“John Halamka has a penchant for experiments with new technologies. In 2004, the now 44-year-old CIO of the Harvard Medical School and CareGroup, which runs the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who is also a practicing emergency room physician, was one of the first people to have an RFID chip containing a link to his medical records implanted in his body,” Meridith Levinson reports for CIO.
“The PCs inside the hospital have to work too. So when Halamka’s laptop running Windows XP interrupted several presentations with inopportune antivirus and application updates, he decided his next big initiative would be to determine which desktop operating system—Windows XP, Apple’s OS X or Linux—is the most secure, most reliable and easiest to use in a corporate environment,” Levinson reports. “For three months, Halamka ditched his Windows laptop. He replaced it first with a MacBook running OS X. Then he spent a month using a Lenovo ThinkPad X41 running a dual-boot configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation and Red Hat Fedora Core. Finally, he took up a Dell D420 subnotebook running Microsoft’s Windows XP.”
“Halamka judged the three operating systems according to a variety of criteria including their performance, user interfaces and enterprise management capabilities, such as the ability to configure applications, easily organize file systems, and establish granular security control,” Levinson reports. “Halamka tested the operating systems himself before testing them with users because he wanted to know firsthand what problems users might encounter and get a sense of whether his IT department will be able to easily and cost effectively maintain the platform. He conducted the experiment before the release of Apple’s Leopard and Microsoft’s Vista operating systems for two reasons: He had the time in his schedule to learn the nuances of the different operating systems, and he prefers testing established, stable technologies rather than new releases.”
“‘I used to think that the Macintosh was something used by free spirits just to be different,’ he says. ‘Now I realize the Mac has such superior human factor engineering that it’s used by people because they can be more productive. If Apple comes up with a 2- or 2.5-pound 12-inch-screen laptop that runs cool, has better integration with Exchange, and if Vista turns out to be the beast it could be, then I probably will move to a Mac,'” Levinson reports.
Full article – very comprehensive – with much more here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “GimliNZ” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Sounds like Apple should rethink a replacement for the 12-inch PowerBook. A lightweight 12-inch MacBook Pro would be a welcome addition to Apple’s portable lineup.
We’re talking ONE inch here with a Macbook. I don’t think that’s a deal killer.
The heat maybe.
The real issue is exchange, I doubt it will improve for the Mac. Microsoft is not interested in making it better for Apple, it would only hurt them.
Sounds like 90% of the people who claim to be Apple buyers these days: “I like Apple, but I’m not buying one ’til they build the machine I WANT! FEASIBILITY AND PRACTICALITY BE DAMNED!!!”
What would apple gain by adding a 12 inch MacBook pro? The 13 inch MacBooks fit in here very nicely.
Just food for though……
I am using a 12″ / 1.5GHz Al Powerbook and it is great for travel. Because it is full-featured, it weighs in around 4.6 lb, not 2.5 lb. But you don’t have to carry external optical drives and such with you to achieve full functionality, either. I don’t know if it is worth Apple’s effort to create an ultra-portable. But the rumored Mac tablet may fill that bill…
Please Apple, make a much smaller MacBook Pro! My PB 12″ 1.5Ghz is starting to feel a little slow. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a tiny, light, fast, even more portable MacBook Pro?!
Magic Word: sure. As in Apple would be onto a sure winner.
This is a big deal because until the Intel switch, Apple wasn’t even a consideration. Once Leopard comes out, imagine how enticing Spaces will be. In one quadrant, Windows and your I-need-Windows-for-this-app, in the other 3, everything that makes a mac a mac. With the click of a button, Windows comes (and goes) only when needed. This will make a lot of people very happy.
I’m still waiting for the 12″ MacBook Pro. The 13″ MacBook just doesn’t get it for me. If I have to, I’d rather have a 15″ MBP than a MB.
I know of a few people that would really enjoy seeing a new 12″ MBP. We talk about it often.
The G4 was lightweight, ultra portable, and had a super low footprint. There definately is a market for such a computer.
Come on Apple!
…So when Halamka’s laptop running Windows XP interrupted several presentations with inopportune antivirus and application updates…
How anyone could ever tolerate the above is one fscking BIG measure of consumer stupidity.
MW: “decision” as in what’s there to think about?
WHAT IS THE POINT OF RUNNIGN WINDOWS WHEN HE HAS TO SAY THIS ABOUT IT:
“
Having used XP since 2002, he’s noticed that the more applications he installs, the slower and more unstable the operating system becomes. So to keep it in tip-top shape, he’s keeping his software stack simple. He vowed to install as few additional applications as possible and to install only Microsoft manufactured and branded software at that (except for Firefox).
By taking those steps, Halamka says he’s achieved “a version of XP that actually hasn’t crashed in 30 days. “As long as I keep [the OS] in that totally static state, it’ll be OK.”
If you give yourself system administrator privileges and you install software and serve a lot of websites, the likelihood that the OS will be corrupted is high. You can prevent yourself from getting hurt, but you have to have a really locked down environment,” he says.
“
IN OTHER WORDS DON’T LOAD SOFTWARE OR USE THE NET, BECAUSE IT CORRUPTS WINDOWS.
So how does anyone ever justify using Windows on that basis? Nice one Microsoft…
Interesting. After spending all that time and effort and deciding that Apples OS is better, easier and more productive, he settles on a lighter weight or if Vista is a real pig.!!!!!
I guess its that those doctors have to carry their laptops so far and so often that the extra lb or two is just a killer. Virsus and spyware stealing medical records are a non issue cause the doctors don’t keep their own records on the system. LOL
“If all hell breaks loose, then I will move the remails to Apple. Oh wait, there wont be any repains. OH well. Merry christmas.
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N.
What makes Exchange so sacred? Can’t OS X Server do everything Exchange does? Better? I mean, really. It is a Microsoft product after all.
So after he finds that OSX is by far the most stable, and safe, he won’t move to Apple unless Vista is a real pig?
It shows what an uphill battle Apple is waging against an incredibly brainwashed public.
Those in the know are switching from MS Exchange: high TCO, not enterprise scallable, unreliable and inefficient. There are better alternatives to enterprise workgroup solutions, for example Oracle Collaboration Suite.
{MacMania or his affiliates are not employed by Oracle Corporation or own any securities of Oracle Corporation}
They need a 10.4″ and a 12″
Do it Apple!
BTW: screw Exchange.. its god awful.. jsut because some big business use it because they dont know any better doesnt mean its any good.
I work in medicine and have for about 20 years. The market is adopting tablets at a rate far greater than the market at large, as are utilities, warehouses and field engineers in many tech markets. They are also of great interest in the education market. Apple needs to release a tablet form Mac for the pro market. Anyone who has used a Newton knows that Apple understands the difference between pen input and keyboard input. OS X already has significant handwriting recognition built-in (the software is legacy from the Newton). Time to get busy, Steve.
norm e: I do not believe that medical records are allowed on laptops. I do not believe that the federal regulations on patient information privacy allow that. The laptop would be used for presentations (any data involving patients would have to be blinded to patient ID) and articles, etc.
Well, it sounds to me like he really has not picked OSX yet, though he certainly thinks it is the better OS.
Mobile devices, from PDA’s to laptops are currently being used for image review, orders, charting and lab test resulting and have been for a number of years. Due to HIPPA, certain security measures have to be taken to prevent packet hijacking, but is allowed. Any number of security measures can be employed to protect the wireless transmission of healthcare information.
The portable devices do have local storage, but also back-up to a central server database. Thin-client computing is all the rage in this market, where the real horsepower is on the server. The specific applications software resides on the server- not the portable device.
http://www.military-medical-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=1428
Mobile devices, from PDA’s to laptops are currently being used for image review, orders, charting and lab test resulting and have been for a number of years. Due to HIPPA, certain security measures have to be taken to prevent packet hijacking, but is allowed. Any number of security measures can be employed to protect the wireless transmission of healthcare information.
The portable devices do have local storage, but also back-up to a central server database. Thin-client computing is all the rage in this market, where the real horsepower is on the server. The specific applications software resides on the server- not the portable device.
http://www.military-medical-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=1428
Mobile devices, from PDA’s to laptops are currently being used for image review, orders, charting and lab test resulting and have been for a number of years. Due to HIPPA, certain security measures have to be taken to prevent packet hijacking, but is allowed. Any number of security measures can be employed to protect the wireless transmission of healthcare information.
The portable devices do have local storage, but also back-up to a central server database. Thin-client computing is all the rage in this market, where the real horsepower is on the server. The specific applications software resides on the server- not the portable device.
http://www.military-medical-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=1428
Here is mobile software for Tablet PC’s in medicine. Scroll down the page for reviews and links to a number of apps/uses. It’s a website dedicated to tablets in medicine. Apple needs to get it’s foot in this door.
http://www.medicaltabletpc.com/
We use Entourage with Exchange at the office with *mosty* decent results, though when the Exchange server acts up it *really* acts up. Creating hundreds of blank postings in public folders is a big one, that happens almost every day. Also, it’s nice how it never reads a hyperlink correctly, or how it’s spotty embedding an Excel chart or an image into the body of an email – some people see them and some don’t.
And for some reason people accept this as normal.
-c
MW: ‘said’ (I wanted a Mac and all I got was this crappy Lenovo)
My 12-inch powerbook has accompanied me around the world and I would have loved it to be just a tad smaller. The MacBooks are very cool but too big for this purpose. I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t get this. It isn’t as though there aren’t gazillions of computer-toting business people traveling the globe every day of the year.
I want a 12″ Macbook Pro. I love my 17″ Powerbook but its too big for travelling… And the Macbook doesnt have the same gorgeousness factor
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Exchange is one of M$ worst products. Absolute crap. He should be shot for letting it through thw door