Mac@Work Series: Part 4 – Disadvantages
In Part 3 we covered the advantages of Mac at work, and although the advantages are plenty there are some disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage for me is the lack of compatibility with windows applications that dont have an alternative on the Mac platform. One of these programs I use a couple times per week is Autocad. There are no other options that are equal for the Mac. There is an edrawings viewer that allows me to view 2d and 3d drawings created from the most popular drawing programs. To create drawings I need to boot into windows using Fusion and load Autocad. The performance is less than satisfactory and I’m thinking about making my old Dell laptop the full time Autocad machine. Recently Autodesk, the company that makes Autocad, suggested they were looking into once again making an Autocad version for the Mac. All indications are that their request for feedback was met with a very passionate wave of “Please make it” responses. With the exploding popularity of the Mac I would be shocked if they didn’t invest in a Mac version within the next couple years. 
I think the program compatibility issue will be mostly resolved within a few years. Software companies will begin developing Mac compatible software for most windows only programs in order to grow their companies. This will only happen when there is a large enough customer base available to invest into porting the application over to the Mac. It doesn’t make good business sense until there is enough of a demand for the product to recoup their costs and generate profit. With the exploding popularity of the Mac and the iPhone finding it’s way into business their market share will only grow from here. The iPhone is a gateway gadget leading to the Macintosh computer. Many people using the iPhone that had not tried a Mac are being intrigued that there may be a better user experience on a computer for them. Visiting the Apple stores for their iPhone is generating more interest in the Computers which will drive growth. In addition, many of the applications that are installed on computers are being put into the cloud and accessed through the web browser. Google is leading the charge with their google docs push, and others are following. Faster broadband speeds, more sophisticated web development software and better browsers will push computer based applications to the web. This makes sense in a lot of ways where the application doesn’t need a lot of resources to complete the designed tasks.
The next big disadvantage is the lack of business support. I had issues with connecting my Mac to the windows domain. I called 1800-myapple and although they tried to help, they didn’t have the knowledge to solve my problem. Apple needs to alleviate some of the fear from users and IT staff by having better instructions and more knowledge available when we run into an issue. In their effort to help me they directed me to a document created by someone not related to Apple. Microsoft has a pay per incident team that will assist in solving a microsoft related problem until the issue is resolved regardless of how long it takes. From what I recall it was around $250 per incident which seems expensive, however there is no time limit to resolve the problem. In the upcoming Snow Leopard release Apple is integrating Exchange into the OS. Windows doesn’t have exchange integrated so it is quite obvious Apple is aiming for the business user. Apple needs to create a call center focused on the business user that is capable of solving business related computer/software issues.
Email is one of my biggest disappointments in making the switch. Microsoft doesn’t make an Outlook version for the Mac. There is a history where Outlook stopped development for the Mac and Entourage was left to pick up the slack in a relatively short period of time. They had to integrate exchange support into their existing program rather quickly with limited resources and have done a decent job with the latest version. That being said Entourage is well behind Outlook as far as a business class email client is concerned. They have similar concepts in grouping contacts, mail, tasks, and calendar into one program which I prefer, however It’s obvious where the development money is spend at Microsoft, on Outlook and not Entourage. When Snow Leopard is released I can move to the packaged apps in Mac OS X but then Contacts, Mail and Calendar will be three different programs rather than combined into one. I’m not excited about having to work between three different programs for my calendar and communications. Hopefully they will surprise us and allow us a single user interface that blends them all together into one user interface.
Connecting to windows servers is a little touchy. Many times I dont have issues connecting to the servers in the office, however there are times where they will not allow my Mac to connect. Usually waiting a short time and trying again will allow me in however this is an issue that should be fixed.
In Oracle on a windows machine the function keys are used to begin searches and or clear them as well. On the Mac the function keys dont seem to work the same. I have them setup in preferences to only be function keys when I press “fn” on the keyboard. This doesn’t work in Oracle. I’m forced to use the menu’s to start and clear searches and it does take extra time. Perhaps this is a simple fix but the answer has eluded me to this point. I am not able to get Safari to work with Oracle. I had to download Firefox which works very well.
This may be an isolated problem that I am having, but when I export files from Oracle they are exported as a .tsv file. In windows I associated the .tsv file extension with MS Excel and when I double clicked the file it opened with Excel. I’ve tried to associate .tsv with Excel on Mac but it wont allow me to select MS Excel as an option for the default program. If I open Excel and then choose to open the file from within excel it works fine. If I rename the extension .xls it will also open just by double clicking the file. As a work around, I created an automator script where I drag the .tsv file onto the automator program icon, it converts the extension to .xls and opens the file in excel. This isn’t a big hassle now that I figured out the work around, but it would be nice to just click on the file and have it open.
The software updates and patches are very big. For some reason Apples updates are quite large. Sometimes in the hundreds of megabytes and end up taking up too much bandwidth from our T-1 for others to continue working. Much of our work is done through the intranet and Oracle which are both hosted 2500 miles away. Now when there is an update to be completed I start the download when we head home for the day and complete it in the morning.
The cost of Macs are higher than a windows machine, but when one compares equal systems and benefit I think the cost is pretty close. The programs that come with the Mac as well as the superior build quality put the two much closer than many people think. I purchased the 24″ iMac for $1,500 which is likely 30% higher than a comparable Dell system, however averaged over the four year life cycle I’m willing to spend an extra $112 per year in order to have the superior build quality and beauty of the Mac on my desk. Besides I make up the extra cost in additional up time and productivity only found on a Mac.
The last issue that I deal with is from the web browser when navigating through our company intranet that was built in visual studio. First let me say that I created our company intranet a few years back so I’m intimately familiar with how it works. There are times when I’m not allowed to view the intranet from the inside of our firewall. I click on my shortcut link and it brings up a dead page. The windows machine next to me has no issues accessing the site. This has happened in the past with windows machines and the fix was to hardcode the ip address of the server hosting the intranet in the host file on the local computer. With the Mac I’m told there are command line adjustments I can make to the host file however I’m not comfortable with making those changes. My work around is to access the intranet by going outside of the VPN to corporate and back in. If anyone has any good ideas for me to fix this issue please leave a comment. This is an intermittent problem and I do have a work around.
So to recap there are areas for the Mac to improve. Most of the issues I have are from 3rd party software developers and not OSX or the Mac specifically. The exploding popularity of the iPhone and the apple experience will drive more people to the Apple stores and to Mac computers. Apple has responded with some price cuts and have Snow Leopard nearing its ship date. 3rd party software developers are taking notice and will respond in hopes getting in at the early stages and growing their companies. The next few years should be exciting to say the least.
I was going to cover security in the next post but would the readers like to discuss a different topic? Sound off and let me know.
Security is a good topic, I think.. It would be interesting if you could cover not only the “virus aspect” but also some deeper security facts of both systems… Thanks, and… good piece, although I didn’t enjoy it much as the previous, due to the fact that I actually use my Mac at University and not at work so I don’t have these problems, but anyway… keep up
To associate a file to an application: ctrl click+Open with > to see which apps can open a file. Chose “Other…”, then enable “Recommended applications” or “All applications”. Check “Always Open With” option. Choose your application and click on “Open” button. You can do it for multiple files selected once.
Gand,
That worked perfectly. I didn’t see that little drop down that allowed me to select all applications. Thats a great tip. Thank you.
“biggest disadvantage for me is the lack of compatibility with windows applications that dont have an alternative on the Mac platform.”
There are lots of very good OS X apps that are not available for Windows.
“Apple needs to alleviate some of the fear from users and IT staff by having better instructions and more knowledge available when we run into an issue.”
Why should they? The Mac is personal computer not a business computer. Business computers (and the Windows OS) are designed around business requirements of “cheap” and “good enough”. That why they suck.
Bootcamp. Then you have the best of both worlds.
Vectorworks is far superior to Autocad and is available for Mac.
Sorry but Vectorworks is not even close to the power of Autocad. The large majority of drafters and architects use Autocad and i hope it comes to the mac because the mac platform is very weak in engineering applications compared to win.
What are your top five Exchange requests for Entourage? I’d love to know.
Nadyne Mielke, user experience researcher in MacBU
“The biggest disadvantage for me is the lack of compatibility with windows applications that dont have an alternative on the Mac platform. One of these programs I use a couple times per week is Autocad.”
… article research FAIL.
Vectorworks is superior to Autocad in ALL aspects, and was originally written for the MAC.
Oh, and did I mention cheaper?
Dean: The “majority” of users still use autocad because it would involve switching platforms.
I did one of the classroom sessions with Netmeschek / Revolve in Toronto, and most of the people in the room were from Architecture firms, and by the end of the 3 days (basic + intermediate) they said they’d be going back to the office, re-training everyone, and suggesting a complete replacement of the antiquated copies of autocad they were running (upgrading was cost-prohibitive for the work they were doing)
… Sure, Autocad is the “standard”, but since vectorworks can read, save and import/export to the “standard”, why wouldn’t you want to make the switch?
Scott:
Remember that this is my experience of Mac@Work and i had not found anything equal to Autocad. That is one of the great things about this series is that people give input and share and we all benefit. That being said I’m interested in learning more about vectorworks. Their examples are impressive in 3D and 2D. I’m having a hard time finding a comparable program to Autocad LT which is the version that I use. The cheapest version I could find is well over $1,000. I’ll spend some more time investigating and learning about this program. Thank you for sharing. If you have more information about a version in the Autocad LT price range that would be very helpful.
I spoke to the people who sell vectorworks and they do not have a 2D only drawing program that is equal to AutoCad LT. They only have the 2D / 3D program for $1200. That is triple the price of AutoCad LT. Any more suggestions?
What about Google SketchUp? It’s not really for CAD but can be used that way… its free flowing, and free cost… unless you want / need the Pro version for 500 dollars which adds a 2D layout program.
The “majority” of design and architect firms use AutoCAD because students were taught at university AutoCAD , small firms also use bootleg copies of AutoCAD, which is not possible with Vectorworks. I have used in my professional life AutoCAD, Microstation, Vectorworks. AutoCAD are for draftsman, Vectorworks are for people who design.
Why is it any time someone says something slightly bad about Apple, you get Apple users who become aggressive? and they’re all absolute experts at everything too.
I like the fact that some made suggestions, and I like the fact that you ( the writer ) are not being biased. I use macs and pcs, I hate neither nor I prefer either. I don’t see what the point of all this anger from one platform to another is. If it clicks for you great, have at it – neither one is perfect and free of absolute flaws. Microsoft was an “evil” company to some, Apple is worse when you really look at it, but the fact is that none of that matters, all that matters is that you’re happy with the product you bought and if anyone needs help with it, extend a hand. If they’re bashing your product – stay cool and stay out of it. We’re not in high school anymore are we?
The reason why you have those disadvantages on the mac is that APPLE keeps a very tight and aggressive control over any development of software. Look up the battle between Adobe and Apple as a reference. Since Apple does NOT allow an open and direct access approach to its platform, developers don’t care to build on it as much, especially when Apple is developing competing software WITH the hardware address calls advantage. So basically, the thing that keeps the Mac a safer machine ( less viruses) is really the reason WHY its market both in customer and in developers is much smaller. Apple is gaining the spotlight not for its computers but for the iPhone and iPod. Its been ALL about the great marketing they’ve spent people’s millions on. Microsoft’s approach was different, Linux and Unix is different. Everyone has their way and when things fail for them, they either change or die. When things go well for them, the gov breaks them up. haha! … ( had to add some humor there ) You all better look out for Google. Terrible GUI’s and TERRIBLE presentation but those guys are building up from behind the curtain some MAJOR things. Functionality being first, Google is developing things that WILL put APPLE, LINUX, SUN and MICROSOFT on a hot plate!
my 2 cents -
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