jacksonestonia said:
Both the G5 and the Opteron 64 bit have been out a while now, wonder if
there are any credible comparisons on performance yet? Need to populate
an office, and want to know if there are big differences.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
-gtk
PS - sorry for crossposting, figured I better ask both camps.
First, you don't say what kind of "office" you are intending to
populate. If it is a standard office enviorment, then it probably
doesn't matter too much unless you look a bit deeper.
If you're going to have everyone networked, workgroup printing, net
backup and so on, you will probably need someone skilled in admistering
that network if you go Windows or hire a 3rd party support solution
unless you feel comfortable doing it. Windows has a level of necessary
support do to the security problems. Then there are the numerous and
often updates that MS puts out. While you may make the observation that
PC hardware costs less, if you compare branded stuff, the prices aren't
that different.
But to that 64 bit thing, unless you're doing some heavy lifting, it
isn't going to matter. It won't speed up your typing, browsing or email.
It won't speed up Office, if you use that product. If you're an
architect and need CAD, I don't think any of the apps are yet 64 bit,
like AutoCad. And the same problem is on the Mac, that is currently
there isn't much in apps that take advantage of 64 bit chips.
So, if you have a current investment in Windows, you'd probably be wiser
staying with a PC. If daily administration is a problem and is costing
you significant sums, maybe you should consider Macs and their lower
cost of operation and longer *useful* hardware life.
For the average office there is all the software you could need. While
there is more for the PC, a lot of it is crap. How many do you want to
go through to get a good choice?
I have a buddy in N. Illinois who owns about a half dozen stores that
deal with dancing. All stores have iMacs with POS software and regular
apps for WP, browsing, etc. One store is in Texas and he admins that
remotely via Timbucktu. I think he gets 4-6 years out of his hardware
and has not had to go to any extreme tricks for third party hardware,
cash drawers, barcode scanners, cc auth and so on.
Another place, The Old Town School runs their entire operations on Macs
with a custom 4D product from Footprints. It manages their 5000+
students/week. Membership, classes(adult group/private, and over
virtually every instrument or voice, etc), room asignments, library,
instrument collection and a retail store. They have two locations
connected to same server. One person in bookkeeping admins the system.
The place is perhaps a $5M+/year NFP in Chicago.
The point is, you'll spend less in the long run.
--
Regards,
Jim Polaski
"The measure of a man is what he will do while expecting that he will get nothing in return!"
Macintosh for productivity. Linux for servers. Palm/Visor for mobility. Windows to feed the Black Hole in your IT budget
Windows-the computer you need, Macintosh-The computer you Want!ant!iÝê
