Are Macs Really Enterprise Ready?
April 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Lately, I’ve been reading more articles from various sources raising the question; are Macs really enterprise ready? At the present moment I would have to say the answer to this question is an emphatic NO. Sure there has been plenty of press about different options that now allow you to run different operating systems, in particular Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Vista, on intel-based Apple hardware, but the fact of the matter remains that Macs are not yet truly enterprise ready.
Products that are currently available for creating virtual machines or even dual-booting operating systems on Apple’s intel-based Macs might not yet be viable options for IT administrators. These products are still in late software development stages. Until recently, even the latest stable virtualization solution from Parallels and by far the best, was in the release candidate (RC) stage of testing. As an IT administrator, you do not want to introduce beta or other experimental software into a production environment that might disrupt everyday normal operations.
However, don’t despair and rush out to purchase hundreds of PCs that can only run Windows or Linux. Very soon we might hear some very interesting things at Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). It is taking place in San Francisco, CA from June 11 – June 15, 2007. At WWDC we should expect to hear exciting news about some hidden capabilities of MacOS X (10.5, Leopard) that will improve its interoperability in a Windows environment. Also, we should expect VMware and Parallels to showcase their competing products at the event. Not to mention other software from other companies that will only complement the aforementioned and make Macs much more easier to manage in a large organization.
Related Links:
www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/
www.vmware.com/products/beta/fusion/
Related Stories:
ComputerWorld Article
PC Magazine Article
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