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Hi, I'm a Mac, and I'm Your Enterprise Computer

Posted by Zonk on from the hey-there-mac dept.

Esther Schindler writes "Not just another 'why big companies should adopt Macs' article, CIO is running a piece assuming that Macs are already on the way in the door. Hi, I'm a Mac, and I'm Your Enterprise Computer offers advice to IT managers about how to integrate Apple systems into the existing IT infrastructure, and offers hints from leading Mac OS X experts on configuring those systems once they've arrived. '[A] key element in corporate Macintosh adoption is the importance of third-party software and custom solutions. They can help smooth the way for integrating Macs onto the network. While specialists say they wish third-party support were greater, the openness of the Mac makes correcting issues possible. Don't discount the lure of the well-worn path that draws and then traps your IT staff into familiar habits.'"

79 of 469 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Enterprise Central Management by DurendalMac · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remote Desktop can be configured on any OS X computer to allow connections from regular old VNC apps. I've used a free program called "Chicken of the VNC" to connect and it works great. In addition, you've got a standard POSIX layer for remote administration through the shell. I don't see what you're complaining about.

  2. Coming through the VP ranks... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At the company I'm working for, Macs are getting attention at the Vice President level where they're configured to run Windows XP in a Parallels virtual windows machine to run those must have Windows applications. Since I'm the only Mac owner on a PC-centric IT staff, I got a bit of job security as a Mac guru. I keep telling people that a Mac is PC with a better OS. :)

    1. Re:Coming through the VP ranks... by mfh · · Score: 2, Informative

      Neat stuff. I think it's important to note that Boot Camp might be included in the next version of MacOS because of Vista's license that prohibits the use of virtual environments like Parallels. I happen to really like how Parallels switches between the OSes, like flipping a page almost. ;-)

      I sold a setup to a customer in my store a while ago who loved how Parallels and XP worked, but I had to also sell him a full security setup for XP due to obvious reasons. You would be surprised how many customers have no idea what it takes to keep their machines secure on Windows systems. They figure that since they are buying Mac, they don't have to lock it down if they put Windows on it. Boy are they wrong! LOL

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  3. Higher TCO? by Lord+Grey · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Printer-friendly version of the article.

    Most of this article is pretty good, but I disagree with one of the early bits about supporting Macs in a PC-oriented office:

    For Publicis Group, the Macs have higher total cost of ownership. This is because of the particular hardware configurations and the company's corporate culture, which calls for more intense support on the Mac side.
    The article goes on to say that some of that may be because these particular Mac users whine a lot and need more help (my words), but also "... due to the nature of the tools we use on the Mac."

    This contradicts both my experience and the experience of an awful lot of tech support people I know. In PC-oriented offices where Macs are used, the tech support folks rarely have to fiddle with the Macs. The Mac apps don't seem to cause any more problems than the PC apps, so the support costs are about the same. Maybe Publicis Group is a bit more PC-oriented than the CIO is willing to admit?
    --
    // Beyond Here Lie Dragons
    1. Re:Higher TCO? by jimstapleton · · Score: 5, Informative

      when I did tech support, our Windows:Mac ratio was probably 10:1

      Our support call issues, excluding hardware, were about 20:1 (windows:mac), but 8:1 (est) hardware.

      The time to fix a Windows problem was usually quicker though.

      "Error 3" popping up when a program crashes usually /is not/ helpful.

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
    2. Re:Higher TCO? by 0racle · · Score: 2, Informative

      When they work, they work very well. When the OS or an app dies, well lets just say they whine and complain as much as their users do.

      Entourage is the biggest source of headaches. Get rid of that steaming pile and you're much better off.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    3. Re:Higher TCO? by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Funny

      The time to fix a Windows problem was usually quicker though. With all that practice I certainly would hope so. ;-)
    4. Re:Higher TCO? by Mattintosh · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Error 3" popping up when a program crashes usually /is not/ helpful.

      There are two ways to correct this.

      1) Find the APPL file (the executible APPLication) and open its Get Info box. Find the Memory section and double the number.
      2) Wipe the HD and install a version of the Mac OS from this millenium.

      I recommend the latter.

    5. Re:Higher TCO? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ive been using MacOSX since 10.3 as my main desktop and laptop, and unfortunately I have to say that Ive had a fair number of cryptic error messages with little explanation, usually only a negative number to google with (as an example and not a real number, Error -39). As a regular on #macosx on freenode, I would say that my experiences are not exactly rare either.

    6. Re:Higher TCO? by stacey7165 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      At Hyperic, 75% of us run Macs, and of that - maybe 20% of us have had serious problems with them. Mostly because some of us got the MacBooks with the lovely intel processors... our community guy stripped OS/X for Ubuntu, and I have to run parallels and can't have it run at all reliably with anything less then 2 gigs of memory. We've both had crashes where we lost all our data within the first 3 months of having them. Couple others have had the dreaded fan problem - where it stops working and fries the hard drive. I love my Mac, but its unstable with lower memory and the new Intel chip that NOTHING really runs on yet. Sales and support uses PCs and they've had no problems. That said, the folks that have them are the heaviest, most demanding users in the company. So its expected we have more problems.

      I gotta say though... we love our Macs here, despite the problems...the genius bar folks are great and help get things resolved very quickly...and they are definitely doing something right given Apple's revenues!

      -Stacey http://www.hyperic.com/

    7. Re:Higher TCO? by OnlineAlias · · Score: 2, Informative

      "The time to fix a Windows problem was usually quicker though"

      That is the rub with MACs in the enterprise, non-existent enterprise back end support for hardware, no enterprise management tools, constant integration issues.

      The problem with MACs in the enterprise is Apple themselves. They don't want the market enough and don't think big even when they need to. One can look at their server line for proof...they don't offer enterprise high availability, hardware fault tolerance, nothing. They just say "Ooh, we have SAN technology". Ya, big deal. What if I need support when that goes down in the middle of the night with 10,000 users standing around? "Oooh, you'd be fooked in that case, we're at home in bed...."

  4. Odd... by DurendalMac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The Macs require a greater density of field associates. Where we have 1-to-150 PC techs to users, we're somewhere down to 1-to-100 for Macs. I think that's due partly to the technology and partly due to the users. The creatives are more demanding and you have to be more responding, because those are the people that clearly create our revenue," says Anschuetz.

    That's the direct opposite of my experience (More like one Mac guy for 700-800 Macs, one PC guy for about 100-150 PCs), but I suppose a university environment is a bit different from a creative environment (at least outside the art/music/etc departments).

    1. Re:Odd... by noewun · · Score: 3, Funny

      If your average corporate user is like a drunk teenager with a loaded pistol, your average campus user is like a tantrum-throwing toddler with a bazooka.

      --
      I am a believer of momentum and curves.
    2. Re:Odd... by falcon5768 · · Score: 2, Informative
      No same thing here. I am the only trained Mac tech for about 750 machines while we have about 5 trained PC techs for 1400-1600.

      I have never worked in a environment where the mac techs outweighed PC techs, even in schools where there where twice as many Macs to PCs. Part has to do I think with the fact that PC techs are a dime a dozen and Mac techs are very hard to fine (often your training Mac users up to becoming Mac Techs themselves rather than hiring out for a person who was already a Mac Tech) Likewise from a management standpoint Macs have always been easier to manage, since they where designed from as far back as OS 6 to be remotely managed. The only thing hard I have encountered is managing machines using Active Directory, to make it easier on a PC network, which you can do, but takes some setting up.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    3. Re:Odd... by 644bd346996 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think their statistics can be explained by PC users having much lower expectations. At my university, the helpdesk people have intel iMacs running OS X and XP under parallels. I have never seen them using OS X while helping somebody. All the support calls are for windows.

    4. Re:Odd... by amper · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's really not that odd. Creative users tend to need more and better support. They are the "exception that proves the rule", so to speak.

      I've been supporting Macs as an independent consultant for seven years, and as part of a larger systems integration company for another five years before that. I have expertise in the fields of graphic design, photography, and audio production, among others

      Creative users tend to replace software and hardware much more often. One reason is that creative houses tend to deal with files from many other companies, to say nothing of moving files around in house, and the upgrade cycle of each individual software package tends to introduce incompatibilities that even when minor can interrupt a workflow process to the point that a significant amount of time and money is lost in dealing with the problem, so everyone tends to upgrade at the same time. When your clients and freelancers start sending you QuarkXpress 8 files that can't be opened in QuarkXpress 7, you'll upgrade too. Of course, with every new software version, the hardware requirements go up.

      Creative users, in order to be properly supported, require that their support personnel actually know something about their highly specialized field. Such people are difficult to come by, and cost a lot of money when you *do* find them [like me ;)]. It's rare that you'll find someone that's cross-trained at a high enough level to replace two or more people, so you end up consulting several different people for some issues.

      We're not talking Microsoft Office here. This is some serious shit with big money involved and little time to dick around.

      On the other hand, while there are less "enterprise" support tools for Macs, it's because they need them less. Ghost? Who needs it on a Mac? Sure, if you're doing a mass roll-out of hundreds of Macs, a multicast replication tool is nice to have, but it's nowhere near as necessary as when dealing with a Windows SID environment. Macs also break less often, and are easier to fix when they do. I would be nice, though, if Apple would do some better documentation of Open Directory. When I hear people talking about the lack of "enterprise support tools" for the Mac, they're usually approaching the problem with a Windows mindset rather than a Mac mindset.

    5. Re:Odd... by nine-times · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, in my experience too, Macs require less time to support, but I've never done anything resembling a study. I can't tell you for sure whether they really took less time to support or if it just seemed that way.

      It's not just that they're easier to deal with (they are) or because they're more reliable (they seem to be), but also because Apple Remote Desktop is an amazing help. If you have to administer to a bunch of Macs and haven't used it, it's definitely worth a look. Hint: It's not the same thing as VNC or Terminal Services.

    6. Re:Odd... by SuperBanana · · Score: 4, Informative

      I suppose a university environment is a bit different from a creative environment (at least outside the art/music/etc departments).

      Having worked for an advertising company, yes. Sometimes, if stuff doesn't go out the door on time - millions of dollars are at stake. Advertising industries are highly competitive, even against each other (the vast majority of advertising firms are owned by less than a half-dozen holding companies...and yes, the same 'children' compete against each other.) So whether it is a proposal, presentation to the client, or artwork- if it doesn't leave with the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) on time for his flight, or get downstairs to the courier to arrive at the client or their printing house...shit hits the fan.

      The closest comparison is probably "grant time" in the academic world.

      The art department where I worked were the neediest; they got the fastest computers (and got 'em more often) and they were the only department with gigabit ethernet. When shit broke you had to got to drop everything and get it fixed ASAP. They also tended to have more problems because of more complexity...tons of fonts(and a font manager like Suitcase), old versions of Quark that required Classic...inDesign, Adobe Distiller printer drivers, half a dozen different kinds of printers. Nowhere nearly as complex an software matrix as the copywriters and paper pushers who just need email, Word, Safari, and to be able to print to the laserprinter in the hallway.

      --
      Please help metamoderate.
    7. Re:Odd... by frdmfghtr · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "The Macs require a greater density of field associates. Where we have 1-to-150 PC techs to users, we're somewhere down to 1-to-100 for Macs. I think that's due partly to the technology and partly due to the users. The creatives are more demanding and you have to be more responding, because those are the people that clearly create our revenue," says Anschuetz.

      That's the direct opposite of my experience (More like one Mac guy for 700-800 Macs, one PC guy for about 100-150 PCs), but I suppose a university environment is a bit different from a creative environment (at least outside the art/music/etc departments).

      Here's a thought that popped into my head...maybe the ratios are a bit off due to the low volume of Macs in the installed base?

      Here's why I say that: Say you have two PC techs and two Mac techs. Your installed user base is 200 PCs and 100 Macs. The ratios of techs to computers are 1:100 and 1:50, PC and Mac respectively.

      In the surface, you have twice as many Mac techs as PC techs for a given user base. Does this mean you have to provide twice the support for the Macs? No. You need two techs as a minimum because there will be times where one is sick, on vacation, etc. You could double, or maybe even triple the installed base, but not need to get more techs, because the workload is still within the capability of your current tech support.

      I guess the point I'm making is that you need to have a minimum amount of support regardless of your user base. A realistic comparison can only be made when you have an equal number of PCs and Macs in the user base, or enough of an installed user base to require more than the minimum amount of support personnel.

      After all, if the ratio of users to techs turns out mathematically to be 100:1, and you have 46 users, it's hard to hire half a person (unless you contract out for on-call support, but that's getting beyond the scope of my comment.)

      Maybe the article points this out and I should read it, but that's the thought that comes to mind.
      --
      Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?
  5. If Macs Are For The Enterprise ... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... then what kind of computer are they using on the Klingon ships?

    ... then what kind of computer should I use at home?

    ... then can I use my iPod as a PDA?

    1. Re:If Macs Are For The Enterprise ... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh, so sorry, but the answers I was looking for were:

      * Linux
      * Linux
      * Of course, but only if I load Linux on it.

      Hopefully you'll fare better next time you play "Default Answers For /. Readers"

    2. Re:If Macs Are For The Enterprise ... by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... then what kind of computer are they using on the Klingon ships?

      Clusters of old ZX Spectrums.

      ... then what kind of computer should I use at home?

      A Meccano difference engine.

      ... then can I use my iPod as a PDA?

      If all your contacts happen to be famous musicians, yes.

  6. Apple Remote Desktop, VNC by CheeseburgerBrown · · Score: 5, Informative

    Using Apple Remote Desktop (for OS patching, application installs, configuration) or any of several open-source VNC solutions (to help lost users by taking control of the machine) remote management of enterprise Macs is not only possible, but easy.

    I manage a small cluster of Macintoshes (for video production) in a 95% Windows shop. If anything, I think I have a far easier time than the IT Service that maintains the Windows machines (they often have a lot of complex licensing issues to wade through).

    --
    These stories are free but worth money.
    1. Re:Apple Remote Desktop, VNC by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If it's a 95% windows shop, it's likely they WILL have more often and more complex issues. If there are 90 Fords and 2 Hondas, it is quite more likely that a Ford will break down first.

      Not necessarily saying that it's not true your Macs have fewer problems, but the statistics and results from those statistics are skewed.

    2. Re:Apple Remote Desktop, VNC by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 5, Funny

      Perhaps I'm biased, but if there were 9,500 Hondas and one Ford, it is quite more likely that the Ford will break down first.

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
  7. Re:Enterprise Central Management by 0racle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ya, if only they had a Remote Desktop application, or something that could push settings the same sort of way that the Active Directory does.

    Even ssh would be a start.

    Why doesn't Apple make these tools available?

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  8. Openness? by MontyApollo · · Score: 3, Insightful
    While specialists say they wish third-party support were greater, the openness of the Mac makes correcting issues possible

    What do they mean by "openness" here. (Just curious - don't interpret this as troll.)

    1. Re:Openness? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What do they mean by "openness" here.

      I suspect they mean that Macs integrate with all the open standard protocols and tools that Linux does (think LDAP) instead of the MS controlled closed protocols where interoperability is always a little broken since it is achieved via reverse engineering.

    2. Re:Openness? by fyngyrz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Friendly: s/b "alluding"; to "elude" is to avoid.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    3. Re:Openness? by raddan · · Score: 2, Informative

      People need to stop repeating this shit. It's not true. The MacOS kernel is a Mach/4.3BSD hybrid kernel, that's been injected with some FreeBSD stuff, called XNU. It has much more in common with NeXTSTEP than it does with FreeBSD. The system doesn't even use the BSD driver model-- it uses I/OKit, which is totally different.

  9. Re:Enterprise Central Management by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2, Informative

    As the other guy said, you can use Apple Remote Desktop which lets you run the other computer's desktop or push apps and updates out to them all automatically. You can use free VNC programs to connect to ARD or free programs like Chicken of the VNC can do the whole thing itself (that's how I interact with the mini that acts as my media and file server). There's also ssh and any of a host of other UNIX tools.

    Netboot on Macs really works very well too. You can plug a new Mac into your network, hold down a key on boot, select the image you'd like it to run and after it downloads it, you're off and running, new computer completely configured to your spec.

  10. Re:End Users are Monkeys... by DurendalMac · · Score: 2, Informative

    Directory services and limited user accounts, much like any other managed environment.

  11. Do me a favour... by MSFanBoi2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Someone who has an Enterprise level agreement with Apple, let us know how much an "enterprise" level iMac costs in bulk.

    I know for a fact that both Dell and HP's "enterprise" desktop systems with a 19" flat screen monitor are about $650. (HP DC7700 for example) This includes an Intel Core2 Duo, 1.0 GB of ram, an 100 GB SATA hdd, integrated Intel graphics, and a SATA DVD/CD-RW combo drive. Dell's product is very similar but a little bit less ($750). Both systems as I said, come with a 19" flat screen.

    The cheapest iMac is the $999 iMac, which is only 512 MB (but does have a larger hdd). I'd love to know the corporate pricing. To move to the 19"... add another 200 to that. Still, thats retail store, so someone kindly provide the corporate pricing.

    Till Apple has prices that are similar, no large enterprise in their right minds would make the move, considering most of those, if not all of the fortune 500's are running Windows on the desktop....

    1. Re:Do me a favour... by DurendalMac · · Score: 4, Informative

      Corporate bulk purchases can sometimes wrangle that price down to $900, maybe $850. However, despite what the article says, the experience of just about everyone else in the industry is that TCO for the Macs is much, much lower than that of a Windows box, making the purchase pay for itself after a while.

    2. Re:Do me a favour... by fishthegeek · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hmmm.... Okay.....

      $650 for the dell.
      $34.98 for a McAfee license (Enterprise)
      $84.00 for a Windows XP cal to connect to a Windows 2003 server. (in Windows 2000 the cal was included)
      $29.00 for a SpySweeper license

      We're at $797.98 right now and we haven't done anything. Lets add a little more for the Ghost license etc if you want to image the machine.

      Windows might be cheaper at it's most basic, the problem is that windows isn't much cheaper when one considers the additional stuff you need to purchase for it to be safe and functional.

      To be fair, you would still need to purchase a cal for the Mac if you are going to connect to a Windows server.

      --
      load "$",8,1
    3. Re:Do me a favour... by 644bd346996 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I only have access to the educational prices, but here goes:

      All the stock iMac configurations are $100 off the retail price. Upgrades are cheaper by a significant amount. Going from 2.16Ghz to 2.33Ghz is $225 instead of $250. iWork'06 is $39 instead of $79. Doubling the VRAM on the 20" is $68 instead of $75, and doubling the hard drive space is $180 instead of $200.

      The 20" Cinema display is $50 off, the 23" is $100 off, and the 30" is $200 off. The standard Mac pro is $200 off. The MacBook Pros are also $200 off. A 5-pack of MacBooks with 1GB of RAM starts at $5335. The standard Xserve is $300 off.

      I do not know if these prices go down further in bulk.

      Apples are still a bit expensive, but with the educational discount, the remaining premium is justified. I consider it a worthwhile investment to get a quiet all-in-one like the iMac.

    4. Re:Do me a favour... by bolix · · Score: 4, Informative

      Absolutely agree with this poster. I work in Academia in an Ivy League which purchases approx $10-15 million of Apple inventory a year. My main gripe is AppleCare. The Dell/HP/Lenovo systems bundle a 3 year warranty, Apple force you to license and purchase 3 year support separately and drive any price differential higher. On the other hand, xservers, xraid and xsan are definitely priced competitively with Dell/HP/Lenovo.

      Furthermore, Apple Enterprise Software Licensing and Sales are outright incompetent. I purchased ARD2.5 one month before 3.0 shipped, Sales backflipped on my eligibility for a "free" upgrade and eventually i gave up chasing down their mandarins, almost as bad as IBM. Nutty scenarios like iLife only bundled with new machines and not with OS upgrades which are stuck with inferior iPhoto etc? Arrgh!

      Apple should stick to the software business and not attempt to niche hardware costs attempting to compete with the marginally profitable Asian manufacturing. Apple cannot compete on the SMB tier.

  12. Good. by EaglemanBSA · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not a Mac user or anything, but if they're right about this trend, I say more power to 'em. I say anyone stepping up and taking a swing at Microsoft's market share is a good thing since it will drive innovation and value rather than good ol' incumbency.

    --
    Quiz: True or False -- On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your middle name?
    1. Re:Good. by Ash-Fox · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now, for you non-Americans out there... what are you doing to topple Microsoft/Apple? ;)
      See European Union.
      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  13. Re:End Users are Monkeys... by netrarc · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm not sure if this is random flamebait, or if you are really unfamiliar enough with Linux to ask such a question. Linux (and Unix) have comprehensive rights-management and file-permission systems in place to restrict a user from manipulating system files or other other users' files. A Linux user can edit/mangle/delete/destroy his own files, but basic (and standard) file permission settings prevent him from intentionally or unintentionally damaging other files. All permissions are manageable by the super user of the system (root), which is the "central control" you were asking for.

  14. Parallels by Chardish · · Score: 4, Insightful
    With proprietary software, much of it in a legacy stage, keeping corporations using Windows PCs, it seems like Apple's business plan should be obvious:

    1. Buy Parallels, and
    2. Include it free with every new Mac sold through business channels.


    Congratulations. Now there's nothing stopping corporations from making the switch.
    1. Re:Parallels by DurendalMac · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except they'd need a Windows license to install inside of Parallels, and there's no fucking way Apple is going to bundle THAT with a new Mac.

    2. Re:Parallels by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just use the XP license from the computer you're replacing.

      It's not like anybody seems to want Vista anyway. What was it the last Slashdot article compared it to? A Persian rug shop with a permanent closing out sale?

    3. Re:Parallels by kchrist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How many large companies can you name that don't have Windows corporate site licenses? That's a well-known problem actually, that big companies pay for Windows twice: Once for the site license and once for the OEM copy installed on all their new Dell's that immediately wiped and replaced with the standard image.

      All they have to do is replace the Ghost image they use for their PCs with a Parallels (or VMWare, when it's released later this year) image they can stick on a file server for people to copy. No license problems at all.

      --
      Web consulting +
  15. Re:Enterprise Central Management by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For Mac OS X 4.5+, Apple offers an emulator named Boot Camp.

    I stopped reading after that. The entire article was this bad.

  16. Re:Enterprise Central Management by rizzo320 · · Score: 4, Informative

    No i didn't RTFA, but one of my biggest concerns has always been remote central management in the enterprise structure. IT can't always make "house calls" to each and every computer, there has to be ways of remotely accessing, configuring and maintaining the systems and I haven't seen much that supports OSX. Even with Linux there are tools that allow you to do that, and most all central configuration tools are Windows based.


    There are many applications and platforms out there that do this, including:
    Apple Remote Desktop
    LANDesk Management Suite
    Casper Management Software

    LanDesk is a cross platform solution. There are also management extensions available that allows you to integrate Mac workstations into your existing Microsoft SMS 2003 environment if thats whats being used: http://www.quest.com/quest-management-xtensions-fo r-sms/

    I'm sure there are more out there. Just look. Most of these tools have been available for the last several years.
  17. The end of Microsoft's Golden Age... by The+Media+Mechanic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think years from now many people will look back on the period of approximately 1985-2005 as a "Golden Age" for Microsoft, when they were able to rake in huge profits by illegally dominating huge chunks of the personal computer industry with the Wintel duopoly. Of course for many of us we will look back on this period as "The Dark Ages" of little or no competition in the PC marketplace. Really what we are seeing now, as Apple and other firms like AMD start to make inroads into the enterprise market, is a return to normalcy. Competition on price and competition on features is a healthy state for the computer hardware & software industry. Capitalism and our free economy is really founded on the notion that there is not a central power (be it a totalitarian system of government, or a monopolistic corporation) that can control an entire sector.

    Also, please take a look other major industries that have healthy competition - Plenty of airlines -> lower airfares. Plenty of car manufacturers -> lower car prices. Plenty of restaurants -> reasonable cost of food.

    The idea that there is only one group of people in the world smart enough to create a reliable and modern PC operating system is simply a falsehood.

    --
    I can throw as many stones as I wish; my house is made of transparent aluminum.
    1. Re:The end of Microsoft's Golden Age... by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... 1985-2005 as a "Golden Age" for Microsoft

      They *did* piss on many their customers during this period.

    2. Re:The end of Microsoft's Golden Age... by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Insightful
      there frankly isn't a whole lot of competition

      Oh, that's not true at all. You just aren't familiar with the competition.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  18. Re:Enterprise Central Management by Monokeros · · Score: 4, Informative

    You mean something like Remote Desktop's "AutoInstall" feature?
    http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/newfeatures.htm l#autoinstall

    --
    The Statue of Liberty is America's lawn jockey.
  19. Re:I smell a rat by rizzo320 · · Score: 2, Informative

    While third party lookupd agents were written, they were the exception rather than the rule." http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/08/05/a ctive_directory.html


    That article is almost four years old. Many improvements were made with Mac OS X 10.4

    Openldap works good for me.


    Open Directory is based on OpenLDAP. It's mentioned at least five times on that page.
  20. IT staff by ruffles321 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Don't discount the lure of the well-worn path that draws and then traps your IT staff into familiar habits" Don't mess with your IT staff and it's paths.

  21. Re:Enterprise Central Management by DurendalMac · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wrong. There was an EFI update that added a BIOS compatibility layer. I've installed Windows on Intel Macs right out of the box, no Boot Camp required. Boot Camp is just Apple's way of making it easy on people. It's the EFI update that made it possible.

  22. apple lacks good Enterprise desktop hardware by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Enterprise Computer systems need to be easy to open up and the mini is not easy to do so and the mac pro cost is too high.
    The I-macs are not easy to open as well and they can not fit in to the same space as desktop + screen on it's own can. It may fit but the side loading cd / dvd may be hard to use then also Built-in iSight camera can be big NO NO some places.

    1. Re:apple lacks good Enterprise desktop hardware by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      the mac pro cost is too high

      Go play with the dell configurator, you can get about the same amount of machine from Apple for about a thousand dollars less.

      I call shenanigans. It's the low-end machines where the PCs are cheaper than the macs.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:apple lacks good Enterprise desktop hardware by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When there is no mid-range system the mac pro is the only way to go and that can be over kill

    3. Re:apple lacks good Enterprise desktop hardware by kchrist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's also the goofy white plastic stuff. It may look "cool" but in an office it looks cheesy, and paying $200 extra for black?


      While I agree that the price different between black and white MacBooks is stupid, I am also a little amazed that you're suggesting that white hardware is somehow not suitable "in the office". What does that even mean? What the hell does it matter what color a computer is?

      --
      Web consulting +
  23. Re:Enterprise Central Management by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Funny

    No i didn't RTFA, . . .

    Didn't read the article: Check

    but one of my biggest concerns has always been remote central management in the enterprise structure.

    Makes a blanket, factually correct statement: Check

    IT can't always make "house calls" to each and every computer . . .

    Makes a righteous, indignant statement: Check

    there has to be ways of remotely accessing, configuring and maintaining the systems and I haven't seen much that supports OSX.

    Introduces personal, anecdotal views as fact: Check

    Even with Linux there are tools that allow you to do that, and most all central configuration tools are Windows based.

    Brings up a meaningless comparison: Check

    That is going to be a big hurdle to adoption from an IT standpoint.

    Closes with a blanket assertion without any facts: Check

    Congratulations, you are on your way to becoming a real slashdotter. You must not be new here! :P

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  24. Stereotyping of "Creatives"? by ErikInterlude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The Mac itself, the nature of the Mac, how it works and how it looks, is actually more conducive to the creative mindset. But those same things have also created a religious factor where the typical 'creative'--they can't even touch a PC keyboard. I'm being actually serious," says Christian Anschuetz, executive vice president and CIO of Publicis Groupe, which is based in Paris.

    I haven't finished the article yet, but while I can believe this mindset being prevalent in years past, but I don't think I've met any designer in the past 5 years or so with such an anti-PC attitude. I've worked on a mac since my freshman year in college, but still had no problem sitting down and doing design work on a PC. And this was over a 2 year period. Using CorelDraw because my employer was Canadian and apparently Corel is a Canadian company.

    Likewise, I've met plenty of PC users who are willing to sit down with a Mac if that's what the job requires. I just don't think this idea of "He's creative so he HAS to use a Mac" is valid anymore. You do the job with the tools you have. At my current job, once the IT dept. found out that I was going to be hired they immediately went out and bought a Mac. If I had been asked I would have said I could work in either platform. It doesn't matter as long as I have the tools to get the job done.

    Sure, PC and Mac users like to make jabs at each other every now and again, but the few times I've met hard core Mac/PC users, they've been jackasses who weren't nearly as productive as they'd like to believe.

    Anyway, just my thoughts.

    --

    --Erik
    1. Re:Stereotyping of "Creatives"? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't think I've met any designer in the past 5 years or so with such an anti-PC attitude.

      The person who we fired a year or so ago, whose job (Graphic Artist) I am now doing in addition to my other jobs (Webmaster, Database Reporting) was PC-phobic to the point where the company bought her a Dual G5 2.0 GHz to do her work on. It is now sitting to the right of me running OSX 10.4 and pissing me off, but that's another story. At least 10.4 fixed the "need-a-refresh-button-because-OSX-is-fucking-reta rded" problem...

      Anyway the point is that she claimed she needed a mac to do her job, but every piece of software she used was available on the PC and the real problem was that she was phobic. She couldn't bend her mind around putting her pinky on the control key instead of the command key or something like that, or maybe she just believed her friends who told her the PC was for games. Now I have to deal with the mac, which is the only mac in the whole damned organization.

      Supporting it isn't very difficult, especially now that there's a ntfs-3g driver for OSX, and now that I've upgraded to 10.4 which means I can use FUSE which in turn means I can use ntfs-3g.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  25. Re:Enterprise Central Management by dbrutus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One of the things that an Apple Admin absolutely can't afford to get trapped in is the religious wars aspect of OS advocacy. The shell is a key element of remote administration and I'm glad I have it.

  26. {first 6 lines of post go here} by TinBromide · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, {obligatory statement about my computer background and/or preference}, but i {explanation of what is used at home and in office}.

    With that said, {obligatory statement to stave off mac cult mods}, but really {please don't hurt me}.

    In my experience,{statement involving one of the following: tech-staff experience, home experience, or work environment}.

    Although, {subtle jab at microsoft indicating preference for neither windows nor mac}

    {statement that anything to jab at big guys is good}

    But really, my take on this? Businesses will use what businesses will buy. Sometimes you keep using a law firm because it works, and as long as they don't cause mistrials or fail due-dilligence, they stay on retainer. Until windows fails miserably, businesses will continue to use what they've used. The small, independent companies are the ones that get all the mac-related press.

    {begins waiting for examples of "big" companies that use macs in numbers greater than 90%}

    --
    Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
    1. Re:{first 6 lines of post go here} by e4g4 · · Score: 4, Funny

      {begins waiting for examples of "big" companies that use macs in numbers greater than 90%} How about Apple?
      --
      The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
    2. Re:{first 6 lines of post go here} by techmuse · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Genentech is almost entirely Mac, and is the largest biotech company in the world. Market cap: $85.34 billion

    3. Re:{first 6 lines of post go here} by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is simply untrue. Try 40% Mac. The number's about to go up some, but Mac hardware that runs XP most of the time doesn't really count. I'm a vendor, and it's not worth my job to correct you, so this is anonymous.

  27. Re:Enterprise Central Management by Goaway · · Score: 4, Funny

    ssh? a commandline on a Mac??? Say it isn't so.

    Man, welcome to THE YEAR 2000 already.

  28. Re:Enterprise Central Management by nine-times · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apple Remote Desktop is not a comparable product to VNC. It's not like Terminal Services, either. ARD does provide that sort of remote desktop viewing, but it also provides a bevy of other remote-management features, such as being able to install the same package on several machines or running the same script on several machines, using only a few clicks.

    Macs can also connect to Windows AD servers for authentication, and Apple provides their own directory services through their own directory server. Many of the same things can be accomplished, though not always through the same methods.

  29. Re:Enterprise Central Management by virgil_disgr4ce · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I have to agree. This quote from TFA in particular drives me crazy:

    "The Mac itself, the nature of the Mac, how it works and how it looks, is actually more conducive to the creative mindset."

    Nothing infuriates me more than this single, completely mistaken idea that there are people who, unlike "most" people, have some magical inborn gift of creativity, where in fact ANYONE can be creative. It's only this attitude that propagates an otherwise completely artificial division between "normals" and "creatives." I am a graphic and interactive designer at a small Manhattan design firm, and I witness this bullshit attitude EVERYWHERE. "Oh, that's a creative's job. I wouldn't know what that means." It's willful ignorance, just like any other kind of willful ignorance, and it goes both ways. Ever had to deal with a web designer who has no freaking idea how web pages even work? It's because they buy into this insane notion that there's a division between creativity and "everything else."

    And thanks to this all-pervading, quasi-classist attitude, the cult of mac has grown up around these supposed "creatives." Ever heard of "the creative class?" The fact that someone came up with that idea blows my mind! Designers and technicians alike need to realize that the only thing keeping this sensibility afloat is common belief. Those that don't believe they are capable of creativity ought to give some time and thought to it, and those that believe they are "a creative" need to learn that they are not defined by their job title.
    --
    Limina.Log
  30. Re:Do me a favour... Yeah read this by puto · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dell Dimension 9200 with 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB Dual Channel DDR2, 80GB HD, CDRW/DVDROM, 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE, and 20" Widescreen LCD Monintor for $699 with FREE Shipping!

    www.gotapex.com

    Always has links to dell with the best prices. Not a corporate bulk price.

    Puto

    --
    The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
  31. Re:Enterprise Central Management by amper · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, the Mac does that, too. You just need Mac OS X Server and Open Directory, just as with Windows, you would need Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory.

  32. Mac: not ready for a mixed enterprise environment by Freggy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have some experience with Mac OS X in a mixed enterprise environment, consisting of Linux servers and Linux and Windows desktops. Linux desktops use NFS and NIS, while Windows machines are using a Samba domain controller on the Linux servers. So far so good. Till the moment we got some Mac OS X desktops. Mac OS X is Unix, so using NFS and NIS should be easy, right? Wrong! First, Mac OS X has really crippled the Unix back-end: there's no more fstab file, no more init scripts we *nix users are used too,... To integrate Mac OS X in NIS, there's a graphical interface. But: it does not really work! Most of the time, network accounts simply won't be available when the login screen appears, if you configure it like that. Using the configuration files, already works a bit better, but even then it often does not work. Workarounds mentioned in a Mac OS X and NIS HOWTO, consist of adding ugly sleeps and killall -HUP lookupd commands in some scripts. We found out, things work most reliable, if you force lookupd to use at maximum 1 thread. It seems like lookupd is full of race conditions :-/ And even now, sometimes machines hang on a blue screen when shutting down Mac OS X. And when a user gets over quota, his whole session hangs with a "spinning beachball of death".

    On the above mentioned web page, the conclusion is:
    "we officially withdraw the statement that NIS features are compatible with current versions of 10.4."

    I cannot agree more. Mac OS X is certainly not enterprise ready to be integrated in mixed environments.

  33. PARENT IS BULLSHIT by aristotle-dude · · Score: 4, Informative

    One problem we ran into was network printer drivers.

    For network printing, Mac OS X uses CUPS[1]. And the printer drivers that you download from the manufacturers which are labeled "for Mac" are not CUPS drivers. They're local drivers only (ie. for printers physically connected to the computer with a USB cable). These local drivers can't be used for network printers.
    Look here, here or just f*cking google it yourself.

    From http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/windows/

    Share Printers Macs and PCs can also share printers. Shared Windows printers automatically appear in the Mac OS X Printer Setup Utility so they can be added to the Macintosh as a local printer queue. You can create a queue for as many shared Windows (and Macintosh) printers as you like, and any application that can print on the Macintosh can print to the shared printer.
    --
    Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
  34. Re:yeah .. then Nortel stock dropped over 99 % by aeoneal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, I finally understand now: Windows was the reason for that, not John Roth, et. al.'s, greed and poor management. And then that bastard ran off with over $300 million while 60,000 people lost their jobs.

    Although from my limited perspective, the move away from Mac to Windows may have been symptomatic of the bad management.

  35. Re:Here's the scoop by Gilmoure · · Score: 2, Funny

    Een Suviet Roosha, JOKE GET YOU!

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  36. Re:Enterprise Central Management by Gilmoure · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It would also let me view an entire lab's computers and see which students are taking notes and which were goofing off. Man, the things some students IM about (usually involved being drunk the night before and who they did). The professors loved it when I set that up on the lectern Mac. After awhile, they must have thought the profs were psychic.

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  37. Re:What a crappy article && a question for by phillymjs · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes, to completely clone the image, you'd have to either be booted from a CD, an install of OS X on another external drive, or a network volume. An external drive with an install of OS X on it is a damned handy troubleshooting tool.

    There is another alternative... if the replacement machine is running OS X 10.4 and already has a standard system build or anything on it, you can run Migration Assistant on it with the broken machine connected in target mode. If you're not familiar with Migration Assistant, it's sort of like Files and Settings Transfer Wizard on XP, but much better. It will pull over non-Apple applications and all user data, nearly seamlessly. I use it all the time when I roll out replacement machines to people, and it has made my life much easier. The only issues I see are occasionally some applications that require activation will need to be reactivated on the replacement machine. You can find Migration Assistant in /Applications/Utilities.

    ~Philly

  38. Re:MacBook hardware isn't very enterprise friendly by erple2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Curious. IT doesn't bother wasting time replacing parts like that at my current (very large) company. They just replace the entire device (aka the laptop). It's not cost effective to diagnose a hardware problem on the fly, then replace the one faulty piece of equipment.

    That's what the point of hardware support contracts are.

    We're talking Enterprise, not Small Business.

    It's more expensive to pay a tech the time and effort to troubleshoot and diagnose a problem with hardware than it is to simply replace all of the hardware. Particularly in a very large Enterprise environment where you have tiered IT people - the simple techs can easily walk to someone's office and swap out the whole box. Making the advanced techs troubleshoot a single piece of hardware (like a laptop or desktop) is generally a waste of time and resources.

    So maybe that means that Macs are in fact MORE Enterprise ready - they discourage a tech from tinkering with an individual piece of hardware, and just replace the whole system...

  39. Re:Enterprise Central Management by larkost · · Score: 2, Informative

    Oddly, it is not MacOS X Server that will help you out in this case, it is Apple Remote Desktop. Apple has chosen a curious mix of functions to put in a product of that name (the least of which is the remote desktop viewing part).

    With ARD it is really easy to push anything you want out to any size group of Macs that have been configured for this. For some things you need to know a few trick involving making your own packages (like that you can create a package with just scripts to run), but the learning curve is remarkably shallow.

    However, if you are trying to match group policy, then MacOS X Server, and notably the Wrokgroup Manager part of it are the way to go.

  40. Re:What a crappy article && a question for by Iaughter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hey Steve,

    I'm not quite up on the Windows stuff, but I believe that roaming profiles are just network mounted home directories, appropriate metadata and central authentication.

    On the other hand Apple's portable home directories are designed for laptops, a sometimes connected model. When a user connects their computer to your network, the user's home directory (or the parts of it that are pre-selected) automatically syncs with a copy of their home directory on the server.

    I'm not sure what your managed mac environment currently looks like. At the least you'll need some form of network home directories, over samba/MS's SMB/CIFS or NFS. If you've got an existing AD environment that could work. If these laptops never come onto your network, then it's unreasonable to provide backups and you should totally tell your users that. :)

    See the "User Management for Portable Computers" section of this document:
    http://images.apple.com/server/pdfs/User_Managemen t_Admin_v10.4B.pdf

    Isaac