I’d suggest side-by-side testing is pretty much a waste of time. The Dell machines were just as fast as my Intel Mac.

As for cost, the Macs were more expensive, but not enough to make a difference either way.They would have been running Parallels and Windows XP so we can use InDesign integrated with our main system, but that’s another story.

To give you all a little more background on our particular situation, the question of switching to PCs is indeed one of cost. In mid-2007, I sought to replace the nine Macs we have for graphics artists and designers. The newest machine in that fleet is 4 years old; most are 6 and 7 years old. Most have had a processor and RAM upgrades at some point over the years and are maxed out. But as Will says, they’re still chugging away.

My impetus for seeking new machines was mainly CS2. We were finding that on the older G4s, Illustrator in particular was a problem. InDesign wasn’t so bad. We also needed new monitors (most of those are just as old as the Macs). And we recognized the need to switch to Intel processors before long so we could switch eventually to CS3 (and wanting to add Flash, that would soon be necessary).

I initially asked for top-line iMacs, but our IS department advocated, to my delight, getting quad MacPros and new widescreen LCD monitors. We bought three machines, replacing the three oldest Macs, and gave them to the three artists who do information graphics (and so use Illustrator more than the others, addressing the most critical performance and productivity issue). We then planned to purchase the other six machines in 2008.

Then the budget numbers came back — sorry, no new Macs in 2008. And maybe when we do replace those machines, we should get PCs.

So I’m working with our IS department to determine whether it would really be cheaper, what the hidden costs are (the TCO), and so forth. They’ll be setting up side-by-side testing for compatibility and functionality as well. We have until the fall to pull together a final report. The feedback I’m getting from all of you will be part of it.

So again, keep it coming, and thanks for the help!

– Mike

Where is the cost savings?

Hardware of similar specifications across the two platforms is pretty close in price; in some cases with the advantage going to Apple.

Although I won’t pretend that Apples are totally secure, a newsroom full of journalists reading every email sent their way and opening every attachment either out of necessity or ignorance will not end well in a Windows environment.

Let’s also not forget whose operating system causes more problems with false-positive anti-piracy measures. When last I checked, Apple didn’t even require a serial number for installation, much less ‘break’ computers found (correctly or incorrectly) to be using ‘pirated’ serial numbers.

Oh yeah, then there’s site-licensing antivirus software too. When I stopped using Windows a couple years back, there weren’t any good freebies that could legally be used in a commercial environment. Mac still has ClamXAV.

Anecdotally, Apple hardware lasts longer. I’ve been in newsrooms with 10-year-old G3’s and G4’s still happily chugging away. I, personally, have never had a PC last longer than 2-3 years before being partially or completely rebuilt.

Additionally, the cost of replacing all the Mac software licenses with Windows software licenses is prohibitive as well. Why do it?

The industry is all over the place these days. Why compound staffers’ misery by handing them new computers (and delays stemming from problems in roll-out) to add insult to injury? That’s just mean.

Lastly, what is the significant monetary advantage of switching? I can all but guarantee you that admin costs for Windows machines is higher than Apple (but probably lower than various *nix distros). Even if there are a couple bucks to be saved in the hardware, or even possibly in the software retraining and support have to make it less than money-saving.

The only place I’d go against the Apple is the XServe. That specific hardware is a colossal waste of money when compared to similarly equipped Windows or even Linux hardware.