PC vs. Mac TCO analysis

One Network World columnist has concluded that owning a Mac is much less expensive than a Windows-based PC--after including total cost of ownership over three years: "The results of this TCO astounded me. For my small enterprise, owning a WinTel box for three years costs twice as much as owning a MacTel. When I talked with several of our clients, I found that the burdened cost of ownership per PC - just for support - ranged from $1,300 to $4,000 per year If I can cut down on the burden of monthly and annual subscriptions, and dramatically reduce my annualized per-seat support costs, not only does my TCO go way down, but as an added plus my technical headache factors decrease, too." Noting that "much of Apple's enterprise future will rest with the adaptation of the appliance mindset and eradicating the cultural meme: one size fits all," Winn Schwartau says that he is already seeing migrations--departmental rather than company-wide--to Macs within large corporations.

by MacNN Staff