03/05/2007, 1:05pm, EST

Monday, March 5th

U.S. DOT considers switch to Mac, Linux

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has banned Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 2007 from its offices, and is considering switching its operations to Macs and PCs running Novell's SuSe Linux. The DOT enacted the ban in mid-January, according to one blogger, because certain applications essential to the agency's function can't run on Windows Vista. Microsoft has attracted intense criticism over its new operating system since it began shipping earlier this year, lacking proper driver software for a wide array of devices and utilizing a new user interface that closely resembles Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger system. Apple is also taking aim at the enterprise market with its upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard release, which incorporates numerous features that cater to large business needs.

Filed under: Apple

, 16

16 comments

Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article

Expand All

Global Settings

rvhernandez

Tax money

03/05, 1:24pm, EST

This is better use of our tax money. Why should half of IT's budget be used for fighting MS flaws?

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Apr 2005

User is offline

dynsight

Makes Little Sense

03/05, 1:45pm, EST

I am all for this as well, but if there applications work fine on XP, but won't work on Vista, they most certainly will not work on either Linux or OS X.

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined May 2005

User is offline

climacs

parallels

03/05, 2:00pm, EST

I don't know if it is suitable to an enterprise environment, but in case you have not heard dynsight, the Macintel's can run both OS X and XP concurrently, when Parallels is installed.

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Sep 2001

User is offline

jvoskuil

overstated

03/05, 2:07pm, EST

According to the article quoted in the article quoted in this article (does anyone bother to read the original?), the DOT chief technology officer is "weighing as a possible alternative or complement to Windows Vista" the option of Macs "for a limited group of users." That's a far cry from "switching its operations to Macs...."

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Feb 2006

User is offline

fsauer1

Not Likely

03/05, 2:20pm, EST

As a former gov. exec (SES level) in IT, you can be sure that the pressure to conform that will come from the Gov't CIO council, plus MS lobbying with key congressional staffers, will kill any effort before it even gets up any momentum. This will include any "limited group". CIO-types in gov't interested in Macs should do their innovations quietly, with no fanfare or publicity, if they want any flexibility in doing what's best for their department.

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Jul 2002

User is offline

fsauer1

"Yellow Journalism"

03/05, 2:29pm, EST

Having now read the orginal article, this MaCNN article is out and out misleading. There is no consideration of "switching" to Mac by the DOT. There is no statement by the DOT saying they are even considering any switch. Looking at "options" is a far cry from "considering a swtich. In fact, DOT states that they will stick with XP Pro for the time being. Shame on you, MacCNN

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Jul 2002

User is offline

Eccent

To which you say,

03/05, 3:31pm, EST

Go get 'em Tiger.

Junior Member

Joined Dec 1999

User is offline

chas_m

I'll bet

03/05, 3:34pm, EST

one personal visit by Steve Jobs to the head of the DOT would erase all the years of MS lobbying almost overnight.

Apple should really consider "deploying" personal visits by Steve as a carrot when the account potential is big enough.

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Aug 2001

User is offline

hokizpokis

entirely bogus article

03/05, 5:30pm, EST

fsauer1 is right on the money here; as usual this macnn article is just lame.

maybe try another line of work instead like boxing; blah, blah, blah...

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined Jan 2007

User is offline

Cadilicsp

What if Gold PSP Come?

03/06, 7:44am, EST

A New Treat To Apple TV: PlayStation 3 movie downloads

"Now Sony has indicated the introduction of a movie download service for the PlayStation 3, to match the Xbox 360, the console war has moved into new territory - territory Apple has already marked as its own"

More: www.mobile-video-converter.com/news

Banned

Joined Mar 2007

User is offline

additional comments:..1..2..Next

Your Comments

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

Default Comment View
External Page Links
Comment Threading View