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I'm supposed to research Mac Pros for our Marketing Department to purchase for the coming fiscal year. Our IT Department has graciously allowed us to purchase macs for the first time in years.

So now I've got to figure out if I want us to use straight up Boot Camp or Parrallels. Buying all new Creative Suite software is out of the question. We're lucky to be getting new computers. Let alone Macs.

If any of you want to make a suggestion on which is the best option. feel free to scream it out.

Decisions. Decisions...

Get one or two iMac's and use the savings to get CS3

Apr 21, 08 - 01:55 pm Comment from: Spark

@drbyers
So you can buy Macs, but still have to run Windows and Windows version apps? Don't see the upside to that. I'd check with Adobe to see if they will do a license swap to allow a switch to the Mac Creative Suite. They may not, but if enough people in your situation make the request, maybe they will institute a switching policy.

Get some newly refurbished macs (whatever flavor) since they will carry a warranty and be much cheaper...and go with Parallels...it's supported... and save a bit to put toward any CS purchases...

Yes, does a marketing department really need Mac Pros? Are they shooting and editing their own Final Cut vids?

Macs work well for developing enterprise-level Java-based web applications, too (even with heavy database needs). The browser neutralizes the need for a Windows desktop. Build on the Mac, deploy to an Xserve or other Unix/Linux server (or Windows if you have to). There are many Open Source projects that have key developers using OS X, too, such as Apache Tapestry and Apache Cayenne. Those frameworks (and MANY more) run great on a Mac and are a wedge into the enterprise.

Apr 21, 08 - 02:14 pm Comment from: Jim - TIV

@drbyers

I just helped my alma mater do the same thing in their creative services dept. do what spark said... I did the same, it worked and they are seriously happy.

Apr 21, 08 - 02:15 pm Comment from: mrmikey

Adobe supports "cross grading" It's not too bad, for Adobe. Check it out. In any case, call Adobe and talk to them. For a bloatware company, they are generally pretty easy to deal with in terms of customer support and customer care.

I've had a long history with Adobe, and generally found them useful to talk to.

It's amazing how many people will pat themselves on the back for starting to embrace Macs NOW, when the trend and benefits were obvious at least 5 years ago (when Mac OS X started to mature), not to mention all the benefits back in the OS 9 and prior days. I suspect those who just discover Macs now are still incompetent to be managing computer resources (but not grossly incompetent -- that's reserved for those STILL avoiding Macs).

A vision is the ability to see what WILL happen, not waking up to what is already happening. The IT staff who are just starting to embrace the Mac are not the visionaries that is needed in this field.

Apr 21, 08 - 02:31 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

Your potential. Our passion.™

@Zune Tang ... yawn ...

Apr 21, 08 - 02:40 pm Comment from: loganson

@Jake

I'm with you brother. People who now realize that Macs are an option have had their head in the sand. The Mac has always had the lead over Windows in so many ways. I guess I can be smug and roll my eyes at these tech guys who think that the Mac finally caught up to M$. What a laugh.

People were doing serious design work on the Mac when PCs were still running DOS.

Apr 21, 08 - 02:58 pm Comment from: DLMeyer

loganson, the FUD was deep for many years and it was taken to heart in Enterprises across the nation. Where "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" was replaced by the same mantra for Windows, there was ALWAYS a reason to refuse to switch. As long as few people had any personal experience with Macs, with OSX Macs, the deal was locked in. Guess what's changed over the past several years - and more so by the year. I forced the IT guys at Putnam to admit that I didn't NEED a PC to work from home. Ticked them off, but they couldn't really argue since it was what I was DOING!
ZT has the Microsoft stuff down perfectly. "Go away, don't look, you shouldn't see this, it will just make us all unhappy." Especially them. bill is mistaken ... it's a great take.

Is it a tipping point yet? How will we know when it is?

Apr 21, 08 - 03:08 pm Comment from: Geo B

Adobe does allow crossgrade licenses - usually just for the cost of shipping the media - $20 or so.

hmm. never thought about switching licensing platforms.

They just got us CS3 Creative Suite for our windows computers. They're going to retire them this coming year, so I get to recommend Mac replacements.

And, YES, we do need professional grade towers. We do almost all of our creative work in-house. I layout magazines, maintain websites, and even have done some commercial video editing.

I'm also going to be doing a lot more Flash work. It's pretty generous of them to give me Flash CS3, when i didn't need it. Now, i have to learn Actionscript 3.0 in my spare time.

Lucky me...

I switched my CS3 for Windows to CS3 for Mac for $5. Adobe allows it. Call them.

Apr 21, 08 - 03:59 pm Comment from: jocknerd

I'd recommend VMware Fusion over Parallels. VMware has been in the game a long time and I'm more comfortable with them. Plus I think Fusion runs better than Parallels does.

Apr 21, 08 - 04:13 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

Poon Tang notwithstanding, this is unfolding totally according to script...use iPods to get the consumer market's attention, rapidly improve the hell out of the Mac's OS, go cross-platform with key technologies (iTunes, QuickTime, Bonjour, Airport, now Safari), develop cheaper server technology, base everything on open standards, then top it all off with OS X on a smartphone (the ultimate enterprise Trojan horse).

It's no wonder our "friend" Poon Tang just wants Calgon to take it all away...

Peace.
Olmecmystic

Apr 21, 08 - 04:15 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

P.S. How could I forget the Intel inside? The one move nobody thought they would make.

Peace.
Olmecmystic

Apr 21, 08 - 04:33 pm Comment from: Hm...

Enderle touts Phoenix. Their main products seem to be various flavours of TPM based bios. - Yup - that's TPM as in Trusted Platform Module. And that's the stuff of M$'s major DRM implementation in Vista. With any luck, it will die off.

Apr 21, 08 - 06:37 pm Comment from: Spark

@drbyers,
One more thing... when you retire the PC hardware, don't forget to keep the Windows OS discs. If you remove the OS from the old computers, you are within your rights to reinstall it on your Mac(s). You will need for either VM or Parallels. I've used Parallels since it came out and I love it. Haven't tried VM, but the company does have good credentials.

@drbyers having been a mac user that tried both bootcamp and parallels I recommend parallels simply for the convenience of being able to switch OS's on the fly. Being able to use Apples Works office suite software to open all MS applications and do modifications has been a plus. The Mac motherboards in PC mode seem to consume more power and it might be a quirk of my macbook or it may have something to do with parallels but sometimes in sleep mode the machiune is still active. I just down loaded new battery firmware which I hope will solve the problem. Faster boot time and being able to catch wifi sites quicker in airports and the like will have you constantly jumping to the Mac OS side. I found when upgrading and backing up your drive. Bootcamp became cumbersome with having to partition out part of your hard drive and all. Parallels provide a complete solution where the mac destop can be accessed from the windows side and and vice versa. I can drag a file to the windows desktop or access it from the shared folder on the windows side. Parallels also allows you to migrate a complete PC image to the mac so you can start using your windows software right away without individual installation of OS and application software. This makes it easier to migrate whole disk images to new macs in the future which will be less trouble and work for your IT group.

Apr 21, 08 - 09:41 pm Comment from: MacSheikh

@ drbyers

To summarise what some of the ppl said above which i also agree with:

Spec yourself some Mac Pros, maybe even refurbished (from Apple) if it's ok with the higher-ups. If you're planning to buy a good number of Macs, contact an Apple rep. Maybe try getting a few bucks off?

Re-use your existing displays if possible (if they're good enough) to save cost. Even if you have to buy new displays, get third party ones and not Apple's.

Get the smallest/least RAM possible from Apple and buy the rest from other reputable vendors - it'll save you a load of cash.

Contact Adobe and request for a cross-grade for the existing Windows serial numbers.

I don't personally use Parallels or Fusion but hear good things about both. Either is ok i guess. Your call.

Hope it helps. Good luck!

@Jake

I think IT guys have been aware of Macs credentials for a long time now. The difference for me is that the press and Apples advertising has awoken the boardroom to the proposition of running Mac's in the Enterprise.

It is the finance people that sign the cheques, afterall.

No IT guy was ever fired for saying we need some more new PC's. Stick you're neck out and say we are buying Mac's makes you vulnerable should some small thing go wrong. I think the IT guy is now assured that sticking out his neck is less likely to get them fired, but likely to show that they are thinking differently.

Besides, didn't the request come from Marketing in this case come from Marketing, not IT?

Apr 22, 08 - 08:51 am Comment from: Cubert

Apple is sliding in the back door!

Something I like to do on a regular basis.

Apr 22, 08 - 08:54 am Comment from: Cubert

"I've had a long history with Adobe, and generally found them useful to talk to."

And you may even get C1 on the phone!

Apr 22, 08 - 12:01 pm Comment from: cuz i'm the taxman

@ drbyers

I use Parallels on my Macbook to run my proprietary Windows apps. It is so much faster than the old Virtual PC. It is just as usable as native Windows for what I do. You may have a different experience. Parallels is a very well designed VM. I use it everyday and so far, I have had no problems. Also, I am running Leopard.