Discussion on:

10 ways to help your users switch from Windows to Mac

How to tell someone they are a Sheeple and should remove themselves from the intelligent, free-thinking part of society.

But...
Thos of us "business techies" that are forced to react to the "free thinking world" are finding some OS diferences difficult to circumvent.
For instance: no double-click, and/or right-click, as my business applications expect.
Specifically we run an ERP system that is UNIX-based and multi-national that has many touchpoints that require (yes REQUIRE) a double-click to execute/interface with critical functions.
Simply does not work on iOS in particular, unless you want to ZOOM, COPY, or SAVE an IMAGE...

Your response reminds me of some IT types who refuse to work with anything but what they have been alreadyworking with. Times change, and in a world where Microsoft makes people change interfaces every few years, you won't get much sympathy from people who are having to mess with Windows 8 after having to mess with Office ribbon..

Perhaps people can be brought in that won't find BYOD so impossible to work with.

Which is kind of the critical ingredient in lemonade...

Like the subject "Fascinating" below I'm caught more-or-less speechless... I have been using Apple products since the 80's. Been using UNIX systems in general since the 90's (not counting Apple) been using mainframes and PC's and Windows from DOS to W8 oh, and Windows servers too. Knoppix and Ubunto and on and on... Not a biggot to any technology. I've been on 2 Apple-oriented discussion threads in the last 2 months and both times (including now) spent the majority of my time reading completely childish, narcissistic, self-righteous, babble. Most didn't even read the post. I mention iOS... How many got that? Never mind answering, those that did my condolences. Those that didn't save it for the next person that is actually trying to support and use Apple devices in the real world. I've seen a lot of technical bigotry in the 30-x years since I moved data around the planet for the military, and I can say without hesitation it is never productive, never factual, and never lasts. In the end something else will come dow the pike. Maybe something of Bill's, or something of Larry's, but never again will it be something new from Steve... So enjoy your self-proclaimed righteous indignation. I'll look elsewhere for an answer.

That's true BYOD is upon us and so far, my company has not and probably wont adapt it. Reason, sensitive data concerns. However there have been a few who expressed interest in this so we shall see.

Apple OS, UNIX, Windows, DOS, Ubuntu, It's the same to me. Maybe it's because I was forced to use/learn them all for support. A good support person should at least know a little more than the basics of each OS. If he/she did, he/she wouldn't be one sided and not complain. They would know which OS works best for the task required and go from that point.

Going from Win to Mac is a night and day change in which I only would recommend depending on the reason one is choosing to switch. A move like that isn't for everyone.

"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give you lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

I like to slice the lemons open and then squirt the juice back into life's eyes.

I wonder why Synergy (synergy-foss.org) isn't on this list... For me, it has been invaluable in bridging the gap between Windows and Mac. I've used it for as long as I can remember.

Why would a commercially minded, business user ever want to do this?

Maybe not now, since XP and Windows-7 are viable Microsoft OSs. But, if Microsoft continues with it trajectory of abandoning commercially minded business with its touch-centric Windows-8, moving to a Mac starts to make more sense. Apple, I'm sure, will respond by making such transitions much easier. After all, there is a lot of money to be made in the business marketplace.

I've never understood that line of thinking... "I don't like the new interface on Windows 8. I know, I'll change to a totally different operating system that not only has a different interface, it also has different file types, different ways of interacting with the system, different programs etc".

How on earth does that make any sense?

It's just people "keeping up with the Jones." Other than that, correct jumping from one to the other just because does make no sense. All I can advise is if you are in the IT field and would have to be one to support it, I'd recommend you get acquainted with it.

Personally I don't understand this fear of Windows 8, I've come to love it and I have been supporting Mac's for quite a while and always find myself hating them more because of it

I really can't see Windows 8 pushing people to mac, it will probably do the opposite as it looks cooler than 7 and we all know most people only like mac's because they are cool

No one is shying away from the computer section at Best Buy. All the models are loaded with Windows 8 and the touch screens are super-oily from constant use.

vs. several hours working while sitting down. I love the stand-up touch-enabled tourism information kiosks at state welcome centers. I wouldn't want to work that way all day.

Win7 is the best made OS from MS so far... 2nd is WinXP... 3rd is none...
The future for Win8 is limited, because MS haven??t made a OS like this kind of GUI before AND MS haven??t made it from scrats... meaning that they merge the new GUI with the old GUI faults equal to new GUI faults, including those faults in the driver files... I wait to see what the future brings after Win8...

I would much rather shepherd a business onto Linux than Mac. It would make far more business sense considering the much lower cost hardware, the wider array of replacement apps and the flexibility. And if some of the "key" business apps (AutoCAD, Photoshop, etc...) found their way over to the Linux side of the fence it would be a no-brainer.

Apple makes pretty toys but I wouldn't want to try and run a business on Mac.

what it says. The end-user, provided a company allows BYOD as work devices" is wanting to switch, not the business/company. Most end-users do basic stuff on system (email, web search, reports, etc.). Most to said thing can be done within a web browser. Resources like attached network storage & shared drives is a simple task to setup. Now when it comes to special program to do specific task, if the program wasn't intended for Mac, then that could pose a problem. There are simple VM solutions for that.

TsarNikky do u really believe MS is abandoning commercially minded business because they are gearing up their product line to support touch 90% now vs having to have a special version OS to support it? I think its a smart move on MS part for their personal consumer and business end-user side. Although Win8 can be setup as a back-end system, I really don't thing a business will have a setup like that with the exception of mom & pop type establishments. Have you had hands on experience with Win8 or Server 2012 prior to making your comment? If not, Windows still has available an evaluation iso floating around on their site still. Download them both. Seeing as both are going "cloud" themed, they play kinda nice with each other. Of course there have been hick-ups along the way but Win8 does well with server 2008 and Unix.

No. Business responds to costs. Swapping all their hardware to convert to the Mac OS for most enterprises would be disastrous. Then there's the learning curve for employees to familiarize themselves with the different names and terms used by Mac. Porting or virtualizing proprietary apps to Mac may be cost-prohibited.

If a business decides to do this I want to know about it. I'll be the guy by their dumpsters loading up the pick-up truck with computers and rackservers!

Refer to the "Lie to them" post further down in the thread.

This sure is a major change for the people that have to support the new devices. It's fine if you know in advance that you need to support Macs, and you spend time upfront planning and putting systems in place to manage them. If you try to add Macs to an existing Windows environment though, don't expect it to be a smooth integration.

The equivalent in the building industry would be to have an architect design a skyrise, have a building company spend two years constructing it, and then once it's up deciding that it actually needs to be four stories higher now.

subjective commentary (e.g. radio buttons are more intuitive) he does assume said business has chosen to go heterogeneous and his 10-list is meant to help ease the pain.

Thus you would have to ask the end business owner, not Erik. Obviously there is a market as he makes money off Apple consulting.

Now don't go bonkers but if you have employees of a certain kind it might help out your business. Journalists, writers, graphic designers, animators, and tailors would probably be more productive on Macs.

While at it's core both Windows and Mac OS are of equal complexity, the Mac has a file structure that's not as restraining. They can organize their files their way without ever hearing about "Libraries" and how everything is organized under the C: drive. The Windows filetree is helpful for accountants, engineers, and (naturally) IT guys but not for artsy folk.

These types of workers also tend to use just one program for most sessions. A word processor, an illustration program, or some product design application can go all day without ever calling up another app.

If you're running a studio or magazine you could do it with 9 out of 10 computers being some flavor of Mac.

Is this just an apple spot?. Do you suggest that the tyranny of iTunes is better that be free to own a PC, and install what I want?. do you suggest that Apple OS is secure that windows OS?... please...

As a network admin I would advise the user to return the mac and get a pc. As I am not going to add mac tools.

Ubuntu!

The 10 ways in the article are helpful if you're guiding individual users or a small workgroup that does web-based-everything, but not so much if you're trying to centrally manage users in a larger corporate environment. I constantly run into issues of limited functionality in 3rd party software... like endpoint security/encryption products (Symantec, I'm looking at you) and various other "OSX supported" software.

iCloud sounds great from a single-user perspective. But how does syncing everything to a personal cloud jibe with your corporate document retention policies / data loss prevention? Can iCloud be centrally accessed/managed/disabled by IT? If it has to be disabled to meet regulatory requirements/policy, what functionality is lost? I honestly don't know what controls can be centrally enforced on iCloud, if any. If there is documentation from Apple on the subject, I haven't found it. Small workgroup admins likely don't care, but little things like that create ulcers in a larger rollout.

Apple no longer sells rack-mounted server hardware. Their "servers" don't have basic server features like redundant power supplies, 8 or 16-gigabit fibre channel cards, or hot swappable drives. With the release of Mountain Lion, they've removed the Server Admin and Workgroup Manager tools. Apple's focus is 100% on the consumer, and they are actively killing off what is left of their enterprise offerings.

The most frustrating aspect of Office for Mac. You cannot override the disabling of macros in workbooks.

Another annoying factor is the occasional tendency to turn off HTML view on certain emails, using the mail client. Your settings say HTML is on but all you have is plain text.

I love my Macbook Air for most things but those 2 are a regular and ongoing bug-bear with it.

How to download Firefox and install it and remove Safari from the dock.
How to use Finder, the worst file manager in the history of computing.
How to cope with the fact that not every Windows program you used has a fully functional equivalent or be prepared to pay for it when it was freeware on Windows.

How to right-click.

It's funny how each of the author's points are along the lines of "you'll need to explain to them why OS X is superior to Windows in regard". He seemed to miss the obvious "hey, here's something you're used to doing now that either doesn't work or works differently" things.

If one didn't know better you'd almost suspect Eric was pushing a pro-Apple agenda.

OMG! ErikEckel, are you pushing a "pro-Apple agenda"?! Argh!

"Apple enables meticulous customization of the OS X interface"
You can choose one of two colors for your menu bars. Silver... or gray. You can also set your background. That's about as customizable as OSX is out of the box. Of course, you can always pay more to buy an app to give you more options...

A friend recommends to have only MACs for an small company. Now they are purchasing Dells with WIndows 7, they discover the MAC is really not a good option for the company.

I'm wondering why.

And they are trying to get certified support for MAC computers, and they can't... there is no too many professionals related with MAC OS compared with WIndows.

Suicide rate is too high in the Mac support community

This article is ridiculous.

What??s this? Apple has developed a new selling strategy or what? This looks just like an apple commercial sprinkled over with some sort of "technical information" Whats next? a free download of a wallpaper with the face of Gil Amelio smiling? C??mon Apple, you can do it better...

The problem with Mac is that unlike Radio Shack's Deskmate and 10 or 20 other proprietary OS's, it isn't dead yet. I too luved my Tandy 1000 because it did everything I needed very well. Until of course I needed something new, and realized that I could have 10 times the computing power for less than half the cost with a non proprietary system. Basically Mac people are Prius drivers who eventually learn their lesson when they realize their car is almost totaled in 5-7 years when their battery bank needs replacing. Where as IBM clone types drive Mustangs and Vettes and can't help but giggle every time we fly by the ignorant little drones....

How much longer will Apple be making workstations?

They have already dropped the server line and haven't updated the Pro line in years

Another couple of years and they will be a consumer device company only

And Office for Mac is a pale imposter compared to it's Windows cousin, especially Outlook - it is dreadful

Good luck moving your .pst files if you have any attachments in your email database. Out of 50 users I moved, over half failed to transfer without data loss

And Microsoft know all about this and continue not to disclose this gem to Switchers

It seems to me that if I want to replace something I would want the replacement to be better than what I already had. That does not make me a sheeple that makes me a skeptic when you convince me there is a reason then this article might relevant.

Talk about a biased article written by an Apple Fanboy. No thank you; I'll stick with Windows.

As an IT professional for over 20 years I am, literally, ROFLMAO at some of the comments I'm reading here. I saw/heard similar comments when network OS's moved from Novell NetWare to NT back in the 90's; most netadmins swore by whatever gods they worshipped NEVER to install an NT box in THEIR shops. Anybody out there still have a NetWare box on their network...other than in the Smithsonian? lol

Mac is here to stay. BYOD is coming at us like a steamroller. As an IT pro I'm expected to be smart enough to support ANY device that somebody wants to hook into the network. If my CEO wants his daughter to be able to use her iPAD when he/she brings her to work then I'd better be able to do that...or find suitable employment elsewhere.