“When Apple lets slip the leash on Leopard this Friday, its predatory instincts will be trained on Microsoft and Steve Ballmer’s blood will be scented in the twitching nostrils of its, er, operating system,” Martin Veitch writes for The Inquirer.
“Yes, I know, but as well as tempting hacks the world over with the possibility of untold numbers of rubbishy metaphors and similes, Leopard is Apple’s best chance in a decade and a half at clawing back (oh bloody hell, it’s happening again) market share in the dull but fantastically lucrative world of fluorescent lighting, datacentres and systems ordered by the fleet. In short, the corporate client computing world,” Veitch writes.
“It’s well established that the Ipod and Iphone have created a halo effect on Apple’s desktop and notebook business, both of which are growing at wonderful rates. Most of these sales have been to consumers but Apple has half a chance of converting IT shops too,” Veitch writes.
“The old wisdom is that Microsoft has deep hooks into business and these can never be severed because of dependency on legacy software, systems, skills and processes. That’s true up to a point but the times are changing,” Veitch writes.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “IT-git” for the heads up.]
Just this morning I was talking to an IT guy with a major health care HMO who admitted he’d never even touched a Mac.
I set him straight with my iPhone, and he’ll be looking at a Mac now.
does anyone else hate it when people write iPod as Ipod, etc?
mdn word: language… as in learn the apple language
Ain’t gonna happen.
IT departments are loaded with WinHacks who know that if they switch to OS X servers they’ll have to let half their staffs go since fewer people are required to run OS X-based networks. You have to convince the higher-ups that their (supposedly) subordinate IT departments must switch.
Good luck, Apple.
can you add a Mac to Active Directory? I know that Macs and PC’s can share folders/files across networks using SMB but I think using Active Directory would be important to IT Managers in PC only shops…
yes, you can add a Mac so that you log into it with an AD account.
To really be serious in the business world Apple needs to release a competitive multi-session product similar to (but better than) Microsoft’s Widows Terminal Server 2003 – soon to be 2008. That would be sweet, and it would make businesses take a serious look at Apple as an alternative to MS. Do it Apple – Do it!
Skabeetle:
“Mac Computers on Windows Networks
Apple has gone well beyond generic standards-based support. Mac OS X builds in support for all of Microsoft’s proprietary Active Directory services: Microsoft Kerberos authentication; Active Directory authentication policies, such as password changes, expiration, and forced password changes; and Active Directory replication and failover.
This means Mac computers work with Active Directory in much the same way Windows clients do. Macintosh systems can use existing Active Directory networks and Exchange mail servers, Microsoft’s VPN server and Microsoft Office applications. Administrators can maintain Mac OS X user names and passwords in Active Directory, authenticate Mac OS X users with Active Directory and allow users to mount their network home directory based on information stored in Active Directory. Mac OS X can also discover multiple domain controllers and automatically determine the closest one. If a domain controller becomes unavailable, the Mac system uses another nearby domain controller.
Because these capabilities are built into Mac OS X, you can take advantage of them without expensive software add-ons or time-consuming changes to the Active Directory schema.”
http://www.apple.com/itpro/articles/adintegration/
I’ll second KDC’s suggestion. But there are two routes, and both have their place.
The first would permit the running of Windows sessions by remote Mac users. This is for those occasions when they absolutely, positively need access to Windows (without having a separate license on each box) from the desktop Mac. That’s how I ran my Windows apps from my Solaris desktop long ago.
The second essentially reverses the process. Windows clients would wean themselves away by opening a session into a multi-user Xserve, getting their taste of OS X.
Obviously, I’m partial to the first approach. More real Mac boxes, without the performance penalty, and only a few Windows licenses. Because that’s the world we want to see.
Luke: I’m with you on that, sadly. No way are giant corporate IT departments who are accustomed to ordering the cheapest, clumsiest, junkiest crap from Dell or Lenovo going to pick up Macbooks. The Windows losers who work in the IT department can’t even dress themselves properly, so to expect them to recognize the business advantage of using Apple hardware and OS X is a pipe dream.
magic word : “how”
exactly what I was thinking when I watched the demo…
When OS X becomes appealing to the mindless drones with commitees full of the technically inept demanding countless tabs packed full of pointless options, it just lost me as a proponent.
Leave OS X the simple and elegant way it is and leave the corporate circus with ten layers of options to Windows. Bloat, complexity and overhead are not welcomed. BTW, I am in a “Fortune 1000” IT shop. Yep, it sucks.
The IT team around here (very large corporate environment) still consider the Mac a novelty and those of us who keep waving and shouting from the back of the room as an annoyance to serious discussion about the reliance on MSoft and Windows now and forever.
They often say when the head guy doesn’t even dress seriously when he comes out of hiding to promote his latest ‘toy’ that he will never be part of Corporate America.
Apple is going to still have some difficult barriers to make inroads in to the corporate world. XCode 3 will hopefully help, but to really break in tools with the ease of use like RealBasic but supporting other languages will be needed. The business world is still in the early stages of dot Net conversion, and J2EE isn’t going away either. Yet these platforms are wrought with implementation and expandability difficulties. Apple will need to embrace the more open platforms and come up with alternatives, or make these solutions runnable on their platforms in order to make larger inroads in to business.
Admittedly, I do speak from the business development point of view….
Actually, from anecdotal evidence, Macs are already beginning to make modest inroads into business areas previously dominated by Windows. The real-world model does not necessarily involve an all-or-nothing approach – throw out all the Win systems and replace them with a Mac system.
Rather, many businesses I know are adding Macs to the periphery of their IT ecosystem. Most are adding just one or maybe a handful of Macs (depending on their size) into areas that do not involve them having to uproot their whole IT system.
Sometimes, the IT personnel get overridden by CEOs and other bigger honchos in businesses who are enamoured with the Apple halo and reach a compromise with their IT guys to include a Mac or two into the operations.
A foothold has definitely been established. Whether that footprint gets to be of a significant size remains to be seen.
It is also necessary to point out that in certain business sectors – particularly the “creative” ones, such as graphics-heavy businesses – Macs have been and continue to be the platforms of choice.
Complete nonsense. Microsoft is entrenched in the enterprise for one reason and one reason only: QUALITY. Microsoft makes the best of the best. Only MAC sheep would argue with their namby-pamby notions of “end user experience” and “ease of use” and how about MAC lemmings old standby “it just works?”
I’m here to tell you MAC-tards that Microsoft has taken ease of use, end user satisfaction and seamless plug and play to a level Apple could never dream of. Heard of Zune and Zune Marketplace, anybody? And don’t give me that crap about Microsoft’s “underhanded” business practices or other nonsensical conspiracy theories. Microsoft is on top because they are the top. It’s gonna take more than a hippy toymaker to bring them down. Losers.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Sounds like the old mainframe/terminal vs desktops/server arguments revisited. Business just wants things to work… efficiently with minimum down time. Pragmatism always wins. And appl is well on its way to breach the walls. Vista/m$ is an old fortress with thick stone walls that Big cat tech has made pregnable and obsolete.
Will Leopard make businesses change their spots? Or will they continue to be catty?
Is it set to pounce and devour Microsoft’s marketshare?
Will it make my “mouse” more snappy?
…
Ok, I’m done.
the point is Apple is grabbing some of this market, where before they had none.
the bottom line wins in the end and Apple offers a solution that is so much better.
These above opinions are just that opinions.
The facts are we are growing in a place where we have not before.
10.5 is going to make this happen faster.
this is a fact
deal with it and stop telling me your bullshit about how it is not going to happen as it is happening now
WINDOZE DOES NOT LAST FOREVER
trust me
“The first would permit the running of Windows sessions by remote Mac users.”
You mean like you can already do with this guy:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remotedesktopclient
No doubt the Mac will win some entry into enterprise environments. But the biggest change has to be made at Apple, not just the software. IT Drones ™ like product roadmaps, which Apple historically hasn’t provided. But even discounting that, Apple would need to overhaul their support operation to make them palatable to enterprise customers. Perhaps they can leverage a third party for this, but without it their enterprise wins will be limited in the near term. Finally, there’s also the issue of Apple as a single source provider. Many enterprises require competitive bids and multiple sources for their infrastructure needs. That’s something Apple will never be able to change.
But even with all that, 2% of the enterprise market would be a huge win. I don’t think anyone would disagree on that point.
Win the colleges and you’ll eventually win the home. Win both of those and 5-7 years down the road business will follow. What Apple needs now, I think is a Mini that is a bit weaker and a bit cheaper for the business boys.
Damn, Zune!
You sound like you’re getting pissed off.
Three cheers for the hippy toy maker. Woo hoo!
I agree with Mr. Jobs. Bill Gates needs to drop a tab for some insight. It wouldn’t hurt Ballmer either – although he might see everything as food and try to eat it.
Man, ZuneTang sure is grumpy today
KDC…
You’re right, Apple needs a terminal server.
And if you go here, you can see the product they helped build. It’s at an early stage of evolution, but its potential is clear to anyone with a functioning IQ by looking at the development roadmap.
If you need more info, sign up to macenterprise.org and they should have the webcast from last month available for streaming by now.