First world IT problems...

[tspinning]

So here's my story:

I'm a Windows IT guy (server/network admin), and have decided to try a MacBook Pro for my new laptop this refresh cycle. I've been patently waiting for the new release, my old hardware was due for swap out this past March, but here I am sitting quiet and getting excited for the new goods. It's not an urgent "need" per say, as I have a desktop and could sacrifice mobility if they need to send back my old laptop whilst I wait on the Apple.

Then on Monday rumors really started flying on TheVerge etc. I'm thinking things are good, we're a month or so away from a new device and I'll move to OSX along with a shiny new hardware release, killer screen, great CPU, new GPU, smaller form factor, blah blah blah.

Then the email comes, not from my manager, or his manager, but the director of our department, user tspinning is due for new equipment, here is his basic option (crap Dell 6420, or basic 15" MBP), MUST be ordered by Thursday 5/17/2012.

FML.

 

[miles01110]

You're getting a free computer. What's the actual problem?

 

[GoCubsGo]

Then the email comes, not from my manager, or his manager, but the director of our department, user tspinning is due for new equipment, here is his basic option (crap Dell 6420, or basic 15" MBP), MUST be ordered by Thursday 5/17/2012.

FML.

FML? Are you ****ing kidding?
You're supposed to be an IT guy, you should know that a) rumors are rumors b) the current models are quite nice and perform beautifully c) without any actual evidence of the newest (not yet announced) machines being better you are buying the best you can buy.

FML ... man, if only my life were as terrible as yours.

 

[reebzor]

So I'm also a Windows Network Admin, and personal Mac lover.

I acquired a Mac Pro at work and decided I would give it a shot and see if I could use it as my primary work machine. Let me tell you, it just did not work out. There are just too many tools that are Windows only that made it impossible to use OS X to do my job.

Sure you can dual boot, but what's the point of getting a MBP if you are just going to boot to Windows? I ended up running a Windows VM on the Mac Pro for work, and even with the MP's power, it was still not efficient enough to do my job properly.

So, bottom line IMO- If you are a Windows IT guy, using it for work, get the Dell. Aside from the weight, I couldn't be happier with my M6500.

 

[Moshu]

two options:

- get the actual Mac
- escalate the situation to the manager, presenting him 2 options available in less than 1 month: get the same HW as today for less or get better HW for a similar price.

I'd go for number 2, as even if he doesn't care for the new Macs in this moment he surely will care about savings. And who knows... once he seed the new Macs, maybe he will have a change of heart and go for them instead of saving money for a company he doesnt own.

 

[tspinning]

Thanks for the replies, I know it's a silly thing to be upset about, and yes, I am thankful my company buys me equipment so that I can maintain their systems 24x7x365.

What really gets me is the screen resolution, I'm coming from 1680x1050 and really dreading the baseline option for the MBP at 1440x900 (even the Dell's 1600x900 is a downgrade). That said the benefits from learning a new OS and picking up admin duties of our few Mac servers will outweigh these minor inconveniences in the long run. It's that as a technophile it's going to piss me off every time I use it to know I was one month away from a serious difference in hardware, and please don't tell me retina display and size, & CPU, aren't confirmed -no need to kid ourselves that this isn't a design refresh.


In closing, I'm trying to work behind the scenes with purchasing/ordering folks to have them delay submitting the order as long as possible, and I've been in contact with the desktop team so that if they get the package they can sit on it for a couple weeks and not open it, hopefully that will put me at the announce/release date and I can send this one back.

All to get in this years budget and as cheap as possible.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

just grab the old one before they yank that from you, and hopefully they'll let you get a new one down the road. I'm sure 10.7 caused them as much grief as it did the rest of us for issues that are still unresolved. 10.7.1 couldn't even bind to active directory correctly; we had to resort to buying Centrify and ExtremeZ-IP ($$$) . They changed up the way they do 802.1x so we have to work around that too; delaying my entire wireless deployment. I love macs don't get me wrong but if I had my way everyone would be getting a thinkpad and I would do everything via group policy like nature intended.

 

[bogatyr]

So I'm also a Windows Network Admin, and personal Mac lover.

I acquired a Mac Pro at work and decided I would give it a shot and see if I could use it as my primary work machine. Let me tell you, it just did not work out. There are just too many tools that are Windows only that made it impossible to use OS X to do my job.

Sure you can dual boot, but what's the point of getting a MBP if you are just going to boot to Windows? I ended up running a Windows VM on the Mac Pro for work, and even with the MP's power, it was still not efficient enough to do my job properly.

So, bottom line IMO- If you are a Windows IT guy, using it for work, get the Dell. Aside from the weight, I couldn't be happier with my M6500.

PowerShell Server on any Windows server in the company with the Active Directory management tools. Add in any PowerShell modules you need. Voila, full admin ability from any device with an SSH client.

I moved to a MBA and love it. I.T. Manager for a global automotive supplier and I've had no issues using OS X for my laptop in a 100% Windows environment. Though I have written an extensive amount of PowerShell scripts for my work - Exchange, Server, User, Hyper-V, and scripts for working with end user systems. Most were written prior to the switch.

The other tools I use:
Navicat Premium Essentials (SQL Server work)
MS Office 2011 (Office)
Pages/Number/Keynote (Office)
iTap (RDP)
TextWrangler (Text editor)
FileZilla (FTP)
Xcode (C++ editor)
MDB Explorer (not an Access replacement but I don't require full Access)
Zenmap (nmap GUI)
OmniGraffle (Visio)
OmniPlan (Project)
MonoDevelop (C# editor)
Minicom (COM port access for Cisco/HP ProCurve equipment)

Also once added into the domain, Safari has no issue logging into Exchange OWA and Sharepoint. I use both a lot during the day.

If there is something your computer can't do then you're just missing the right tool. I haven't found a process I need to perform that had no OS X tool for the job.

EDIT: And all of this can be done in Linux as well. Just the MS Office tool counterparts aren't as fleshed out for Linux - IMO.

 

[mikeo007]

I have a Mac for home use, and it's pretty much all I use at home. But there's no way I'd use a Mac for IT support at work. We're a Windows shop and I just don't see a point to using a Mac.

It's like wearing snowshoes around instead of sneakers. Sure you can still go through your every day life, but it's so clunky and awkward. Why try and make a square peg fit a round hole?

 

[Ccrew]

Sure you can dual boot, but what's the point of getting a MBP if you are just going to boot to Windows? I ended up running a Windows VM on the Mac Pro for work, and even with the MP's power, it was still not efficient enough to do my job properly.

So, bottom line IMO- If you are a Windows IT guy, using it for work, get the Dell. Aside from the weight, I couldn't be happier with my M6500.

I'd have to disagree. As of yesterdays count I have 267 Windows servers and 3200 desktops. I run my network from a base 15" MBP with no issues at all. It's not about doing things the way you did them before, it's about adapting. I'll go a week without booting into a Windows VM because I have to to do something.

Bogatyr, Cord is a better RDP client

 

[bogatyr]

Bogatyr, Cord is a better RDP client

Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look at that.

 

[sweetbrat]

FML ... man, if only my life were as terrible as yours.

I'm with jessica here...I seriously wish I had the problems you do.

You're getting a new computer (a very NICE computer, I might add) but you're complaining about it as if it's a piece of garbage. Be grateful for what you do have, instead of complaining about what you don't.

 

[TacticalDesire]

As someone who deals with a lot of dells. I can tell you that the Dell latitude you speak of is far from crap. And as someone who also is an administrator for a primarily Windows environment, trust me you don't want a mac for Windows IT work. Macs are fine for home/personal use. But for the job you speak of, you'd be better off with windows.

 

[Ccrew]

As someone who deals with a lot of dells. I can tell you that the Dell latitude you speak of is far from crap.

Glad you had good luck with them, they proved to be a cheapass nightmare for us.

Went with these instead for the poor Windows users. http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/ho...nt_source=1&@Sort.TieredPricing=0&PageSize=15

 

[TacticalDesire]

Glad you had good luck with them, they proved to be a cheapass nightmare for us.

Went with these instead for the poor Windows users. http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/ho...nt_source=1&@Sort.TieredPricing=0&PageSize=15

Are you talking about the model OP listed or something else? Because, dell does have plenty of less than desirable machines as well. I'm looking at you Vostro laptops. Although, for the price, I'm sure you could do much worse.

 

[Stetrain]

Thanks for the replies, I know it's a silly thing to be upset about, and yes, I am thankful my company buys me equipment so that I can maintain their systems 24x7x365.

What really gets me is the screen resolution, I'm coming from 1680x1050 and really dreading the baseline option for the MBP at 1440x900 (even the Dell's 1600x900 is a downgrade).

You'd think they could at least order the MBP with the 1680x1050 screen option, especially since that's what your existing laptop already has.

 

[shinobi-81]

How sad. Must be really frustrating to be in that situation.

 

[pk0]

I work for a company that manages school IT departments. I use a Latitude for work and it works great for what I need for. I wish my company would give me a Mac but like what has been said, it just isn't practical. Almost all the servers I deal with are Windows or Novell and the Mac servers are accessed with VNC.

I plan on buying a Macbook Pro again soon but I will keep OS X just for my personal use.

 

[throAU]

After dealing with the E series Latitudes for 18 months and observing a huge failure rate (6x00 and 6x10 models - we rolled out about 250 of them and 25-35% failed within 18 months) I would suggest the MBP 15".

On paper spec may not be as good but the machine is a lot nicer to use - trackpad, keyboard, lack of chassis flex, etc.

The ivy bridge bump is not going to be massive, and the current MBP is still a strong machine.

Don't let the screen res put you off - yes it may be lower on paper vs the dell, however it is 16x10 aspect (better for work) and the OS is fine at that resolution. Full-screen mode in lion helps when running on the internal display heaps.

 

[bogatyr]

I work for a company that manages school IT departments. I use a Latitude for work and it works great for what I need for. I wish my company would give me a Mac but like what has been said, it just isn't practical. Almost all the servers I deal with are Windows or Novell and the Mac servers are accessed with VNC.

I plan on buying a Macbook Pro again soon but I will keep OS X just for my personal use.

What can you do on your Windows laptop that cannot be done on an OS X laptop for Windows admin tasks? I've yet to come across a single issue. Though when I first switched, I used a VM as a crutch until I was familiar with all the other tools for the jobs. Now I never use a VM.

 

[Ccrew]

What can you do on your Windows laptop that cannot be done on an OS X laptop for Windows admin tasks? I've yet to come across a single issue. Though when I first switched, I used a VM as a crutch until I was familiar with all the other tools for the jobs. Now I never use a VM.

Thanks Bogatyr. I thought I was the only one reading this thread going "huh?" And trust me, before getting into Mac's I was one hardcore Windows guy!

 

[mikeo007]

What can you do on your Windows laptop that cannot be done on an OS X laptop for Windows admin tasks? I've yet to come across a single issue. Though when I first switched, I used a VM as a crutch until I was familiar with all the other tools for the jobs. Now I never use a VM.

There's probably nothing you can't do, but many things you do with OSX require a workaround. Again: square peg, round hole.

Anyway, you two seem to be the exception to the rule. Most people use the best too for the job. You choose personal preference over functionality. In the end, it's still a choice, so whatever floats your boat.

 

[Ccrew]

Are you talking about the model OP listed or something else? Because, dell does have plenty of less than desirable machines as well. I'm looking at you Vostro laptops. Although, for the price, I'm sure you could do much worse.

I'm talking about the 6420's the OP listed. We had a crazy high failure rate. Probably 1/3.

And no, not Vostro's, which are pretty much the bottom of the Dell heap. We only buy Latitude series machines. Or did. Pretty much sworn off Dells for laptops.

 

[TacticalDesire]

I'm talking about the 6420's the OP listed. We had a crazy high failure rate. Probably 1/3.

And no, not Vostro's, which are pretty much the bottom of the Dell heap. We only buy Latitude series machines. Or did. Pretty much sworn off Dells for laptops.

That's truly a shame.

 

[pk0]

What can you do on your Windows laptop that cannot be done on an OS X laptop for Windows admin tasks? I've yet to come across a single issue. Though when I first switched, I used a VM as a crutch until I was familiar with all the other tools for the jobs. Now I never use a VM.

There really isn't any programs but if I am troubleshooting a Windows PC, I would rather be on a Windows box to get an idea of whats going on/how to fix it. But if a $600 PC works fine why would I(or my company) spend the extra money on a Mac? I'm not saying I couldn't get by with it, it just doesn't make sense for me.