RE: [WinMac] A Mac Alone

John Nurick(jnurick[at]lrconsulting.co.uk)
Fri, 21 May 1999 08:08:02 -0500

Phil Sutton wrote:

[...]

> However, I can look forward to no support for the Mac. That
> is okay but I
> want my secretary to also have a Mac and my boss is shaky
> about what would
> happen if I leave.
  
> I told him that Microsoft Office support should be similar if
> the dukes of
> the kingdom will just help rather than complain it is being
> run on a Mac.

Similar but not identical. My users are almost all Win9x with one Mac,
and Office 97/98. I used Macs for a few years in the DOS age and
occasionally since, so know the basic UI and a little about the OS. On
the basis of this I feel:

* there are enough UI differences between Office 97/Win and 98/MacOS to
complicate telephone support. If the Win-based support person and the
Mac-based client each know the basics of the other UI this isn't a big
problem, but if each is ignorant of the other a lot of time could be
wasted. The differences between Office 2000 and Office 98 are greater
than those between 97 and 98. Help system differences can also be a
problem ijn phone support.

* if the roll-out of Office includes custom templates and macros (as it
should if it's being done properly in a corpporate/organisational
environment), platform and version issues can crop up. So far these have
not been a significant problem for me and my Mac user - in part because
I've written them for compatibility. Are your kingdom's dukes willing to
do the same, and to make adjustments them if you or your secretary have
problems?

* sometimes it's hard to tell whether a problem is in Office or in the
OS (e.g. printing).

But that there's nothing here that can't be overcome with a little
knowledge and goodwill on either side.

>I
> am also trying to get the powers at the university to
> consider FilemakerPro
> instead of Access for the database.

This should depend on what the databases will be used for. IMHO FMPro is
much easier than Access for end users who need ad hoc, basically
flat-file information stores, but way, way behind in its relational
capabilities and the ability to integrate with Office apps.

We tackled this one by giving our Mac user lots of RAM, Virtual PC and
Office 97 as well as 98, so he can use Access when he needs to.

> Please tell me some of the pitfalls I should watch for in the
> coming years
> or if you think I should give up the fight to keep a Mac in
> the system.

Don't see it as a fight. You'll start thinking "all's fair in love and
war" and that will really alienate the dukes! If you and your secretary
learn enough Windows to be able to translate between systems as you seek
support, and the dukes will meet you 0.2 of the way, you should be OK.

If they really won't let you, relax and enjoy it. In places, the
Win95/NT4 UI makes MacOS 8.x look ancient and clunky, especially if you
have a wheely mouse.

John

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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Fri May 21 1999 - 06:19:55 PDT