Mac OS X Elbowing its Way Into Business

Be the first to comment | I like it!
February 3, 2009, 12:18 PM —  PC World — 

According to Net Applications research data, Mac OS X market share is inching its way to 10% of all computing platforms, currently at 9.93%. The Net Applications data comes by tracking the OS through web browser activity, so it's not a direct measurements of computers. But it's on-target with other market surveys.

What's driving the trend? Could it be iPhone owners dabbling in full-fledged Macs? Perhaps. But what about the business audience; could swaths of PC-only outfits finally be moving to mixed-platform environments? With so many business tools running as platform-agnostic web services, Macs are nearly fully compatible out-of-the box.

Sure, there are some misses. Microsoft's OS X mail program, Entourage lacks the complete Exchange Server support and abilities of Outlook. And Exchange support is weak in Apple's Mail application. But the transition is in progress; the next version of OS X will include ActiveSync. And most features from the other Microsoft Office apps are included or less critical.

Apple's hardware design usually impresses, from laptop and desktop cases to multi-core, Intel processors. If you absolutely have to run a Windows-only app for work, you could reboot a Mac into a Microsoft OS and not tell the difference from a "real" PC. Or just run it in a virtual machine within OS X.
Companies will keep moving to web services, and with that transition, Mac OS X's business market share could continue to grow. I doubt it'll reach substantially further into this Windows-dominated world. But as businesses are using cross-platform tools, companies are also letting employees pick their favorite OS. And each individual switch gradually boosts Apple's market share.

» posted by ITworld staff

PC World

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Close

On Twitter now

mac

Powered by Twitter
You are logged in | Sign out
Sign in and post to Twitter

What are you thinking?

Cancel Tweet sent

On Twitter now

Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
peer-to-peer

Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly

claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century

pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin

Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?

sjvn
64-bits of protection?

jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith

mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive

 

Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Featured Sponsor

AISO founders envisioned a Web hosting company that was environmentally friendly. While the company employed energy-efficient innovations like solar panels, its infrastructure produced unacceptable power and cooling requirements. Find out how AISO leveraged AMD technology to overcome their challenge in this case study white paper.

In this whitepaper, Scalar explores the opportunity to change the landscape with respect to mission critical databases built around Oracle. Leveraging technologies such as Linux, high-end commodity processing power and Oracle RAC technology to architect, design, build and maintain database infrastructure that delivers maximum availability, reliability and performance at a fraction of traditional cost.

On a typical day, weather.com, the Web site for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, serves up between 15 million and 20 million page views. But in September 2004, when back-to-back hurricanes ransacked Florida, the peak traffic on one day more than tripled: over 70 million page views by more than 7 million unique visitors. Read the full success story now.

Marketplace