How do I convince my IT boss to get a Mac for Web design

[nimbuscloud]

Hello everyone.

I need your advice. I am a webmaster for a college. I work within the college's IT department, which is of course all Windows based. I'm a Mac guy, and soon I'll have to get a new computer because my current one is extremely slow. Soon, I will also have to control (or simply use) a plotter for large printing in my department, we are expanding a tad. Do you know anyway that I can convince my boss that a Mac would be good for the job for webmastering, or will it be best to just stick with a Windows PC?

I know that multi-tasking would be much easier with the Mac, but is there any other pros? Also, what would be the cons? I would love to use a Mac for at the job, but I don't want to use it if it really isn't better for web design and development.

Also, I'm a bit new at web design. I was a graphic design graduate, but I'll be starting on my Masters in Web Design and Development online through The University of Denver online. That means I'll be back to read tips and such from other threads.

Thanks for having me here and thanks for your time. All comments are welcome.

 

[blakbyrd]

You could run Windows and OS X side-by-side, allowing you to test web pages and apps on Windows and Mac web browsers (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer).

 

[tominated]

You have the added benifit of textmate, coda, transmit and other timesaving apps. Plus you can easily test php/mysql, ruby, python, etc without installing anything (or by installing MAMP to make it easier). Macs have superior colour correction. Photoshop will probably run twice as fast on an intel mac as an average pc. hope this helps

 

[nimbuscloud]

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, I thought that running Mac OS X and Windows side-by-side would be a helpful "selling point". The main apps that I use are from Adobe though, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. I guess I was hoping that it would seem like that there would be no problem in including a Mac into the IT workplace for web design instead of still using a Windows machine. I'd want to run all the Adobe apps on Mac OS X of course.

Anymore info is still greatly appreciated.

 

[angelneo]

I think your main selling point would be that, you can use your Mac to run windows, but windows PC cannot run a Mac OS. Being in the web industry, you have to test on various platforms, a Mac (with multiple OS) would allow you to test on virtually every popular OS/browsers. Given that now Mac is getting popular, it would be wise to have some form testing on that as well (no, Safari on Windows do not count)

I don't think it's that good an idea to contest it on virtue of development speed or software compatibilities.

 

[SC68Cal]

You have the added benifit of textmate, coda, transmit and other timesaving apps. Plus you can easily test php/mysql, ruby, python, etc without installing anything (or by installing MAMP to make it easier).

Okay, stop right there. You're fired. Those are not professional development tools. Don't worry about cleaning your desk out, I went ahead and threw everything out for you.

Have you ever worked in an enterprise environment? MAMP? MAMP??? Would you like a bib with your MySQL server?

Here's my opinion on bucking the trend in a windows operating environment:
1) You have to have a really specific reason for wanting an OS X computer.
2) You have to have a really good reason for having said OS X computer.

And here's why. If I'm using Active Directory to manage my computers, you're adding more complexity and a special case to the policies for just one computer.

 

[radiantm3]

Okay, stop right there. You're fired. Those are not professional development tools. Don't worry about cleaning your desk out, I went ahead and threw everything out for you.

Have you ever worked in an enterprise environment? MAMP? MAMP??? Would you like a bib with your MySQL server?

Textmate and Transmit are used all the time in "professional" environments.

 

[fingers]

If you attend any sort of web development seminars or presentations you will notice that 90% of the presenters and attendees will be touting Mac laptops. I would say for any sort of Ruby on Rails work the Mac is the industry standard, and TextMate won't run on a PC.

If your web development is for the college's intranet, with only Windows machines able to access it, then get a new PC. But if it is an open system, checking browser issues on a Mac is essential. So just tell him/her that you need to check how it renders on a Mac.

 

[arf]

Textmate and Transmit are used all the time in "professional" environments.

Yup, I'll second that. I'd love to hear about your definition of "professional".

 

[Stampyhead]

Okay, stop right there. You're fired. Those are not professional development tools. Don't worry about cleaning your desk out, I went ahead and threw everything out for you.

Have you ever worked in an enterprise environment? MAMP? MAMP??? Would you like a bib with your MySQL server?

Here's my opinion on bucking the trend in a windows operating environment:
1) You have to have a really specific reason for wanting an OS X computer.
2) You have to have a really good reason for having said OS X computer.

And here's why. If I'm using Active Directory to manage my computers, you're adding more complexity and a special case to the policies for just one computer.

Textmate and Transmit are used all the time in "professional" environments.

Yup, I'll second that. I'd love to hear about your definition of "professional".

Yeah, 3rd. What the heck are you talking about?

 

[barr08]

You should install party poker on all the computers and let the spyware convince your boss to get macs

 

[whooleytoo]

Tell him you want to web-develop on a Mac so you don't inadvertendly upload infected files to the web site, thus potentially infecting many students' PCs and potentially opening up a liability for the college.

Have lots of scary news stories about viruses, worms, and scripting exploits on your screen as you explain this to him..

 

[nimbuscloud]

You should install party poker on all the computers and let the spyware convince your boss to get macs

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I thought of that, but I don't want to get caught hahaha.

My biggest thing is that my current XP computer is EXTREMELY sluggish. I am lucky if I can have Photoshop and Dreamweaver open at one time. I usually have to close one and open the other, but both takes a bit to open...and close.

I mainly have MS Outlook, Firefox or IE, and Dreamweaver open at one time, but my computer still drags. With a new PC, I'm sure that things would improve, but with a new Mac...I KNOW that I'll gain very good multitasking abilities. I can't do anything fast with my current machine. It once took me an hour to edit some words on a 2 page PDF, I had to use Photoshop since the text wasn't editable...it was created from a scanned form.

I guess I'm looking for the major selling point that would make my boss think that a Mac would be best. Unfortunately, my co-workers think that I'm a "Mac fanboy" because I have a Mac, an iPhone, and I like their products. They don't know anything about Macs and their only positive comment on them is "they're pretty computers". I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

Maybe multitasking can be the selling point. If I can get a Mac, I'll try to get VMWare Fusion to run Windows XP also on the side if needed. I hope there isn't a network problem with me trying to get a Mac.

 

[jbernie]

For an all wintel setup you are wasting your breath and time touting the virtue of the Mac, basically it all comes down to what happens when something goes wrong?

Use of non standard equipment is a headache for all involved, maybe if some of the IT guys know macs you might have an easier time, but ultimately you tread a very fine line. The moment you have vital project X due that day and your mac isn't working properly you are SOL and there won't be much sympathy to spread around.

Now granted, with the advent of intel Macs it is not such a big difference HW wise, but the OS is different enough to be problematic. You might end up having to justify the cost of one off support calls to software vendors etc.

We have a few macs around now, one dept only, with it needing VP signoff from their dept and ours. You may find that requesting a higher spec pc than is the norm is easer to justify and the IT group won't object as strongly.

Remember you aren't getting a dual quad core pc with 8 GB of ram and hardware raid 5 with 10,000rpm ultra scsi drives etc etc to decimate your co workers at the end of the week network doom game, you need it for "development work" ...

 

[nimbuscloud]

For an all wintel setup you are wasting your breath and time touting the virtue of the Mac, basically it all comes down to what happens when something goes wrong?

Use of non standard equipment is a headache for all involved, maybe if some of the IT guys know macs you might have an easier time, but ultimately you tread a very fine line. The moment you have vital project X due that day and your mac isn't working properly you are SOL and there won't be much sympathy to spread around.

Now granted, with the advent of intel Macs it is not such a big difference HW wise, but the OS is different enough to be problematic. You might end up having to justify the cost of one off support calls to software vendors etc.

We have a few macs around now, one dept only, with it needing VP signoff from their dept and ours. You may find that requesting a higher spec pc than is the norm is easer to justify and the IT group won't object as strongly.

Remember you aren't getting a dual quad core pc with 8 GB of ram and hardware raid 5 with 10,000rpm ultra scsi drives etc etc to decimate your co workers at the end of the week network doom game, you need it for "development work" ...

I agree with you.

We have some Macs for our Communications area, just not in IT. They had top of the line G5s, right before the Intels. It's a small private college, but I was surprised that they decked that department out, nice flat screen Apple displays also. I want a MacPro with about 4GB of ram. I'm not trying to compete against anyone, I just want a good computer that will last a bit.

 

[Vidd]

The best reasoning, imo, refers to the fact that testing the website is so important and Macs can run OS X, Windows and Linux along with any browser that they offer.

 

[john0026]

you stated that you work in a windows based IT environment.Are any of the servers/web servers running anything to support a Mac environment ?

 

[Fairly]

Textmate and Transmit are used all the time in "professional" environments.

They are? Do you mean professional environments or do you mean "professional" environments? Apple's share of the corporate space is infinitesimal. TextMate isn't bad but with most computers running *Office it's not widespread. And Transmit is just too weak to be a heavy duty FTP client.

 

[whooleytoo]

They are? Do you mean professional environments or do you mean "professional" environments? Apple's share of the corporate space is infinitesimal. TextMate isn't bad but with most computers running *Office it's not widespread. And Transmit is just too weak to be a heavy duty FTP client.

Professional != corporate. Professional simply means you're using these tools as part of your job and your work (or even your job) depends on them working.

 

[snickelfritz]

Personally, I think I'd stay away from the "Macs don't crash as often" or "multitasking is faster/better in OSX" arguments.
This is simply not supportable.

I think I'd be talking about website testing across platforms in a single box, the relative freedom from virus/malware, and the (64bit) capability to address up to 8GB of RAM in PSCS3.
In fact, I think I'd spend some time researching and talking about 64bit computing and the advantages OSX brings to the table in this regard.
This really is a major difference between OSX and 32bit Vista/XP.

 

[fingers]

TextMate isn't bad but with most computers running *Office it's not widespread. And Transmit is just too weak to be a heavy duty FTP client.

What has Office got to do with the proliferation of TextMate?

I have just switched from BBEdit to TextMate, and I love it. I am also having my first tentative steps with Ruby on Rails. If you do any sort of database driven site, this is awesome. It took me a long time to come round to the idea, as I have spent quite a long time now with PHP, but I see the light now.

I think the combination of Mac OS X, TextMate, MySQL and Ruby on Rails is unbeatable. Truly amazing and a HUGE leap forward from any other development platform I have tried.

nimbuscloud - do you do database driven sites? If so, what technologies do you use?

 

[nimbuscloud]

What has Office got to do with the proliferation of TextMate?

I have just switched from BBEdit to TextMate, and I love it. I am also having my first tentative steps with Ruby on Rails. If you do any sort of database driven site, this is awesome. It took me a long time to come round to the idea, as I have spent quite a long time now with PHP, but I see the light now.

I think the combination of Mac OS X, TextMate, MySQL and Ruby on Rails is unbeatable. Truly amazing and a HUGE leap forward from any other development platform I have tried.

nimbuscloud - do you do database driven sites? If so, what technologies do you use?

No, I don't do database driven sites. I purely use Dreamweaver, a little Flash and a little Fireworks...what is now the "Adobe package". Next year, I'll probably get cozy with PHP and maybe AJAX since I plan on learning that.

 

[nimbuscloud]

Also, the server is a Dell server running Windows 2003 (?) I think.

 

[killerrobot]

The best reasoning, imo, refers to the fact that testing the website is so important and Macs can run OS X, Windows and Linux along with any browser that they offer.

I've read this like 8 times now and am completely lost at how OSX manages how you web browse?
You need web browsers to verify everything working and with Safari 3 being available on windows, a big part of that argument is lost for the Mac.

@OP -- I agree with jbernie, one mac in all windows is a headache and you should just ask for a super PC. I bet the IT guy would get more excited about it and be willing to dish out the money that way.

 

[rlandrigan]

We have a 200+ all-dell shop....and my new web-dev machine is a mac book pro

The selling point is that if you're getting a new machine anyway, get 3 in one - your mac, and a test windows ie 6.0 environment, and a test ie 7.0 windows environment, as well as any other virtual machine you need. MX Studio windows will upgrade to Adobe Web Developer, so the same cost to upgrade.

There is more software to get to make everything run well - Thursby Systems Admit Mac to run on an Active Directory network, ODBC drivers if you need database access - but it's well, well worth it for the tool set and options.