, but it does not give quite the same user experience.
OBVIOUSLY you can’t use Macs as an enterprising solution. Because then all those companies would have to layoff 95% of their IT staff. Duh!
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By the way, I am right now m working with a customer’s database which is written in Access with loads of Visual Basic code modules. If it were not for the Visual Basic, I could quickly port the thing to Filemaker Pro as a runtime solution. The fact is, the customer is not willing to pay the extra cost to rewrite all of the code in Java or C.
I am running Access in Virtual PC on my 15″ PowerBook G4.
Yeah, everyone here wants to self-manage their macs, til they need something installed or fixed, then they want me to do it for them.
No different than PCs, actually.
Access is a joke. Most IT departments now ban Access databases because self-taught managers will create apps on the damn thing (normally on their local hard drive), load it up with crucial customer data, then throw tantrums when it inevitably breaks. As another poster mentions above, if you need a database for a business, it should be built on something a bit more reliable than the relational equivalent of a PST file.
MS-Access. MS-Shite more like. The fact it’s not available for Mac is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.
We like being self-managed. I.T. management? We don’t need no stinking I.T. management.
My previous corporate IT dept was (mis)managed by IBM Global Services…
As far as unfettered Mac users, good luck trying to rein them in! From what I could see, the PC users had free rein too!
Corporate IT Dept.’s (outsourced or otherwise) can’t manage their way out of a paper bag!
These PC gear heads bitch and moan for years about how Macs are sooooo expensive. And from what I hear, they’re still too expensive. Why all the talk about running Windows on Macs now? Is this the caliber of logic and consistency we get from IT? Do they actually want to buy a more expensive box from a single premium vendor to run some hacked and patched implementation of Windows?
AlanAudio wrote:
“When automobiles were first introduced, I have no doubt that there were people who strongly believed that the best way to steer them was with leather reins rather than that new-fangled wheel thing.”
Incredibly, there was.
There was at least one early American farm tractor that worked like that. The farmer walked behind the tractor, and controlled it with reins. Just like a horse.
Funny how the notion of running Windows on a Mac brought that idea up…
1: Any IT department that allows hacks (such as one to allow Windows to run on a Mac) are cruisin’ for a security bruisin’ here.
2: He wants it run run UNIX and yet it’s supposed to run Windows? Which is it bozo?
3: The guy is fishing for hits on his website.
Sputnik! Where are you when we most need your “professional IT” opinion?
from what I hear, they’re still too expensive
Have you done a comparison LATELY?
I’m not talking about some Dull for $199 after rebate system too underpowered to actually do anything. I’m talking about a system powerful enough to do the work that needs to be done.
I have a friend who knows nothing about computers, wants to buy one for his kids. Even he has figured out that the cheap Dells advertised on TV aren’t what he needs and that he’ll have to spend more. Of course I’ve been telling him to get a Mac. He hasn’t purchased yet, so we’ll see.
I priced professional laptops a few months ago, and the Dell was actually more expensive, when configured identically in hardware (disk, RAM, display, networking, etc.) Of course no comparison was possible on the matter of software.
Utter crap.