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The consumer acceptable version of OS X is now out of the
gate and on track to be the standard operating system in the Mac
universe. It's time to start beating the drum.
Over the last few years, the Mac community has more or less made
amends with the folks on the PC side of the fence. Live and let
live has been a common refrain. Microsoft, the punching bag of the
PC industry, has smoothed many Mac waters with its Office suite.
The same office suite has made the Mac minority almost invisible
when it comes to transferring files. Because the majority of
popular software is cross-platform, Mac users can operate in
stealth mode easily enough. No one needs to know that a file came
from "the other side."
OS X, though, ushers in a whole new ball game. Is it time for
Mac evangelists to take up the cause once again? Most signs point
to yes.
OS X does away with many of the common gripes about the Mac
platform. With its "buzzword compliance," Macs have come a long way
since Type 11 errors.
The Unix core also opens up a whole new realm to Mac users, as
George Wagner of Brave New Mac
points out.
The time appears to be ripe for people and businesses to start
considering a switch. Microsoft's heavy-handed licensing schemes
are not earning it any friends, and, if scuttlebutt is to be
believed, many firms are casting about for ways to divorce
themselves from a relationship with a (very) dominant partner.
Linux, as a free system, is really getting the eye these days, but
it remains less than user friendly, causing many companies to
balk.
So where can they go to get the power they crave and some
flexibility in what they buy and when? Do I have to answer that
question for you?
Now, more than ever, effective marketing coupled with strong,
informed, and measured evangelism can do nothing but good for the
Mac platform. Sure, the Mac isn't the perfect solution for every
situation, and many companies will definitely give the Mac a pass
because of the massive hardware upgrades that they would have to go
through.
Smaller companies and companies just getting started may give
the Mac a serious look, and any new support is a good thing in the
long run.
So, stand up tall, learn about OS X, its advantages over
Windows, and its licensing scheme. Give your favorite platform a
helping hand.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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