Hello,
This is going to be a tough question to get a definitive answer to as far as assigning points. But I need some feedback from others who might be in the same position or have gone through this.
I am the IT Manager for a company that up until now has been Windows Servers (2003 and 2008) Windows OS for the client machines and an AS400 that runs the main software for our business.
We had a person in the Marketing/Graphic Design position who had been here for a long time. This person used a PC, it was a very nice and powerful machine and I never received any real complaints from this individual. Now this person has left the company and we have hired a replacement. I was not consulted on the hiring of the new person, the owner interviewed and hired the individual. The new person wants a Mac and I believe the owner basically told this person in the interview process that we would get them what they need(want).
I am very reluctant to let this happen but it may be beyond my control. I have nothing against Mac and sometimes I have my own issues with Windows. So I don't want a lot of comments on how good the Mac may be etcetera - it does not interest me. I know nothing about Mac and have no desire to learn it or Linux. Simply due to the fact that I have my hands full with Windows, AS400, MS Access, SQL, etc., etc, etc.
I don't want to tell this person what they need to do their job. I do have a problem with the fact that the software the person wants will run on a PC or Mac. Plus the fact we are abandoning a PC that served the prior individual in the same capacity very well. I really feel the desire is based on want not need. The one thing I do have against Mac is the snobbishness of the people who use them.
That being said - before this gets too far, any words of caution or any good reasons that I should put a stop to this (if possible). I am concerned about the time this will take from me to support this thing that I know nothing about. Beyond that...any other potential problems I should be aware of??
I am currently experiencing a problem that I think might be attributable to the Mac (user is currently using their home Mac laptop at work to access files on the Windows file servers). All of a sudden I have a directory on the network (directory is specific to the Marketing department) that I cannot delete. I get errors pertaining to files in use and/or files in use cannot read from the source file or disk. About 2GB of crap that needs to go away and I have spent quite a lot of time so far to no avail. I don't remember having this problem before and my Googling of it revealed some hits relating to Mac in a Windows environment...so I am concerned.
http://blog.dotsmart.net/2008/06/12/solved-cannot-read-from-the-source-file-or-disk/Really I am asking for feedback from anyone who has a mixed Mac and Windows work environment.
Thanks!
