[WinMac] Re: Choice of AppleShare IP 6.0 vs. NT (WinMac #91)

Dan Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Sun, 11 Oct 1998 21:44:29 -0400

        Phillip:

        No, I don't have a distorted view of the technology, or more importantly
how *real* business' use it.

        Quite to the contrary: Last year, my business was about 90% Mac and about
5% each NT/intel and NT/Alpha. This year, it's a 50-50 split between Mac
and NT; and the NT percentage is climbing month by month. [In fact, it's
climbing so fast that I'm in the process of getting my MCSE.]

        Essentially, my clients businesses consist of graphics, photography,
prepress, and ad agency shops: The core of the MacOS customer base.

        The last straw for many of my customers was Apple's killing off the MacOS
clones: They just got fed up and started to switch to NT.

        Yes, there will always be Macs in these shops, because there are some
things that NT can't handle well (such as exotic peripherals like as
scanners and some color printers). But for the majority of uses, NT has far
surpassed the MacOS in terms of stability.

        Most of my customers started by throwing out their AppleShare 4.0.2 &
4.2.2 file server software (converting the boxes to workstations) and
bringing in NT/4 server(s). And guess what? The sustained file transfer
speeds to & from Mac workstations actually INCREASED. And the management
headaches decreased.

 -------------

        It's ironic how, for many years, Macs were underpowered; yet the biggest
sales point was that despite the lack of speed the Mac was easier to use,
and hence more productive with a lower overall cost... i.e at the end of
the day the user got more work done on a Mac than on a DOS/Win 3.1 box.

        But, with the worsening stability of the MacOS as the hardware improved,
the proverbial shoe is now on the other foot: NT, especially on a DEC
Alpha, is easier to use, more powerful, and best of all *more stable.* And,
this applies to both the server as well as the workstation versions.

        Let me give you an example: Right here at home, I'm running a dual PPro
200 mHz workstation with 512 MB of RAM and NT/Server 4.0 with Services for
Macintosh, simultaneously running IP and AppleTalk stacks. I also have
three Mac workstations connected up to it for other work, such as scanning.
I can easily run Photoshop manipulating an 84 MB file while maintaining
>700 kilobyte/second sustained transfer rates to & from the Macs over my
10Base-T home LAN. All of this on one machine.

 --------------

        Yes, AppleShare IP 6 might be OK when running on a dedicated box. But
there is better... And it costs less. It costs less to buy the hardware &
software package for an NT/Alpha Server than an equivalent PowerPC Mac with
A/S IP6; and less to run and maintain it.

        In a small shop, an NT server can simultaneously act as a workstation...

        In a larger network, the server costs less, does more, and works better &
faster.

        Yours truly,
        Daniel L. Schwartz,
        Electrical Engineer.

        Dan's Macintosh Consulting
        Suite 1306
        1840 Frontage Road
        Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-2205

        609-795-8965

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

At 09:50 AM 10/11/98 -0600, Phillip Corchary wrote:
>>
>> Here's a point-by-point rebuttal why I don't recommend AppleShare IP6; and
>>instead recommend NT/Server 4.0 for mixed platform shops:
>
>Dan,
>
>Thanks for your email.
>
>I was preparing an lengthy, in depth reply, however as I read farther into
>your message I realized that you basically just have an ax to grind, as well
>as distorted view of how many people actually use technology. Therefore
>there's no point in my wasting time replying to you.
>
>I wish you much success and enjoyment with the products that you choose to
>use. Good Luck.
>
>
>philc
>==================================
>Phillip Corchary, Sr. Systems Engineer
>Apple Computer, Inc., Denver CO
>corchary@apple.com
>
>

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                Webmaster for <http://www.faulknerstudios.com>

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