An all Mac office really is possible.
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Even after the dramatic resurgence of the Mac platform since the late 1990s, most businesses today still use Windows PCs. There is still the prevailing misconception that, for general business, Windows is the better choice whereas, the Mac is a better choice for home users, or for creative endeavors. As an Apple Consultant, I see every day that this old myth is wrong. The Mac is great for business. In fact, you can run your whole business on a Mac.
There is a growing number of small and medium sized businesses (and even some large ones) that are adopting the Mac as their primary computing platform. These companies have found that the Mac is just as capable of running their accounting, email and messaging, file sharing, and web services. There are several great accounting software titles available for the Mac [Macworld Review]. These include Quickbooks from Intuit, and MYOB AccountEdge. For businesses who are seeking to avoid the high licensing and maintenance costs associated with Microsoft Exchange, my recommendation is Kerio Connect 7 (formerly Kerio Mail Server). Mac OS X Server’s file sharing capabilities are excellent, even in mixed computing environments. Since 2003’s release of Mac OS X Server v. 10.3, Mac OS X Server has had the capability of serving as a primary domain controller for Windows PCS. Mac OS X Server leverages industry standard LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol), and Kerberos services to provide secure authentication services to both Mac and Windows PCs. Apple calls its implementation of LDAP Open Directory. Mac and Windows PCs can bind directly to Open Directory, which enables the server to host home directories for end users, and allow each user to access all of the share points and services that he or she has been authorized to access. Mac OS X Server offers a much simpler interface for which to manage the server, and all of its services. (more…)
