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CIO: Macs looking better for business

updated 05:10 pm EST, Tue November 28, 2006

CIO tests Mac for business

John Halamka, the chief information officer of Harvard Medical School believes that the Mac platform has improved dramatically for business purposes, according to CIO Magazine. Also the head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Halamka conducted a test of three major operating systems on the market -- including Mac OS X, Red Hat's Fedora Core Linux, and Windows XP -- to evaluate their suitability in an enterprise environment, using each for a month. The CIO provided high praise for his MacBook testbed and its operating system, noting the stability and unintrusiveness. "His MacBook didn't crash or freeze once during the month he used it. And his work was never interrupted by automatic antivirus or antispyware updates -- a frequent annoyance with Windows," writes CIO's Meridith Levinson. Halamka was also quick to compliment the usefulness of Microsoft's Mac e-mail client Entourage and for the platform's easy connections to varying wireless networks.

Reservations about the platform were relatively few, Levinson notes. While the MacBook's unusually high temperatures were alarming and precluded a clear decision in favor of Apple's hardware, Halamka primarily disliked the imperfect integration of Microsoft's programs. He pointed to difficulties with sites that depend solely on Internet Explorer for Windows in addition to complications with Boot Camp and Entourage.

By contrast, however, the Harvard executive noted significant issues with OS rivals Linux and Windows, providing especially scathing criticism for the former's technical challenges. "I never got to the point [with Linux] where if I had to give a speech, I could open the lid of my laptop, launch my presentation and know it was going to work," he said. While Windows escaped most of these obstacles during testing, Halamka emphasized the necessity of securing the OS and its accompanying software against threats -- an act which was not always practical, he added. He says he has chosen to split his computing between Mac OS X and Windows, preferring the former for its software and the latter for its hardware.

 
Previous Comments

So...

11/28, 06:59pm reply

...what's changed from 4 years ago? The OS was stable, the apps were well designed. The hardware was proprietary (but worked just fine). Why now is OSX good for business?

McDave

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2006

0

and why...

11/28, 07:48pm reply

Lord knows that employees of academic institutions have the requisite skills and experience to offer trustworthy opinions about computing platforms. Especially the senior ones.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

godrifle

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

I like the hardware

11/28, 07:53pm reply

It's a matter of form factor. If you have smaller space, you don't get good heat dissipation. However the MacBook runs well within spec and works great.

sixcolors

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Joined: Oct 2001

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This Particular...

11/28, 09:49pm reply

This particular academic institution employee has an MA in informatics from MIT (in addition to his MD). He has written books titled "Real World UNIX" and "The Best of C/PM." Halamka also an accomplished and active programmer who was once the technical editor for "Computer Language Magazine." He is probably the US's leading expert on electronics medical records. For better or worse, he also holds a patent on "the process of multimedia delivery of personalized messages with video and synchronized audio."

svejk

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Joined: Nov 2006

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Macs would be even better

11/29, 01:05pm reply

...if Entourage had Exchange support that wasn't so half-assed. It's utterly shameful that Outlook 2001 is still a better Exchange client than Entourage 2004.

I really can't decide if it's deliberate or not. I certainly wouldn't put such a move past Microsoft, knowing their history.

~Philly

phillymjs

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2000

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never assume....

11/29, 04:33pm reply

> I really can't decide if it's deliberate or not. I > certainly wouldn't put such a move past > Microsoft, knowing their history.

Don't assume something is malicious, when oftentimes 'incompetence' is a better reason behind such observations, especially when it is relating to Microsoft, and especially the MacBU.

ZinkDifferent

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2005

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