Can you get serious work done on a Mac? Duh, Yeah!

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
EGAD Brain, this is the type of FUD that Apple is up against. The generality of the question itself is offensive.

http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6563



For those that don't want to read the article, let me summarize it for you: you can't get work done on a Mac because Microsoft writes shitty software (Entourage)even though Apple's own software is really cool...



In all fairness to the guy, he does say (in the second section of the piece) that he likes his iBook so much that he barely uses his PC, but what kinda f***ed up logic is this?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member




    Goober alert! (the author, not you)
  • Reply 2 of 12
    Check the date of posting on that page...
  • Reply 3 of 12
    nerudaneruda Posts: 439member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by \\/\\/ickes

    Check the date of posting on that page...



    April Fool's joke, huh. The first two sections were written in March, though, so I think the guy's serious.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Confucius Say:

    to see April Fool,

    look not to Article,

    but to Author.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    Whatever... not everyone is going to like everything all the time... so what if he has a few problems with his iBook. Most Apple fans spread FUD by the truck load when talking about PCs...



    I still think this is a fool's day thing...
  • Reply 6 of 12
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    He was right about Entourage being a half assed attempt at a mail client. What a piece of shite!



    Dobby.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    jadejade Posts: 379member
    Sorry guys, but that was fair criticism of using an Apple in a PC dominated office utilizing exchange.



    Exchange supports sucks on a mac...and for lots of people that is a deal breaker!



    Networking with windows computers is flaky at best. I can not see my ibook from my pcs....but my ibook can see the PC. And I cannot do printer sharing from my ibook with my printer connected to my PC.



    Sure we are all on the same network and can use the internet together...but the rest is pretty dificult to set up.



    So the windows metadata file support is probably rare for most users, but the rest is a valid complaint. And for many offices it is completely true.



    Saying can you do real work on a mac was probably the wrong phrase to use, but I guarantee you would run into the same problems...unless you decided to pony up the big bucks for Dave. (software to connect to windows networks)
  • Reply 8 of 12
    low-filow-fi Posts: 357member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dobby

    He was right about Entourage being a half assed attempt at a mail client. What a piece of shite!



    Dobby.




    He was?!
  • Reply 9 of 12
    nerudaneruda Posts: 439member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jade

    Sorry guys, but that was fair criticism of using an Apple in a PC dominated office utilizing exchange.



    Exchange supports sucks on a mac...and for lots of people that is a deal breaker!





    Jade, if one accepts what you're saying about Entourage as being true (Exchange/Entourage support being a deal breaker for people working in a PC dominated environment) then this is yet another example of how entrenched monopoly powers are enough to stultify technological considerations (ie people use Entourage not necessarily because there is no superior competitor available but because it is entrenched and people are tied into it).



    So, is there a viable alternative to Echange/Entourage for people in this situation?



    On a tangent, I've had conversations with friends (Windows IT people) in which the following questions routinely come up:

    Is there anything that you can do on a PC that you can't do on a Mac, and vice versa? The importance of this question is not the especific examples that one can find to answer this question affirmatively or negatively (besides, there are very few legitimate examples of things you can do in one and not the other, IMO) but in the elegance and intuitiveness in which these things can be done. This is where Macs beat out PCs, again, IMO and from my personal experience.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    jadejade Posts: 379member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Neruda

    Jade, if one accepts what you're saying about Entourage as being true (Exchange/Entourage support being a deal breaker for people working in a PC dominated environment) then this is yet another example of how entrenched monopoly powers are enough to stultify technological considerations (ie people use Entourage not necessarily because there is no superior competitor available but because it is entrenched and people are tied into it).



    So, is there a viable alternative to Echange/Entourage for people in this situation?

    .




    Not that I've heard about. Entourage is great for the email in exchange servers, but you don't get the contacts and the calendars. And the biggest reason why exchange is so entrenched is that is is really well intergrated in outlook. In the pc places I have worked it was cool...opened outlook, chicked on Sue's calendar, and found a time when she was free and requested a meeting with her. Oh and you need Joe's address...type in Joe in the to field, and all the Joes pop up..just like in adressbook/ical..but it works from all the computers in the office.



    So Apple users have no full exchange client that does it all.



    I also worked in a non-exchange environment with all macs, and the same was availible..at lest in mail for the global adress book and such...but we had to use a separate app for calendaring. So it wasn't nearly as conviniet.



    And outlook is much better than entourage. I really miss it from my PC.



    Potential solutions: apple could work on making mail/ical/address book into full exchange clients. Right now mail can do the email...but I think the email is the least of the concern.





    So most of the trouble is completely related to Microsoft, because Outlook 2001 for mac was fully exchange compatible (with a handful of quirks) And to uses entourage and exchange, you have to be using a fairly new version as well. But even if it is related to Microsoft's monopoly...it is a valid criticism for using a mac in an exchange based corporation.





    But there isn't really an alternative for corporations to exchange, and exchange is everywhere...except lotus maybe (help me out IT guys) And that is really why "macs aren't good for real work"





    AS for stuff you can do on a mac vs a PC. I personally haven't run into any deal breakers in my home life (well since pocketmac came along) And depending on your office connectivity requirements, a mac and office for mac will get you pretty well set up to communicate with work, depending on your field and software requirements, but Apple isn't 100% ready for prinetime in corporate america.



    And I'll admit, lots of stuff is easier and more logical on my mac, but most people don't put elegance on their computer necessity radar.....I mean people where baseball caps and flip flops to the symphony.



    So I hope people do not take my comments as meaning I am an Apple basher, I am a realist....and for me to get an Apple it took 4 years of research, becasue I have been using PCs for 20 years. And pretty used to how it goes there. Do I regret my decision..of course not, i love OS X...but there are a few things I would like to see improve!
  • Reply 11 of 12
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Neruda

    April Fool's joke, huh. The first two sections were written in March, though, so I think the guy's serious.



    you can plant early
  • Reply 12 of 12
    eds66eds66 Posts: 119member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jade

    Sorry guys, but that was fair criticism of using an Apple in a PC dominated office utilizing exchange.



    Exchange supports sucks on a mac...and for lots of people that is a deal breaker!



    Networking with windows computers is flaky at best. I can not see my ibook from my pcs....but my ibook can see the PC. And I cannot do printer sharing from my ibook with my printer connected to my PC.



    Sure we are all on the same network and can use the internet together...but the rest is pretty dificult to set up.



    So the windows metadata file support is probably rare for most users, but the rest is a valid complaint. And for many offices it is completely true.



    Saying can you do real work on a mac was probably the wrong phrase to use, but I guarantee you would run into the same problems...unless you decided to pony up the big bucks for Dave. (software to connect to windows networks)




    Entourage in Office 2004 should have full MAPI support. So all the goodies like access to free/busy data, etc will be there.
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