Novell sux.

But, the real expense of any given corporation moving from MS to Apple would not be the cost of the Apple products, but the hardware, training, applications, data, and all the related things - many of them FAR from obvious - that would be impacted. It would be a very expensive proposition both from a direct cost and business impact perspective.

I'm not necessarily saying it shouldn't be done or that it wouldn't be justified; just that it would be expensive and time consuming.

Such issues are about the only thing keeping Novell in business for the last several years.

Ours is a Novell network and there has been strong support to dump it for a long time, but the transition costs keep getting sighted as prohibitive.

UI is helpful and important.

Is it bad when you hijack your own thread?

Admin,

Hold on strong you dinosaur I can count the number of Novell systems I've dealt with this year on one hand. All of which were in the government sector. IMO Windows won't loose the server and enterprise app market in my lifetime. Windows server, exhange, SQL, sharepoint, etc dominate enterprise networks. The issue with Novell and Apple is application support. Everything is built around AD and I'm seeing support for eDirectory dropping fast. Even products as simple as client AV lack support for Apple clients. Out of the big three AV vendors(Symantec, Trend Micro, Mcafe) only Mcafe offers a centrally managed MAC client. Even Symantecs new flagship EPS product offers Windows and Linux support but no MAC.

If I had my way, we'd of dumped Novell a long time ago.

I've dealt with the non-support of eDirectory and it is not fun.

Everyone supports AD, but just about NO major app bothers to worry about eDirectory.

The problem that will keep Apple from becoming a standard is the company's stubborn insistence on closed architecture hardware and their marketing plan that keeps costs high and sells their products through only their channels and in pieces -- for example, iPods that need accessory cables at extra cost, iPhones that only work on the ATT system, etc.

In a greedy effort to control the market, they cut off their nose.

There is a lot to be said for have an integrated software and hardware. I doubt that Apple with supplant Microsoft, but they could take a lot of market share away. The average user is not interested in learning how to overcome problems. they only want a product that turns on and does what they want it to do. Electronics is a fast paced field and obsolete is a matter of days.

The big problem is that Windows has become too big and complex for the average users. Enough so, that IBM has gone to offering a total non-MS line. It is going to be possible to buy several PCs that will offer machines running Linux and low-budget alternatives to MS products because they are simple, reliable, and less expensive. And I think that Apple will probably wind up selling their OS or someone will find a way to make it work on PCs without Apple's support.