One of the big gripes from Windows and other computer users about the Mac is that "Macs don't do business". I don't understand this. We have Office. We have QuickBooks/Quicken. We have FileMaker. And perhaps most importantly, we have increased security. What are we missing that so many businesses say we are?
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"It's none of my business!"
- Thread starter iMacZealot
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Ummm....yeah. I think pretty much everybody (except the trolls) on this forum and their grandma know that Macs are more secure.
rotlex
macrumors 6502a
Unfortunately, while we have many of the boxed up standard business apps you mention, what we don't have, in the case of the company I work for, is legacy, in house application support. I work for a VERY large insurance company, yeah, I'm one of the IT guys, and while I would love to see OS X running across the board, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.
We run literally dozens of apps that tie into everything from the mainframe, to Oracle, to SQL that we could simply NOT run on the Mac. Many of these are in house written stuff that dates back anywhere from 1 to 15 years. So no, Apple really doesn't do "business" very well if that business is anything outside of what most consider business apps. i.e. The stuff you mention, and of course all the graphical, design stuff.
I'm as big a zealot as anyone, but I have to face the facts at work as well. 🙁
We run literally dozens of apps that tie into everything from the mainframe, to Oracle, to SQL that we could simply NOT run on the Mac. Many of these are in house written stuff that dates back anywhere from 1 to 15 years. So no, Apple really doesn't do "business" very well if that business is anything outside of what most consider business apps. i.e. The stuff you mention, and of course all the graphical, design stuff.
I'm as big a zealot as anyone, but I have to face the facts at work as well. 🙁
irishgrizzly
macrumors 65816
VideoFreek
Contributor
There are many more things that corporate IT departments need to think about than whether a particular app is available for OS X. Central manageability is crucial in an organization of any appreciable size...for example, corporate admins configure and lock down clients via group policy, deploy software, manage licensing and software inventory, among many other things. In the Windows world, active directory domains provide a pretty elegant means to manage a huge number of assets and users. To be honest, I've never played with OS X Server, so I don't know its management capabilities, but my impression is that Apple really have not focused much on the enterprise market, and so are far behind Microsoft in this area. Macs seem to be aimed at the home and small/medium business segments.
byakuya
macrumors 6502a
as stated above it is true that the most used business relevant software is available for the mac but if you look at some specialized software (for me logistics and statistic programms) you are out of luck...I guess it just isn't profitable enough for small software companies to offer mac versions along with their windows versions.
you sure can use parallels or fusion for those programs but that means more expenses and it just doesn't run as smoothly.
byakuya
you sure can use parallels or fusion for those programs but that means more expenses and it just doesn't run as smoothly.
byakuya
coocooforcocoap
macrumors 6502
PD is worth the bucks and runs smooth as silk! gots lots of apps running there with no problems whatsoever...starting takes a bit more time but once u have the virtual desktop going (which i am tending to leave on all the time now), ya just quicksilver the windows app up or create favorites on the mactop and ur set to go. cheers!
byakuya
macrumors 6502a
I tested both of them a while back (trial versions) and you are right once the VM is booted up it runs ok but with my MB (1GB) the system itself lagged from time to time which isn't a big deal but kind of annoying. And also I personally thought that Fusion was a bit more snappier than parallels...(however don't know how it is with the new versions.)
I myself am a bootcamp user anyways😉
coocooforcocoap
macrumors 6502
got the latest and greatest...works much better then the trial and i think u would need 2gig to make it run smooth. i did not like fusion at all. the one beef i have with pd is lack of firewire support but maybe thats a bootcamp thing...dunno. cheers!
irishgrizzly
macrumors 65816
for all there most important financial and logistic stuff they use PCs 😱
Just kidding, good point.
byakuya
macrumors 6502a
I thought so too...
a RAM upgrade is on my list of purchases already along with leopard😉
maybe I'll give a try after that again.
Veritas&Equitas
macrumors 68000
I absolutely guarantee you that not every aspect of Apple's business is done on a Mac. How do you think their suppliers systems are setup, including their partners in Asia? With Pages?
No, tons of supply chain programs like SAP, MRP, etc. are assuredly run on PC's, PC servers, and PC mainframes.
/dev/toaster
macrumors 68020
It really depends on the industry. I work for a media company, where at least 70% of the machines are Macs. We don't have any trouble finding a way to deal with vendors or other companies.
Once in a while, you will find your self in a position where you have to run something under Windows ... well, everyone has parallels or vmware. I haven't seen anyone boot into bootcamp unless its for a game 😀
Once in a while, you will find your self in a position where you have to run something under Windows ... well, everyone has parallels or vmware. I haven't seen anyone boot into bootcamp unless its for a game 😀
Alright, so I understand why many large businesses don't use them, but many small businesses are reluctant to use them, especially newly-formed ones. Why are small businesses not using them when probably most of their needs are (presumably) most of those apps I listed? I wouldn't think Sarah's Friendly Clothing Co. or Main Street Café would require a lot.
paj
macrumors regular
balamw
Moderator emeritus
Unix. You know the underpinnings of OS X. 😛
EDIT: Apple definitely appears to be running SAP on OS X. http://macenterprise.org/content/view/316/42/
B