Japan's Aozora Bank to switch all computers to Macs...
Has anyone else read about this news? I read it a few days ago and I thought it was great news!!
(info from MacDailyNews, link: http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/9111/)
This is great news because now this helps Apple in one of the top markets in the world. Hopefully the employees see how great Macs are and decide that they need 1, 2 or 3 at home!
I also think this is good news because it shows that companies (or in this case banks) have confidence in Apple.
anyways what impact do you see this as having? And what other companies do you know which have recently switched or are planning to switch?
(info from MacDailyNews, link: http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/9111/)
Quote:
Japan's Aozora Bank dumps 2,300 Windows PCs for Apple Macs.
Monday, April 03, 2006 - 11:22 AM EDT
"Japan's Aozora Bank Ltd. is planning to do something once unheard of in the business world: switch nearly all of its 2,300 desktop personal computers to Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Most companies use PCs that run on some version of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. But in a multi-year effort to replace its outdated mishmash of computers -- most running older versions of Windows -- Aozora is forsaking the standard PC," Nick Wingfield reports for The Wall Street Journal. "A third of the company's computers already are Macs -- including sleek iMac computers that combine a screen and hard drive in one unit with a camera perched atop that allows employees to videoconference. Within a few months, Aozora expects about 90% of its machines will be Macs."
"What brought on the switch? Bill Chute, Aozora's chief technology officer, says the company decided to go with Macs because of Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X, which has made the machines more stable and functional for many business users," Wingfield reports. ""Already, there are signs Apple is gaining some ground: Some software developers are warming up to using Macs for programming. For years, many software developers sniffed at Macs. About five years ago, though, Apple introduced a sweeping upgrade of Some software developers are warming up to using Macs for programming, derived from Unix, a high-performance, reliable operating system long used in scientific and other demanding computing environments. While most Unix operating systems typically have bland interfaces and require knowledge of arcane commands to operate, Mac OS X preserved the user-friendly graphical environment of its predecessors. Apple has since updated Mac OS X several times with improvements, including the latest version, known as Tiger."
Wingfield reports. "Byron Sebastian hadn't used a Mac as his primary PC since the late 1990s, when he switched to Windows. But when Mr. Sebastian co-founded SourceLabs Inc., an open-source startup in Seattle, in late 2004, he decided to outfit the entire company with Macs for a simple reason: 'All of our developers wanted Macs,' he says. Mr. Sebastian says the company's developers favor the Mac because it's easier for them to do Unix programming. Plus, unlike most Unix systems, Macs run Microsoft's pervasive suite of email, spreadsheets and other productivity applications. 'It's the best of both worlds,' he says. One irony to the company's Mac preference: Many of the 20 employees at SourceLabs are former Microsoft employees, including vice president of sales and marketing Cornelius Willis, once a marketing executive for Windows."
"With all of Apple's Macs soon using the same chips that power Windows PCs, there could be an intriguing twist to the Intel move. That's the prospect that business users could more practically run Windows applications on their Macs, including the corporate programs that prevent them from switching off Windows. So users who wanted to run Mac and Windows software could have, say, a dual-boot computer. Such a machine would contain both the Mac and Windows operating systems and users could switch between the two," Wingfield reports. "An alternative way of getting Windows applications to run on Macs is so-called virtualization programs that use a layer of Mac software to, in effect, trick applications into thinking they're running on Windows. In the past, the main drawback to virtualization software has been that it's slow. Some analysts hope that the switch to Intel chips could make such virtualization programs work faster."
Japan's Aozora Bank dumps 2,300 Windows PCs for Apple Macs.
Monday, April 03, 2006 - 11:22 AM EDT
"Japan's Aozora Bank Ltd. is planning to do something once unheard of in the business world: switch nearly all of its 2,300 desktop personal computers to Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Most companies use PCs that run on some version of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. But in a multi-year effort to replace its outdated mishmash of computers -- most running older versions of Windows -- Aozora is forsaking the standard PC," Nick Wingfield reports for The Wall Street Journal. "A third of the company's computers already are Macs -- including sleek iMac computers that combine a screen and hard drive in one unit with a camera perched atop that allows employees to videoconference. Within a few months, Aozora expects about 90% of its machines will be Macs."
"What brought on the switch? Bill Chute, Aozora's chief technology officer, says the company decided to go with Macs because of Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X, which has made the machines more stable and functional for many business users," Wingfield reports. ""Already, there are signs Apple is gaining some ground: Some software developers are warming up to using Macs for programming. For years, many software developers sniffed at Macs. About five years ago, though, Apple introduced a sweeping upgrade of Some software developers are warming up to using Macs for programming, derived from Unix, a high-performance, reliable operating system long used in scientific and other demanding computing environments. While most Unix operating systems typically have bland interfaces and require knowledge of arcane commands to operate, Mac OS X preserved the user-friendly graphical environment of its predecessors. Apple has since updated Mac OS X several times with improvements, including the latest version, known as Tiger."
Wingfield reports. "Byron Sebastian hadn't used a Mac as his primary PC since the late 1990s, when he switched to Windows. But when Mr. Sebastian co-founded SourceLabs Inc., an open-source startup in Seattle, in late 2004, he decided to outfit the entire company with Macs for a simple reason: 'All of our developers wanted Macs,' he says. Mr. Sebastian says the company's developers favor the Mac because it's easier for them to do Unix programming. Plus, unlike most Unix systems, Macs run Microsoft's pervasive suite of email, spreadsheets and other productivity applications. 'It's the best of both worlds,' he says. One irony to the company's Mac preference: Many of the 20 employees at SourceLabs are former Microsoft employees, including vice president of sales and marketing Cornelius Willis, once a marketing executive for Windows."
"With all of Apple's Macs soon using the same chips that power Windows PCs, there could be an intriguing twist to the Intel move. That's the prospect that business users could more practically run Windows applications on their Macs, including the corporate programs that prevent them from switching off Windows. So users who wanted to run Mac and Windows software could have, say, a dual-boot computer. Such a machine would contain both the Mac and Windows operating systems and users could switch between the two," Wingfield reports. "An alternative way of getting Windows applications to run on Macs is so-called virtualization programs that use a layer of Mac software to, in effect, trick applications into thinking they're running on Windows. In the past, the main drawback to virtualization software has been that it's slow. Some analysts hope that the switch to Intel chips could make such virtualization programs work faster."
This is great news because now this helps Apple in one of the top markets in the world. Hopefully the employees see how great Macs are and decide that they need 1, 2 or 3 at home!
I also think this is good news because it shows that companies (or in this case banks) have confidence in Apple.
anyways what impact do you see this as having? And what other companies do you know which have recently switched or are planning to switch?
Comments
They said they were switching before "Boot Camp" came out.
Originally posted by Ireland
Most people know about this story already, but it's still cool none the less!
They said they were switching before "Boot Camp" came out.
Ya I read the news last week but since I looked and noticed no one had posted it here I thought I might aswell do it!!
I'm also sure that now that boot camp is available the decision seems even better. It's a safety net in case things don't work out too well, but I hope they do!
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpn/w/
But they're at #14 for desktops, with the iMac Core Duo.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpd/w/
Originally posted by FireEmblemPride
Unfortunately Apple doesn't break the Japanese top 20 for laptops:
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpn/w/
But they're at #14 for desktops, with the iMac Core Duo.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpd/w/
Thanks for the links!!
I find it really cool that the iMac is so popular over there.
Now if only the new MacBooks (when released) and the MacBook Pro could gain some ground...
Originally posted by FireEmblemPride
Unfortunately Apple doesn't break the Japanese top 20 for laptops:
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpn/w/
But they're at #14 for desktops, with the iMac Core Duo.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dgpd/w/
And this is relevant to the story because?...