Apple Polishing Mac OS X for Uncle Sam?

polarfleece writes "A report on Macteens that the latest build of Panther contains strong evidence that it is being customized for U.S. Government applications. I, for one, can't wait to see a whole lot of Apples being toted by gummint men (and women). Of course, do we REALLY want those gummint agents having access to the same technology we Apple users enjoy so much? On the other hand, to quote story author Clark Mueller, 'it just might be one of the more intelligent steps taken towards U.S. national defense.'"

Comments

embedded images?

[udecker]

I'm beginning to wonder why Apple would include items such as Department of Public Health and U.S. Army logos within the login panel, when individual customizations are usually done after installation?

Does microsoft embed specialized content for "preferred rollout" people in Windows as well?

Perhaps this is just a kitchen sink issue, and the release builds will not contain such images?

This should not come as a surprise

[Dan Ost]

The US government is one of the single largest consumers of computer
systems in the world. Is it really surprising that Apple might make
an effort to court it?

Navy Intranet?

[bluethundr]

This sounds really wonderful for the implementation of Apple Hardware by Uncle Sam. But one Gov't market the likley won't be able to penetrate is that of the Navy/Marine Corp intranet! That is one bigass contract they are not going to be able to take advantage of because of the decision to standardize on Windoze 2000. "Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!"

As reported in this older /. story it's the largest federal IT project ever undertaken! The goal is to get as many people as they could up to a reasonable level of modernity. Some of those sorry fuckers are STILL using wordstar and the tech of similar vintage! So I guess that even Win2k would be somewhat of an improvementin those select cases. I'll bet however that some of the other branches are going to have to give up their brand new Apple hardware due to the new standardization (those mil outfits are a true tower of Babel!) are going to be *reeeealllly* unhappy!

The Navy/Marine Corps intranet is being used as a template for the tech that the "Dept. Of Homeland Security" will use. Fortunatley, for the time being anyway, that department seems as largely fictional as the name is ominous. Fictional in the sense that the departments that are supposed to be talking to one another in a free flow of information...aren't. Not even to mention that in true 'big gov't' fashion the project is massively over budget and deadlines keep getting pushed back further and further.

Go Uncle Sam! *yeesh*

Lockout?

[secolactico]

Of course, "everyone" is saying that the desicion to standarize on Win2k is wrong because it ties you to a single software vendor (Microsoft). Wouldn't the adoption of Apple tie you down to a single software *and* hardware vendor?

Re:Lockout?

[imnoteddy]

Of course, "everyone" is saying that the desicion to standarize on Win2k is wrong because it ties you to a single software vendor (Microsoft). Wouldn't the adoption of Apple tie you down to a single software *and* hardware vendor?

Only if you had a "Mac only" policy. It is better to allow the best tool for the job rather than mandate a monoculture.

Re:Gummint Mac use

[Wyatt Earp]

Years ago, when I started working in the Public Sector I remeber there was a place that would sell PowerMac G3s in special configurations for schools, local government and the Federal Government who didn't allow Macs to be bought.

The included a CD of either AIX or MKLinux and were billed on FRPs and Invoices as "Unix RISC Workstations".

They were reboxed so that receiving wouldn't see the Apple boxes, but in all other reguards were G3 Minitower PowerMacs.

The real reason?

[defunc]

What about it's good to have an ex VP on your board of directors to help you connect with the right people? Don't mean to minimize Apple's OS effort, but worth a thought...

Re:Great for enterprise use

[BWJones]

Just about all the users loved the system, too (imagine! Secretaries, using UNIX! :) )

Ahhhh, now I know you are talking CIA. This actually surprised me back in 1991 or 1992 to see NeXT slabs on secretaries desks, but I thought it was very cool (I liked the Cubes). Aside from the rather interesting angle that certain current Apple fellows (former NeXT employees) had with cryptography, the security, built in scriptability, built in optical storage and other obvious choices for a critical, yet secure installation, NeXT had those cool black cases. :-) The running joke among the spook crowd was that that the black cases were the sole reason for the contract.

Yes, but in a GOOD way!

[MarcQuadra]

Think of this:
Government chooses Apple, gets 'integrated' solution and support for hardware and software. No more 'ping pong' between hardware and software vendors.

Also, Apple is the 'little guy' in that situation, they would be able to focus on their biggest client's needs, while MS has to be everything to everyone. If Uncle Sam says 'Jump' Apple would ask 'how high?' while Microsoft says 'maybe later!'

Using the 'underdog' is often the best way to get top-notch service, I work for a small company contracting on Citizens Bank, we all absoultely bust ass to make 'big brother' happy, while our larger competition has much bigger things to worry about. Sure, Citizens pays a bit more for us, but the VALUE is much better.

Re:Bo$tich sucks!

[Chaset]

This totally reminded me of a little cartoon I drew one time. I wish I'd kept it. It was a cover of a hypothetical "Stapler Monthly", with headlines such as "The New Swingline 447, is it Worth the Wait?", "Shootout: 20 latest Staple Removers Compared", "Stapling Tips: 20 do's and don'ts", "2003 Product Guide Issue"

The sutbtle point of the cartoon was that non-enthusiasts of any given topic will never understand the enthusiasts. (In this case, taken to the extreme with staplers.)