Is It Worth The Bother?

In many ways, a Macintosh presents the best-case scenario for adding non-Windows computers to a Windows-based network. The Mac OS includes many of the same open-source projects as Linux but it has two major advantages that Linux lacks: a user interface designed to assist nontechnical users and the support of Microsoft, which makes its highly successful Office suite, along with tools such as instant messaging and remote desktop clients, available for the Mac but not for Linux. Nevertheless, IT managers may well ask: why bother?

The answer to that question lies both in Apple’s history and its future direction. The Mac has long been used in graphic arts and publishing departments, and even though applications such as Quark XPress and Adobe Photoshop are available for both Windows and the Mac, many professional graphic artists feel that the Mac OS offers superior support for critical tasks such as color matching (ensuring that colors on the screen match the final printed result). Apple and ISVs such as Avid have built on the Mac’s reputation with creative professionals by introducing high-end video and audio production applications that are not available on the Windows platform and that some regard as superior to offerings from cross-platform vendors such as Adobe.