Make The Switch
Why Switch?
Is it Linux? Is it FreeBSD, Win2K? No, it's MacOSX. Oh yeah.. it is FreeBSD! ;)
Time to practice what I preach. Well, almost. I'm not ready to go to LINUX on the desktop just yet, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the G4 and the MacOSX/Jaguar release.
The Ordering Process
Its been hell. Having purchased three Dells in the past few years, Apple could learn a lot about inventory management from DELL.
Application List
Here is a list of the applications that I run on a regular basis. For applications that do not have native MacOSX versions, and until either one is developed or a replacement is found, the goal is to use Virtual PC to run a Windows XP session on MacOSX.
| Function | Windows | MacOSX |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | Quickbooks Professional | |
| Application Server | IBM WebSPhere | Will run on my Win2K server |
| Browser | IE | |
| Database | MS Access | |
| Database | MySQL | |
| Database | Oracle | There is a MacOSX version available, but will look to MySQL or Postgress first. |
| Dev Tool | DBVisualizer | Pure Java tool. Should run just fine |
| Dev Tool | Eclipse | |
| Dev Tool | WinCVS | MacCVS |
| Document Publishing | Adobe PDFWriter | |
| Drawing Tool | Visio | |
| Editor | Slickedit | |
| Editor | XML Spy | Vendor suggests to run in pc emulator |
| Finance | Turbo Tax | |
| Graphics Editor | FireWorks | |
| Help Tool | Aspect Online Library | Won't port, it;s a Windows help file for the Aspect ACD. |
| IM | AOL IM | IChat |
| Java Servlet Container | Tomcat | |
| Java | Java | |
| Methodology | RUP | Browser based, should be O.K. |
| Office | MS Excel | Open Office/Star Office |
| Office | MS Word | Open Office/Star Office |
| PIM | MS Outlook | There is an integrated AddressBook, Mail, IChat. Not sure about calendering, may have to bite the bullet and either purchase a PIM or it will spur the development of our II Calendering service! |
| PIM | True Sync | |
| PIM | MS Outlook | Apple iCall, Aqua Cal, DesktopCalendar |
| Terminal Emulation | SecureCRT | Basic terminal included |
| Utility | Norton Antivirus | same |
| Utility | WSFtPro | |
| Utility | WinZip | Stuffit, jar, tar |
| Web Publishing | DreamWeaver | |
| Web Server | Apache | Same |
The Migration Process
by Mike Conneen
