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Tools That Manage Both Macs and PCs

Posted by kdawson on from the one-tool-to-rule-them-all dept.

johannacw writes "Ryan Faas takes a look at nine tools that handle system management tasks in both Mac and Windows environments for both clients and servers. The tools span a range of tasks such as remote installation, license management, and helpdesk functions. The author gives opinions on each tool's strengths and weaknesses and does not pick an overall winner."

6 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Obligartory... by Sorthum · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Our desktop folks (used interchangeably here with "idiots") recently purchased LANdesk, and they're quite pleased that it can reportedly manage linux/unix, and immediately asked to test it on my (BSD) desktop.

    So supposedly it can, but damned if I'm going to let the monkeys screw with my BSD desktop...

  2. Re:Obligartory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The title says "PCs" so that means Linux included because Windows isn't the only OS to run on PCs.. so why not?

  3. Missing by kandresen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They missed Webmin... http://www.webmin.com/

    Can simplify management tasks quite well for Windows, Mac, Linux, and most other flavors of Unix...

    1. Re:Missing by AdamWeeden · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And Altiris also, which I use to manage 1500 boxes (with about 1% of that being OS X and the rest Windows).

      --
      I was quoted out of context in my autobiography...
  4. Windows SMS by Vince+Ferg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I havent tried any of these but after looking by most of them it didnt seem like there were to many differences between these applications and Windows System Management Server. I understand that these allow for cross platform compatability but aside from that are there a lot of differences?

  5. Also ODBCrouter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    ..also ODBCrouter gives access to almost every version of every brand of SQL database ever produced from Macintosh, Linux and Windows using the database vendors own "officially supported" Windows database drivers installed one time on a shared server. This means that all the mobile Mac and Windows laptops and the front-end LINUX webservers are updated instantly whenever any database driver update happens on the shared box hosting ODBCrouter. (No more running around to each machine, scheduling appointments with people to bring laptops in or downtime for the front-end servers while holding off upgrading to next version of database server.)