I'm in a similar situation. My company forces us to use PCs. I've gotten away with using Macs for the most part because of my seniority and because I work remotely. However, I use the Dull laptop they issued me for some items.
My suggestion is that if your wife doesn't have the clout to force her own way then she should figure a way to survive. This is the nature of US business. Some things are protected by law (age, sex, disability, etc.). Everything else is negotiated. Except for criteria protected by law employers are free to hire and fire as they deem suitable.
You and your wife have to realistically judge her situation. Independent of the Mac thing, is your wife a valuable employee? Does she have a strong relationship with her manager? I've worked both in-house and from remote offices and from home. The farther you are from the center of power the harder you have to work to keep involved with the company.
If you are in doubt about your relationship with your manager you should do things to keep yourself in their mind. Call on a regular basis. Send in photos of yourself doing something useful (visiting a customer, at a trade show, etc.). Write weekly reports (even a couple of paragraphs) talking about what you do, etc.
The next thing you have to worry about is how strong is your manager? Are they valuable to the company or are they vulnerable? Maybe your wife should build bridges to other managers. She has to be careful not to tick off her direct manager. After clearing it with her manager she could add some other managers in the cc field of her weekly reports if she even remotely does something affecting their areas of responsibility.
She should also find a way to tap into the grapevine. Perhaps there are employees she has met who work in the home office whom she can call frequently to shoot the breeze with and keep in touch with the rumors in the home office.
The Mac issue should be the least important factor for her manager(s). If her manager(s) are aware of her value then they will quickly deal with her computer if that is a problem. In this case she has many options. The easiest might be to ask them for a pc. If they won't supply one then get a cheap one new or on ebay. VPC might be OK, however, a cheap pc costs about the same as a physical pc, it runs faster, and in case she has to interface with the IT Nazis it is easier to tell them she has some real hardware they know about and let them deal with the problems in customary ways. With a separate pc she has the option to send it in to them to let them configure it.
Having a separate pc also lets you keep your private life separate from your business life. Don't put any private information on the business pc. No telling what could go wrong but this is just common sense. If the worst happens and your wife loses this job she can legally separate herself from the company by wiping the hard drive or if they give you a pc you can return it. You won't have to worry about separating your personal data from the company data. You can avoid a lot of grief this way.
At this point you can easily do most of your work safely on your Mac and then just use the pc for interfacing to the company.
In my case I use the company supplied VPN, outlook and our proprietary software on the windows laptop. Everything else I do on the Mac. I wrote a rule in outlook to forward mail to my own address. I use Mail in OS X for email. I use File Maker Pro for a database. I use Tex-Edit Plus for all sorts of things along with Applescript for text formatting. Recently I started using InDesign for generating training documents. I use Graphic Converter for managing my digital photographs. I use iMovie and iDVD for personal movies. I use iTunes for personal music. I use Safari for all sorts of things including personal banking. OS X makes it rather easy to accommodate pc users. You'll be fine. If you have any problems send me a PM and I'll be glad to try to help.
You might also try calling the IT people and talking with them. You never know. They might be open to your position. Be friendly and upbeat. OS X is getting good press lately in the IT journals. The most negativity I've had about using a Mac has come from windows bigots who are not in the IT department. You could also raise with them the issue of safety. They know that Mac OS X is not susceptible to viruses and worms as windows is. You can also suggest that they use standards such as jpg, tiff, csv and such which are accessible across different platforms. The IT people might be using Linux. Be creative. Be optimistic. Be positive. Be polite. Have fun.
I stood up, in his face, and told him why I use a mac, why I'm the most valuable person at the company, and why he should get one. The guy doesn't talk down to me anymore about anything, even though he's twice as old as I am and certainly has plenty of experience.
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. They will continue to support the "paper" process for those functions she can't access yet, and she was assured that phase two will have the remaining processes Mac compatible. Basically they are in the process of adding a web interface to some applications that are currently Windows-only.
That's great news. Glad things worked out! Thanks for the update, I was about ready to go crazy on corporate America for neglecting Mac folks, now I don't have to.
But I don't know if I should be happy about that or not...now that leaves me with a whole lot of nothing to do on this Friday night. \
That's great news. Glad things worked out! Thanks for the update, I was about ready to go crazy on corporate America for neglecting Mac folks, now I don't have to.
But I don't know if I should be happy about that or not...now that leaves me with a whole lot of nothing to do on this Friday night. \
Aren't you the guy who's posting all sorts of advice on that "That kind of girl" thread in AO? Come on, Don Juan. I already made my rounds tonight.
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. They will continue to support the "paper" process for those functions she can't access yet, and she was assured that phase two will have the remaining processes Mac compatible. Basically they are in the process of adding a web interface to some applications that are currently Windows-only.
Thanks again for your thoughts and concerns!
If it's simply web apps that are Windows-only, it sounds to me like Virtual PC is the best ticket. At that point, maybe you could get them to spring for the cost of buying Virtual PC...
But I do know of one worst than that. I am converting to Mac. But I am a PC Geek, and one of my friends is a Mac Geek. His wife does remote medical transcription for a company as a contract employee.
This company requires all MTs to use a Windows 98 machine. So my friend asked me why would a piece of software DEMAND Windows 98, and I could not answer him.
Well my friend's wife in emails with other MTs with this company found out why. The "software person" at this company will lease you a Windows 98 machine for cough cough $100 per month, 24 month lease. And he was a little upset with her when she did not lease from him but brought a new emachine and loaded Windows 98 on it.
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. [...]
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
The "software person" at this company will lease you a Windows 98 machine for cough cough $100 per month, 24 month lease. And he was a little upset with her when she did not lease from him but brought a new emachine and loaded Windows 98 on it.
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
Good god man, just buy her a stupid econobox PC. There are even places that sell used PC's where you can get her some $100 econobox and let her keep her job.
Hell PC's are so cheap that the cost of buying one is cheaper than printing up and sending out resumes. She likes the job. Gets to work from home, and all is mostly well. Just spend some cash and enjoy the return.
Good god man, just buy her a stupid econobox PC. There are even places that sell used PC's where you can get her some $100 econobox and let her keep her job.
What I'm doing is called venting.
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
Well sometimes that is just what happens. And it appears likely that they would have requiered the cost of wardrob and transportation if she had worked and needed to come in.
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
Uggg? well good luck. be sure to give us the company's name if they make her buy or boot
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
well, the fact of the matter is, and i'm sure this has been mentioned, is that the company should be providing PCs. it makes me wonder how the employees are treated in other aspects (do they offer the world's worst insurance, or none?, etc.)
well, the fact of the matter is, and i'm sure this has been mentioned, is that the company should be providing PCs. it makes me wonder how the employees are treated in other aspects (do they offer the world's worst insurance, or none?, etc.)
That's an easy answer: this company is CHEAP, and I'm not just saying that in light of this situation. My wife has worked there for about 8 years, and for a large well-known brand, they are some of the most tight-fisted cheapskates my wife has ever worked for.
[added] I must add though, that given how cheap they are, once in a while they surprise us and do something that non-cheap companies normally do. Like this year, they expanded the number of holidays for the employees. So they deserve props for that.
I'd be interested in hearing how this transition to a 'paperless' office works out.
Even as a gadget geek and technophile, I tend to scoff at the paperless office. It seems as if people sometimes get too set on the "paperless" concept and forget that it is not an end goal in itself. Being paperless doesn't get you anywhere, being efficient does.
It sounds like your wife's company is of the type which has lost site of their ultimate goal in mucking with everyone's workflow. If the Mac part of the equation wasn't at least analyzed ahead of time, then it is likely that the transition is being mismanaged.
Sure, I'm not operating with all the facts... but this is such an easy conclusion to jump to nowadays
Comments
My suggestion is that if your wife doesn't have the clout to force her own way then she should figure a way to survive. This is the nature of US business. Some things are protected by law (age, sex, disability, etc.). Everything else is negotiated. Except for criteria protected by law employers are free to hire and fire as they deem suitable.
You and your wife have to realistically judge her situation. Independent of the Mac thing, is your wife a valuable employee? Does she have a strong relationship with her manager? I've worked both in-house and from remote offices and from home. The farther you are from the center of power the harder you have to work to keep involved with the company.
If you are in doubt about your relationship with your manager you should do things to keep yourself in their mind. Call on a regular basis. Send in photos of yourself doing something useful (visiting a customer, at a trade show, etc.). Write weekly reports (even a couple of paragraphs) talking about what you do, etc.
The next thing you have to worry about is how strong is your manager? Are they valuable to the company or are they vulnerable? Maybe your wife should build bridges to other managers. She has to be careful not to tick off her direct manager. After clearing it with her manager she could add some other managers in the cc field of her weekly reports if she even remotely does something affecting their areas of responsibility.
She should also find a way to tap into the grapevine. Perhaps there are employees she has met who work in the home office whom she can call frequently to shoot the breeze with and keep in touch with the rumors in the home office.
The Mac issue should be the least important factor for her manager(s). If her manager(s) are aware of her value then they will quickly deal with her computer if that is a problem. In this case she has many options. The easiest might be to ask them for a pc. If they won't supply one then get a cheap one new or on ebay. VPC might be OK, however, a cheap pc costs about the same as a physical pc, it runs faster, and in case she has to interface with the IT Nazis it is easier to tell them she has some real hardware they know about and let them deal with the problems in customary ways. With a separate pc she has the option to send it in to them to let them configure it.
Having a separate pc also lets you keep your private life separate from your business life. Don't put any private information on the business pc. No telling what could go wrong but this is just common sense. If the worst happens and your wife loses this job she can legally separate herself from the company by wiping the hard drive or if they give you a pc you can return it. You won't have to worry about separating your personal data from the company data. You can avoid a lot of grief this way.
At this point you can easily do most of your work safely on your Mac and then just use the pc for interfacing to the company.
In my case I use the company supplied VPN, outlook and our proprietary software on the windows laptop. Everything else I do on the Mac. I wrote a rule in outlook to forward mail to my own address. I use Mail in OS X for email. I use File Maker Pro for a database. I use Tex-Edit Plus for all sorts of things along with Applescript for text formatting. Recently I started using InDesign for generating training documents. I use Graphic Converter for managing my digital photographs. I use iMovie and iDVD for personal movies. I use iTunes for personal music. I use Safari for all sorts of things including personal banking. OS X makes it rather easy to accommodate pc users. You'll be fine. If you have any problems send me a PM and I'll be glad to try to help.
You might also try calling the IT people and talking with them. You never know. They might be open to your position. Be friendly and upbeat. OS X is getting good press lately in the IT journals. The most negativity I've had about using a Mac has come from windows bigots who are not in the IT department. You could also raise with them the issue of safety. They know that Mac OS X is not susceptible to viruses and worms as windows is. You can also suggest that they use standards such as jpg, tiff, csv and such which are accessible across different platforms. The IT people might be using Linux. Be creative. Be optimistic. Be positive. Be polite. Have fun.
Good luck.
He gave me a little bit of shit about the mac.
I stood up, in his face, and told him why I use a mac, why I'm the most valuable person at the company, and why he should get one. The guy doesn't talk down to me anymore about anything, even though he's twice as old as I am and certainly has plenty of experience.
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. They will continue to support the "paper" process for those functions she can't access yet, and she was assured that phase two will have the remaining processes Mac compatible. Basically they are in the process of adding a web interface to some applications that are currently Windows-only.
Thanks again for your thoughts and concerns!
But I don't know if I should be happy about that or not...now that leaves me with a whole lot of nothing to do on this Friday night.
Originally posted by DMBand0026
That's great news. Glad things worked out! Thanks for the update, I was about ready to go crazy on corporate America for neglecting Mac folks, now I don't have to.
But I don't know if I should be happy about that or not...now that leaves me with a whole lot of nothing to do on this Friday night.
Aren't you the guy who's posting all sorts of advice on that "That kind of girl" thread in AO? Come on, Don Juan. I already made my rounds tonight.
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
Good news!
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. They will continue to support the "paper" process for those functions she can't access yet, and she was assured that phase two will have the remaining processes Mac compatible. Basically they are in the process of adding a web interface to some applications that are currently Windows-only.
Thanks again for your thoughts and concerns!
If it's simply web apps that are Windows-only, it sounds to me like Virtual PC is the best ticket. At that point, maybe you could get them to spring for the cost of buying Virtual PC...
But I do know of one worst than that. I am converting to Mac. But I am a PC Geek, and one of my friends is a Mac Geek. His wife does remote medical transcription for a company as a contract employee.
This company requires all MTs to use a Windows 98 machine. So my friend asked me why would a piece of software DEMAND Windows 98, and I could not answer him.
Well my friend's wife in emails with other MTs with this company found out why. The "software person" at this company will lease you a Windows 98 machine for cough cough $100 per month, 24 month lease. And he was a little upset with her when she did not lease from him but brought a new emachine and loaded Windows 98 on it.
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
Good news!
Well it turns out my wife and I got all worked up for nothing. Her boss (who has been AWOL all week) finally returned my wife's calls.
She reassured my wife that while phase one of the "paperless" system won't be totally Mac compatible they're not letting my wife go, nor are they leaving her out in terms of equal access. [...]
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
The "software person" at this company will lease you a Windows 98 machine for cough cough $100 per month, 24 month lease. And he was a little upset with her when she did not lease from him but brought a new emachine and loaded Windows 98 on it.
Quite right. That's daylight robbery.
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
Good god man, just buy her a stupid econobox PC. There are even places that sell used PC's where you can get her some $100 econobox and let her keep her job.
CSO
Hell PC's are so cheap that the cost of buying one is cheaper than printing up and sending out resumes. She likes the job. Gets to work from home, and all is mostly well. Just spend some cash and enjoy the return.
Nick
Originally posted by trumptman
Good god man, just buy her a stupid econobox PC. There are even places that sell used PC's where you can get her some $100 econobox and let her keep her job.
What I'm doing is called venting.
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
What I'm doing is called venting.
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
Well sometimes that is just what happens. And it appears likely that they would have requiered the cost of wardrob and transportation if she had worked and needed to come in.
That's life..
Nick
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
Unfortunately, this has come back to life. Seems my wife's boss lied to her when I last reported that "everything is okay".
She got her review today (over the phone). Anyway, it started out great, my wife got her typical "great job" review. However, it didn't end as well. In a nutshell, my wife was told "You're the only remote employee using a Mac and we've decided it's just not worth the work to support it." So her boss gave her two choices: continue to do things as is (e-mail and snail mail) which as her boss put it "Puts a lot of extra work on me just to support one employee" or we could "get a PC" like the other user(s) that caved in and gave up their Macs for a PC (I'm sure they still have their Macs, but fact is, they called the boss to tell her they bought a PC so they could use this new Windows only software). Her boss ended the conversation with "Isn't your husband a programmer? Can't he make our [Windows-only] software work on your Mac?"
So I'll be loading VPC on her Mac and crossing my fingers that it works--I use VPC all the time on my Mac, and the reality is, once it while some applications do not work. Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
Uggg? well good luck. be sure to give us the company's name if they make her buy or boot
wanted to subscribe to thread and wish good luck
PS
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
What I'm doing is called venting.
She'll use VPC or get a cheap PC if needed. The point is it didn't need to happen like this nor did her company need to mishandle things the way they have. Further, how do you like the implicit threat of being let go simply because of what you chose to buy for your personal computing needs, that had nothing to do with your place of employement to begin with? Using a computer for this job was a "convenience to the employer" not a "requirement", but now it's being turned into a requirement, and one that the employees are being expected to bear the costs of.
well, the fact of the matter is, and i'm sure this has been mentioned, is that the company should be providing PCs. it makes me wonder how the employees are treated in other aspects (do they offer the world's worst insurance, or none?, etc.)
Originally posted by progmac
well, the fact of the matter is, and i'm sure this has been mentioned, is that the company should be providing PCs. it makes me wonder how the employees are treated in other aspects (do they offer the world's worst insurance, or none?, etc.)
That's an easy answer: this company is CHEAP, and I'm not just saying that in light of this situation. My wife has worked there for about 8 years, and for a large well-known brand, they are some of the most tight-fisted cheapskates my wife has ever worked for.
[added] I must add though, that given how cheap they are, once in a while they surprise us and do something that non-cheap companies normally do. Like this year, they expanded the number of holidays for the employees. So they deserve props for that.
Originally posted by fuzz_ball
Notably the VPN stuff my company uses, and one of the things I'll have to install on her Mac--in VPC of course--is some type of VPN software.
Needless to say, this whole situation just sucks.
What kind of VPN software?
Instead of VPC you could buy a cheap PC (as mentioned by others) and use MS Remote Desktop Connection on the Mac - it's much faster than VPC.
Even as a gadget geek and technophile, I tend to scoff at the paperless office. It seems as if people sometimes get too set on the "paperless" concept and forget that it is not an end goal in itself. Being paperless doesn't get you anywhere, being efficient does.
It sounds like your wife's company is of the type which has lost site of their ultimate goal in mucking with everyone's workflow. If the Mac part of the equation wasn't at least analyzed ahead of time, then it is likely that the transition is being mismanaged.
Sure, I'm not operating with all the facts... but this is such an easy conclusion to jump to nowadays
Keep us updated and best of wishes to your wife.
paperless office...