My company, like many, was entirely WinDell. In late 2003, I was walking around in Frye's and passed through the Apple display isle. There proudly on display was a new Powermac G5 2.0 Gig dualie with the 23" cinema display. Naturally they had the sideboard removed so you could see the beast's inners.
I was blown away. The only mac I had seen for many years was my brother's eMac. I was immediately smitten. I have followed a somewhat conventional path from programmer to IT Manager. But, I still 'roll-up my sleeves' a few hours a day to do development. I knew I wanted this machine, but there was not justifiable reason to buy it. The closest I could come was my learning video production. Even that was a stretch. I was using weak PC software (Pinnacle), and even thought that was pretty cool.
Then the planets lined up. I had a great annual review and my boss wanted give me an added bonus. I was told I could buy up to $15,000 worth of technology for my own use and ownership. I was also given an annual stipend of $3,000 to remain current with hardware and software revisions. Fortunately, I was sitting close to her desk and she could only seen me from the waist up.
It did not take me long to realize Apple was the finest hardware and software company there is. OSX is simply the best desktop OS in the world. So after too long a story, we come back to the Mini. I bought one of the originals for my wife. I could see some possibilities. My company uses Citrix extensively (we have many remote locations). Over the past year we have been buying Wyse and HP thin clients. However, I started using Mini's as Citrix clients. They are the same price once you add in the USB wireless, which is standard with the Mac. It is just a better deal.
Today, I was authorized to use ALL Mini's for Citrix clients and they also approved a 25% deployment of iMacs for standard workstations when iWork has a suitable equivalent to Office Standard.
Now, we just need a way to replace the MS Back Office.
