Survey Says 8 in 10 Businesses Now Use Macs
In a shift major shift among businesses, Macintosh computers are no longer just being allowed through the front doors of corporate America but are actually being encouraged as business work tools.
According to a new survey by the Yankee Group, a Massachusetts research firm, the Apple-made desktop computers, previously only the favorites of graphic designers and layout specialists, are now becoming the quiet favorite among network administrators.
The Macs are said to provide a more stable computer environment and are more resistant to security threats and common flaws than computers outfitted with Windows XP or Vista.
According to Laura DiDio, a Yankee Group research fellow, 8 in 10 U.S. Businesses now use Macs in a significant way. While the Macs only make up about 10 percent of all the computers used by businesses, this represents a major increase from the 2 percent they represented only just a few years ago.
Many businesses are even using the Macs to load Windows, since these computers are able to load both kinds of operating systems courtesy of the Apple's "Boot Camp" utility.
What are the specific reasons for a business to get Macs? The answer is stability and reliability. Macs, DiDio says, suffer from less downtime, they come with a utility called "Time Machine" that allows a user to essentially go back to a moment when a computer was operating properly in case a problem occurs, their desktop search (with a utility called "Spotlight") is easier to use, and iChat (an instant messaging platform) makes communication among workers easier.
While the IT pros surveyed admitted that Windows has better support for network issues, the stability of the Macs actually means they have less reason to require system help.
DiDio notes that businesses aren't about to swap out all their Windows machines for Macs – but the tide may be turning. [Source: Computerworld.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
retro77 said 2:48PM on 6-27-2008
I call BS on this one. What did they do survey 10 businesses in a small town up there in Massachusetts?
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Jeff said 4:32PM on 6-27-2008
read the article... this 'summary' is misleading. 8-10 percent have more then 50 macs in their entire business and 8 out of 10 IT people say Mac OS is more stable... that does not equal 80% of businesses using the mac in a major way. might want to update your entry there guys.
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Dan said 7:34PM on 6-27-2008
ummm this is one hell of a biased article. Lets see they said: "they come with a utility called "Time Machine" that allows a user to essentially go back to a moment when a computer was operating properly in case a problem occurs" Umm Windows has that too, its called "System Restore". You just pick a date on the calendar and virtually turn back time on your computer and it uninstalls anything that was installed in that timeframe but also ensures that all your files remain intact. The desktop search being easier is completely an opinion and has no fact basis and iChat is basically the same thing as Windows Live Messenger except that it is less functional. Looks like Will Safer is a Mac fanboy huh?
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Ashram said 4:50AM on 6-28-2008
System Restore and Time Machine aren't really the same thing.
System Restore only makes a limited copy of your hard drive, mainly Windows system files and user profiles. Not much else.
System Restore might help if you installed a rogue program that you do not want and must undo any possible changes it could've done to vital system files, such as the registry. But System Restore will not help you if you accidentally deleted a document that was important. It certainly is useless if your machine suffers a hardware failure that results in data loss, such as a hard drive crash.
System Restore is a convenient utility, but it does not take the place of a good backup utility.
Time Machine is equivalent to a backup utility, such as Acronis True Image. Time Machine makes a backup of every single file installed on your computer and records this on a separate drive, such as an external USB HD.
It's easy to restore with a Time Machine backup, and not just to restore your computer to an earlier state. If you had a hard drive crash that requires replacement of the drive, then all you have to do is install Mac OS X Leopard using your install discs and, once installation is completed, you select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup and let it do its thing.
Or, if you need to migrate to a new Mac computer, you can migrate using the Time Machine backup.
You can't do any of those things with System Restore and, again, System Restore is no substitute for a good backup utility for Windows.
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David427 said 8:25AM on 6-28-2008
The knuckle draggers at Switched are showing their Apple Fanboy colors as always. What a misleading article to say the least. If you click your heels three times Dorothy maybe your dreams will come true and Apple/Mac will some day be relevant.
Retro77, I live in Massachusetts, the only Apple use you see is among the 'hip' and 'cool' and the other easily deluded and lead. Desktop publishing? Movie editing? Even then you'll still come across the PC's that run everything in the office.
I’d go to Linux before going to such an expensive and closed system as Macs. But you know what, after using personal computers for the last 30 years and MS OS for the last 23 I can count the numbers of ‘blue screens’ on one hand. All my issues with MS OS have been minor networking issues that were always solved with a little research. 95% of computer errors are OE (operator error).
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