Software exclusively for Mac?

[foomex]

Hi there, just investigating a little bit to help a friend.
He wants his company to get him a MacBook, but the company is kind of "married" with some other PC's.

They told him that if he can prove he needs (not wants, NEEDS) an Apple product, he will have to tell him what for, and how is he planning to work for that (which software).

Any ideas? I can only think of Aperture, Final Cut and stuff like that.
Just shoot ideas please.

Thanks in advance!

 

[alfaphlex]

In all honesty, if his company is "married" to PCs as you say, and he himself can't think up a reason why he NEEDS a mac, then imo he really doesn't need one. It seems his company has no problems accomodating him with hardware they're already set up with.

Is he already familiar with Macs? If not, I don't think it'll be as productive for him to use one for his job. It'll slow him down having to learn all the ins and outs and the employer might notice.

Also, if the whole company is Windows based, him using Mac exclusive software doesn't really help the company whatsoever because of compatibility issues. What happens if he one day leaves or gets fired? If using mac exclusive software (ie. FCP), how can they continue where he left off with the PCs? They'll have to either hire someone that has experience using that Mac exclusive software, or train one of their employees to learn it. It's lose/lose for the company.

If his work depends on other's work and vice-versa, he'll have no problems being dependent on PC exclusive software, because he can install Windows on the Macbook, but it doesn't always work the same the other way around. They'll have to cater too much to him and his Mac.

If he has to make up a reason why he needs a Mac, he doesn't need one.

 

[foomex]

Thanks for the interest... but no need to lecture me.

You know, a lot of people are turning to Apple products for the sake of WANTING to do it, not needing to. How many people on macs do you think actually are on mac's because of need? Less than a handful I'd presume.

The guy is 54, in a very good position in an worldwide recognized institution, and he just wants it, dont go around the idea too much, he uses nothing but Office and Internet... not even on network.

Clearing that up. Any actual ideas to "solve" this?

 

[AmbitiousLemon]

Its hard to make suggestions when we have no idea what he does.

I think Keynote is a good reason to switch. It is far more powerful than powerpoint, and can produce more professional rich presentations much faster.

 

[xraydoc]

Nice Mac-specific software, though don't know if any will be appropriate to your friend's job:

Final Cut Studio (including Motion, Color, DVD Studio, etc.)
Aperture
OmniGraffle Pro
OmniPlan
OmniFocus
Keynote
GarageBand
Osirix (amazing Mac-only medical DICOM and 3D reconstruction software)

But to be honest, if a company doesn't want any Macs on board, then its easy for them to find "suitable" replacements for everything (i.e., PowerPoint, Avid video apps, Microsoft Visio, etc.) and disregard the need for a Mac.

 

[applefan69]

Althouhg I dont blame your friend to want to get a mac, but for the sake of the company it doesnt sound like the brightest move. He must work with a lenient company to even consider it.

So i do agree with that one poster that "lectured" you... But I'll try to help you at the same time.

For apps one decent arguement (altho hard to prove) is that fact that OS X apps, are generally ALOT better then PC apps. By that I mean 3'rd party applications. Its difficult to have apps on either windows/OS X that only one of them can do. Now a days there is a decent replacement for just about EVERYTHING. But if your friend can prove that his productivity will be higher, and his quality of work will be higher if he's using mac apps that may help.