Posted on 03/23/2009 10:16:23 PM PDT by Swordmaker
A CHANGING VIEW
For a long time, the only places where you would see an Apple Macintosh computer in a station were in the production or on-air studios. Macs had gotten a bad rap in the past for being incompatible with Microsoft networks, many printers, and other peripherals.
For example, ProTools is often considered the “gold standard” in audio production software – and it is designed to run on the Mac operating system. In the studio, the venerable VoxPro system was originally offered only on the Mac platform, though now there is a version available for Windows.
Often it was the users of these machines themselves that did the support. Generally they were the station’s “Mac Gurus,” while the Engineering staff dealt with the Windows machines. Very rarely would you find support for both platforms. Sometimes, an Intel processor emulator allowed Windows to run but it required a lot of memory, it ran relatively slow, and some programs just would not run. The Mac generally remained a mysterious machine only fit for “those creative guys.”
Then, a couple of years ago, Apple made a big change – they moved from the Motorola “PowerPC” processors to an Intel architecture.
CONVERGENCE
What does this mean? Why, the best of all worlds, of course!
It all changed with OS X (pronounced Oh-ess-ten), a complete redesign of the operating system, including compatibility with just about everything out there. This fundamental shift opened the door for much better virtualization – and the potential for a much wider user base. With Intel processors and the addition of “Boot Camp” – which allows a user to boot their Mac into the Mac OS or Windows – Windows can run natively, virtually as fast as on a PC.
Now my Mac connects with any network, any printer, and any computer. Share documents and spreadsheets with a PC? No problem. Want to print to that shared printer? Print away.
ENDING THE SOFTWARE DIVIDE
Another misconception is a perceived lack of software for Macs. While it is true that many specialized programs are still Windows-only, there are plenty of Mac titles that cover the spectrum. What about those special Windows-only programs? Run them on your Mac with a virtual machine.
Even better, with a copy of Parallels (www.parallels.com) or VMWare, (www.vmware.com/products/fusion) you can run Windows right alongside Mac OS X. Both programs include the option to run Windows in the background and integrate running Windows applications into OS X – a window with Safari (Mac’s web browser) and another with Outlook can run next to each other. I do this every day at work, and it really does work well.
PLUSES AND MINUSES
There is a benefit to running Macs in the office as well. Due to the design of the OS (and its still smaller market share) there are yet to be any viruses or spyware written for the Mac platform. No more long nights decontaminating a studio computer.
That said, those considering a mixed environment should run an antivirus on your Mac anyway. It is easy to inadvertently forward a Windows virus to someone through your network. The few Mac antivirus utilities out there do scan for Windows viruses, thus protecting other users on your network. I personally use VirusBarrier X5 (www.intego.com) on my machine.
There are some downsides to Macs, including price; Mac hardware is usually much more expensive than PC hardware.
On the other hand, in an office environment the savings come in maintenance. Since Apple designed the OS and the hardware, there are no problems trying to find drivers – and OS upgrades are never frustrated by hardware incompatibilities.
Another issue is the learning curve. While Macs are easy to use, there are many things that operate differently; it took me several weeks to fully understand how OS X works. However, once you get past the basics, you will find out that OS X is very well thought out and easy to use.
All-in-all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a well built and cared for Windows machine. They serve me well. So if you are looking at replacing computers, why not take a look at a Mac? You will be surprised at how far they have come.
Chris “Doc” Tarr, CBRE, CBNT, is the Director of Engineering for Entercom in Milwaukee and Madison, WI. You can contact Chris at ctarr@entercom.com
Once you go Mac, you never go back! (Registered Trademark)
You think Psystar is the first company Apple has sued over making clones? That started in the early 80s in the case that set the precedent that software in electronic form is still protected by copyright.
Anonymous reviewers—unwilling to stand behind their reviews of the product by providing their full name—have very little probative value. Sounds like snake oil salesmanship to me. Joel probably works on the Psystar loading dock, Bob D. is likely their janitor, and Ricky is probably short for Ricardo... the second cousin of the owner of Psystar.
This borders on libel and slander, Dennis. You better have facts to back up your insane, factless assertions.
One day Macs will be called Psystar clones because they are the true OSX innovators
Oh? When is Psystar going to release ITS new Psystar Operating System (POS X) developed by its staff of crack programers? You are really getting delusional.
Why don’t you tell me why Steve Jobs took six months off. The official press release was kind of vague. It could be due to the Psystar lawsuit combined with other factors. Jobs is getting sick of the hassle and sick and tired of hassling clone makers. There is very likely disagreement at the highest levels of Apple about what to do with clone makers.
Apple can’t even make a rational decision about whether to get into the eePC 9” laptop game. They are fools not to. The fanboy base is drooling to get their hands on one going for $300-$400
You think Psystar is the first company Apple has sued over making clones? That started in the early 80s in the case that set the precedent that software in electronic form is still protected by copyright.
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That is ancient history. Democrats are in power and they are always more anti trust oriented. My bet is Psystar wins the case 50% up to 100%. My bet is Psystar will be cloning Macs three years from now. If not in America than offshore and shipping to the USA. The Psystar boys are Spanish and can easily set up shop in Mexico and ship into the United States. And still make a pile of dough (Pesos)
The Democrats are OWNED by the copyright industry. Obama just put the three biggest enforcer lawyers for the RIAA, MPAA and BSA in top DOJ spots. They've already chimed in on the copyright industry's side in civil cases, so it's a good possibility they'll intervene in Apple v. Psystar on Apple's side.
My bet is Psystar wins the case 50% up to 100%.
You're finally making sense on one aspect of this. It is likely that First Sale overrides Apple's licensing restrictions. In copyright, you can't prevent what you don't have the power under law to prevent.
I'm all for Psystar wanting to make a buck if they and their customers are willing to take the risk of running an OS on a platform neither certified nor supported by the vendor. That's why I was really surprised to find they sell servers. What IT manager in his right mind is going to buy a server with a commercial OS that is not supported by the OS vendor?
But because they're cheaper doesn't make them better. They're still basic boxes with parts thrown in. Give me innovative, quality design and engineering any day.
Psystar servers do not come with OSX
They come with Linux or Windows flavors
In that case, Psystar is just any other PC OEM. You can probably get better servers elsewhere.
Funny, as of last year they had OS X Server as an option. I guess they couldn't get OS X Server working properly on them. Probably because they don't use EFI (just crappy old PC BIOS) and don't have the extra lights-out management chip like the XServe does. Maybe because they don't have all the sensor inputs that OS X Server expects to see in order to monitor the health of the server. With all those deficits, it's probably not a good idea to sell with OS X Server and have a lot of disappointed customers.
I get it. You saw the OSX server in the past. You are probably correct they could not master the sever side plus maybe didn’t sell too many
Not even counting that Psystar's servers are inferior hardware, they only way they compete price-wise with an XServe is if you use an unsupported Linux (no support = bad juju in the business world). Going Windows automatically jacks the price beyond that of an XServe. You can end up paying $200 more, and you still only have 10 client licenses with Windows vs. unlimited with OS X Server.
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