Macintosh Computers

Macs play better in the PC world than you might think

By Ned Averill-Snell

Are you the trim, cool slacker boy or the dumpy, bespectacled office drone? That's the stacked deck Apple offers you in its latest commercials, and although it plays to many folks' yen for hipness, it also reinforces an outdated stereotype. The old paradigm -- Mac for creative work and ease-of-use, PC/Windows for business -- applies less today than ever before. For small- to medium-sized businesses, the choice is no longer between Art and Commerce -- both platforms do both well enough, though each perhaps retains a small edge in its legacy strengths. Choosing whether to go Mac -- and if so, which Macs to deploy -- now demands the answers to some tougher questions:

1. Which choice is ultimately cheaper, considering all of the variables: hardware, software, network, learning curve, service, longevity?

2. Which offers the best selection of software for your mission-critical jobs?

3. Which platform is better known to your skilled staff and applicant pool?

4. What do your clients or customers use? Do they expect you to interact with them from a common platform?

5. What's in the future? Which platform's expected evolution is most likely to benefit your company the most? Assuming you probably already know plenty about your PC options, here are the most effective solutions for evaluating Apple's offerings:

Explore your software options

Job One is to find out whether there are Mac programs that do what you need done. Keep in mind that you want workable solutions available from several vendors, not just one or two, so that you can stay in business if a software vendor doesn't.
Try: The obvious starting place is Apple's Macintosh Products Guide, a searchable directory of 23,000 Mac products. The software is also indexed by category and business purpose. For less biased information on available software, try the MacReviewZone or MacReview.

Check out the boxes

Macs come in a surprising array of models and configurations, including tower desktops, compact desktops and notebooks.
Try: Apple's Which Mac Are You guide can point you in the right direction. The MacRumors Buyer's Guide can tip you off to upcoming hardware releases, which may help you time your buy. MacMall's Business Page offers a quick way to get a look at specs and prices for business-scaled Mac options, while MacWorld's reviews page presents reviews and lab results for nearly all current models and peripherals.

Consider going the refurbished route

Macs are thought to be more expensive than PCs. Although that's often true -- Apple's cheapest notebook runs about $1,100 while a bargain notebook PC can be had for under $500 -- it isn't always true; for example, the entry level-Mac "mini" desktop starts at $599. But if you find Mac hardware too costly, consider a refurbished Mac. A warning, first: Apple has not been as successful as the PC world when it comes to backward compatibility. Older, refurbished machines may not run newer operating systems or software. And all new Macs pack Intel processors, while some older Macs running PowerPC processors won't run new software written for Intel Macs. Those problems could afflict your refurbished Mac with a short shelf life.
Try: Examine refurbished models, prices and warranties at HeadGap and at dealmac. Before buying, make sure your selected model can run the current Mac Operating system, OS X 10.4 (Tiger), by checking Apple's system requirements. If your refurbished Mac is PowerPC-based, check out the list of Universal applications, which run on PowerPC and on Intel.

MacNetworks?

Nearly all Macs today come with built-in Ethernet ports and wireless support, for easy connection into wired and wireless Ethernet networks, print servers and broadband cable/DSL modems. Apple's networking technology goes by various "Airport" names, but it's all compatible with the latest standards and works fine with PC routers and other standard network devices. Connecting Macs to each other, or to a PC network, is easy -- making the Mac and PC data work together is harder.
Try: Read TechRepublic's article for tips on adding Macs to a Windows network, and read Apple's article on Mac/PC file sharing. For a standardized device that takes advantage of some of the extra Airport benefits, such as iTunes sharing, take a look at the Airport Express Base Station. Also check out the D-Link Wireless Print Server, which enables your Macs and PCs to share a printer wirelessly.

Microsoft Windows on a Mac?

Intel-based Macs running OS X can run Windows XP natively, or they can run XP and its applications simultaneously with OS X and its programs, allowing you to jump back and forth from Windows programs to Mac. If you want to go Mac but must, must also use a particular Windows application or two, this makes sense. If most of what you want to do is in Windows, well, a PC is a better choice.
Try: Parallels Desktop for Mac enables OS X-equipped Macs to run Windows simultaneously; here's a review. Apple's Boot Camp lets you boot right into XP and run it natively as if your Mac was a PC; here's a review.

Operating Systems… What's next?

At this writing, Microsoft is soon to deliver its latest Windows version, Vista (due January 30, 2007), while Apple is soon to debut a new version of OSX, Leopard (due spring 2007). One may offer an upcoming feature that tips the balance in your decision-making.
Try: Learn more about Leopard from Apple, and learn more about Vista from Microsoft. Read LifeHacker's side-by-side review.

Find out what your competitors use, and whether your customers/clients like that. You may gain an edge by staking out a new platform.
If you belong to a trade association or industry group, visit the group's Web site and post your Mac questions on a forum or blog. You'll quickly learn what others in your business have to say about the options.
Will you need on-site service and support? Mac service providers are far less common than those for the PC, so make sure you have a few local options. Some PC service providers claim to handle Macs as well… You can trust that claim best if the provider is Apple Certified.
Macs claim to be less virus-prone than PCs. That's probably true, but there are many more threats to computer security than viruses, and a wide array of protection products for PCs. Still, if PC viruses are especially dangerous to your business, a Mac may be the safer choice.