German publisher drops 12,000 PCs for Mac; more

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    I'd hate to be the tech support at a publishing firm if they try to run Office on the Macs. I wonder how many calls they will get about why it runs so much slower than their old computers.



    What version of Office are you running!? '04? v.X?



    I'm using '08 SP1 on my MacBook, and I sure as hell don't see it as particularly slow!
  • Reply 42 of 75
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon View Post


    Even then you still have temp files, vm and other stuff that may hold data that you don't want to be out in the open.



    Unless the system failed to power up at all, there are many ways retrieve data and then secure erase a HDD prior to sending out for repair without removing the HDD, but even taking the back off an iMac isn't that hard. Sure, it's more involved than a PC tower, but not to the point of nixing AIOs int eh workplace; especially if the need to do so is rare.



    Both the for and against arguments on this thread are making excellent points. I suppose it ultimately comes down to individually weighing the pro and cons for each company or department.





    PS: While I think Macs can work in the workplace I would like to see Apple create an Enterprise line of computers and and a new department to manage the lease/upgrade rate. What I imagine physically is a "pizzabox-style" system, like the old NeXTstation that is simple in design. These could come without FW or USB ports if so desired as they are often a security risk to government and private corporations alike. From our POV, this would be a completely separate enterprise from the Macs and Apple Store as we know it. I don't think it will happen, but I wonder if it could.
  • Reply 43 of 75
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post




    I've also seen companies use a great deal more notebooks, which are technically an AIO. I've seen these issued to people who aren't even traveling much as their main machine docked to a full size keyboard, monitor, mouse. When I started in the tech field notebooks were often loaned to people who were traveling and then turned back in when done. Could this be a trend that AIOs are becoming more popular in the workplace because companies aren't concerned with upgrading machines as much as they with downgrading the cost-center of the IT department with cheaper, less experienced staff and/or giving them higher concerns than troubleshooting a hardware issue?



    I work for a large software company, and everyone gets a laptop, and its refreshed every 2 years.

    With ubiquitous wireless, everyone has their laptops at meetings taking notes or sharing out their screens to those who are dialed in.

    Another benefit (from the company's point of view) is that the employee with a laptop is able to perform 24/7.

    Add laptops to cell phones as the new digital ankle chain.
  • Reply 44 of 75
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon View Post


    Even then you still have temp files, vm and other stuff that may hold data that you don't want to be out in the open.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon View Post


    But you don't want to be shipping out the Hard disk off for repair with rest of the system,æ



    For what reason would you need to send a hard drive out for repair with company info on it that was so confidential that you wouldn't want somebody else to access it.?



    If the information is more than a day old, it should have been backed up in the first place. Most company computers don't hold the data on the internal drive but are stored on servers, which are continually in backup mode. Of course with Time Machine, it would be down to the last hour or less. Otherwise, too bad, so sad.



    Any company that doesn't have a real time backup strategy in place is just stupid.



    Ask anybody that carries their livelihood on an unbacked up laptop and looses it for some reason. First thing out of their mouths, "That is the most stupid thing I have ever done." If he doesn't say it, then his boss, his colleagues, his clients, and even his spouse will.
  • Reply 45 of 75
    guinnessguinness Posts: 473member
    I don't have a problem with using iMacs or Minis when I worked in IT at my university for most tasks, but the problem is that there is no great office suite on OSX.



    Office 2004 - works pretty well, but what about 2007 files?

    Office 2008 - Excel causes me pain and suffering, it still amazes me how much faster Excel 2007 and the rest of Office 2007 is compared to 2008.

    iWork '08 - if Numbers could at least import external data, I could work with it, but until then it's not worth my time.

    OOo 3.0 beta - not bad, but formatting issues abound, and it can't read Excel 2007 files correctly.



    So, it's basically Microsoft's fault, but they couldn't even get their bread and butter right.



    Apple needs to develop their own pro office suite, iWork is what it is, but a true MS Office competitor it isn't.
  • Reply 46 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Unless the system failed to power up at all, there are many ways retrieve data and then secure erase a HDD prior to sending out for repair without removing the HDD, but even taking the back off an iMac isn't that hard. Sure, it's more involved than a PC tower, but not to the point of nixing AIOs int eh workplace; especially if the need to do so is rare.



    Both the for and against arguments on this thread are making excellent points. I suppose it ultimately comes down to individually weighing the pro and cons for each company or department.





    PS: While I think Macs can work in the workplace I would like to see Apple create an Enterprise line of computers and and a new department to manage the lease/upgrade rate. What I imagine physically is a "pizzabox-style" system, like the old NeXTstation that is simple in design. These could come without FW or USB ports if so desired as they are often a security risk to government and private corporations alike. From our POV, this would be a completely separate enterprise from the Macs and Apple Store as we know it. I don't think it will happen, but I wonder if it could.



    with apple you need USB for the keyboard and mouse.
  • Reply 47 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Unless the system failed to power up at all, there are many ways retrieve data and then secure erase a HDD prior to sending out for repair without removing the HDD, but even taking the back off an iMac isn't that hard. Sure, it's more involved than a PC tower, but not to the point of nixing AIOs int eh workplace; especially if the need to do so is rare.



    Both the for and against arguments on this thread are making excellent points. I suppose it ultimately comes down to individually weighing the pro and cons for each company or department.





    PS: While I think Macs can work in the workplace I would like to see Apple create an Enterprise line of computers and and a new department to manage the lease/upgrade rate. What I imagine physically is a "pizzabox-style" system, like the old NeXTstation that is simple in design. These could come without FW or USB ports if so desired as they are often a security risk to government and private corporations alike. From our POV, this would be a completely separate enterprise from the Macs and Apple Store as we know it. I don't think it will happen, but I wonder if it could.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Abster2core View Post


    For what reason would you need to send a hard drive out for repair with company info on it that was so confidential that you wouldn't want somebody else to access it.?



    Temp and open working files may have confidential info in them and by shipping out for repair with out that the hard disk may void the warranty. Dell, Hp, and other let remove the hard disk before sending it in with the mini and imac you as risking breaking the case by doing that.
  • Reply 48 of 75
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon View Post


    with apple you need USB for the keyboard and mouse.



    Yes, but if a company required no USB, it wouldn't be difficult to have an input only port setup for the keyboard and mouse.
  • Reply 49 of 75
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wraithofwonder View Post


    What version of Office are you running!? '04? v.X?



    I'm using '08 SP1 on my MacBook, and I sure as hell don't see it as particularly slow!



    What!?



    It runs deathly slow on my MacBook Core 2 Duo 10.5.4 with 1 gig of RAM. Well, it did before SP1. It's still PATHETIC. I mean it's the same as 2004 which is freakin' emulate code. Before SP1, 2004 was actually faster, and more stable! Office 2008 is just awful.
  • Reply 50 of 75
    dcj001dcj001 Posts: 301member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aquatic View Post


    What!?



    It runs deathly slow on my MacBook Core 2 Duo 10.5.4 with 1 gig of RAM. Well, it did before SP1. It's still PATHETIC. I mean it's the same as 2004 which is freakin' emulate code. Before SP1, 2004 was actually faster, and more stable! Office 2008 is just awful.



    I recommend maxing your RAM to 4GB to speed up all of your applications. It's fairly inexpensive. If you do it, you'll definitely notice a big difference.
  • Reply 51 of 75
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    Office 2008 performance is very sucky in my experience. Running it on a MBP 2.2GHz, 4GM RAM. Acceptable performance. Anything less...UGH! Between Office 2008 and Vista, Microsoft is out to make mediocrity look good.
  • Reply 52 of 75
    aluopaluop Posts: 57member
    A company with these many PC should have switched to Sun Ray.

    Either the CTO is not doing his homework or there were some kickbacks going on.
  • Reply 53 of 75
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ALUOp View Post


    A company with these many PC should have switched to Sun Ray.

    Either the CTO is not doing his homework or there were some kickbacks going on.



    If you are stating that any company with 12,000 or more computers should use thin-clients, then I have to ask what your reasoning is. There are certainly some pros to thin clients, but there are also plenty of cons too. Especially for a company like Springer.
  • Reply 54 of 75
    aluopaluop Posts: 57member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    If you are stating that any company with 12,000 or more computers should use thin-clients, then I have to ask what your reasoning is. There are certainly some pros to thin clients, but there are also plenty of cons too. Especially for a company like Springer.



    What's wrong with Springer using mostly thin clients?

    Unless all 12,000 (or less since I guess some people have more than 1 PCs) people are doing video work, there is really no need for everybody to have a PC right next to or built in to the monitor.
  • Reply 55 of 75
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ALUOp View Post


    What's wrong with Springer using mostly thin clients?

    Unless all 12,000 (or less since I guess some people have more than 1 PCs) people are doing video work, there is really no need for everybody to have a PC right next to or built in to the monitor.



    Some of the main issues are having multiple server and workstation technologies and platforms?as not every machine can be Sun Ray?adds overhead to the IT department. It also requires you to have a staff that is versed in multiple platforms. Thin-clients will reduce the number of tier 1 IT support but may increase the need for more experienced, thus higher paid, tier 3 staff as the server and network requirements become considerably greater. The cost of these additional servers can be excessive.



    It also means your network has to be faster and more redundant as lag and downtime will prevent people any computer work, not just intra-/internet work, to be completed. Beefing up a network can come at considerable expense.



    There is also the cost of a thin-client. While they are cheaper than the average PC, you can get a Dell or HP desktop that will perform faster and be around the same price. The thin-clients themselves have the possibility to be considerably cheaper but they are still a niche market and so the price is still high.



    Also, the beefing up of the network and the additional servers to support thin-clients require a large up front cost that companies may not want to deal with. Many rather spread their fees out over multiple quarters even if the end cost is somewhat higher.



    Like I said, there are pros and cons here, but I don't think a blanket statement of 'should have' is a valid assessment.
  • Reply 56 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by coffeetime View Post


    Add me to the list of folks who can't get Flash 10 beta 2 to work. I try to watch videos on CNN, and it comes up saying that a flash plugin is missing. Yes, I ran Adobe's "Uninstall Flash" program before installing the beta 2 of Flash 10, and searched the disk to make sure that both flashplayer.xpt and FlashPlayer.plugin were removed from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins. Then I installed the beta 2 Flash 10 and searched again. I don't know if this has something to do with it, but it only installed the flashplayer.xpt file and not the FlashPlayer.plugin file. Going back to Flash 9 until someone can help me out.



    Yeah, it's not working for me, either.



    Ran uninstaller. Ran 10 installer. Went to Youtube, thumbnails show and player loads, but all video is blocky with green trails. Looks like a codec problem. Audio plays correctly though...



    CNN also gives me the same error message as above.



    Trashed those two files, reinstalled 10 and then fixed permissions. Problems persist.
  • Reply 57 of 75
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ALUOp View Post


    What's wrong with Springer using mostly thin clients?

    Unless all 12,000 (or less since I guess some people have more than 1 PCs) people are doing video work, there is really no need for everybody to have a PC right next to or built in to the monitor.



    I would think that Springer uses Fat and Thin Clients, but primarily standalones.



    Basically using mostly thin clients would be significantly more expensive. Why? Servicing, maintaining, monitoring and backingup would require a very large IT organization.



    Why? Because it is not just about 12,000 active computers located in one central location.



    Springer, With over 170 newspapers and magazines, more than 50 online offerings for various different interest groups and information needs, as well as its holdings in television and radio stations, Axel Springer is active in a total of 33 countries. Around 10,000 employees generated total revenues of € 2,578 million and an EBITA* of € 422 million in the fiscal year 2007.



    There are other important locations in Germany: in Hamburg and Munich as well as the printing facilities in Berlin-Spandau, Hamburg-Ahrensburg and Essen-Kettwig. International activities in Eastern Europe are centered on Poland, Hungary, Russia and the Czech Republic; in Western Europe on Switzerland, France and Spain.




    No matter what political leanings the head of Axel Springer AG may or may not have, this corporation is lead, directed and managed by a very capable individuals. Obvious this is evidenced by the enormity of the organization, the diversity of its portfolio and more important its continued successes. As such, it would behoove me that this decision to invest over $20 million in switching over to Macs for hardware, software, training, servicing, organizing, etc., would not have been well researched, tabled (including points raised by Solipsism, for example) and accounted for.



    As such, and considering that some of their locations are manned by hundreds, and a few with thousands of employees, most, in tens, others, in handfuls and even some you could count on one hand, one could only come to one conclusion. Macs, contrary to some of the opinions and suggestions posted here are certainly more than ideal for businesses of any size.
  • Reply 58 of 75
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    As usual, the same members want to turn every thread into an xMac thread.



    I'm thinking something needs to be done about this. I doubt the majority of posters find it useful.
  • Reply 59 of 75
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Flash 10 seems nice and "snappier"



    Try some very simple benchmarks at:

    http://www.noventaynueve.com/lab/starfield/AS3.html

    http://blog.greensock.com/tweening-speed-test/



    To see your FPS.



    Try BEFORE and AFTER you install Flash 10.
  • Reply 60 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    .



    The Mac mini is fine for businesses, it's just too bad you need a knife to get it open.



    Knife/screwdriver = tool ???



    too bad you need a tool to fix a computer with WHEN IT BREAKS DOWN.

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