Comments on: Is Salesforce.com Switching To Macs?

By: graeme_thic3081

graeme_thic3081 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

why do I get the feeling you're finally realizing you will one day succumb, Brad?

By: Skeuomorph

Skeuomorph — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

"I also know we can throw out all of our Microsoft stuff and switch over to Google Apps or something else"

The newest Microsoft Office is for the Mac. Aside from that, Pages edits Word 2007 .docx files, Numbers edits Excel 2007 .xlsx files, and Keynote edits Powerpoint.

Speaking as an Office user since 1990, and Windows user from 1992 - 2004, this is a surprisingly pleasant switch. I have Office 2008, as well as Office 2007 in Parallels coherence mode, and never launch either one.

"If Entourage 2008 had an equivalent level of integration with Exchange (or the Apple mail / calendar / contact apps incorporated ActiveSync) I'd try again on the Mac."

We hated Entourage 2008 so badly, that after paying to upgrade everyone, we dumped it. Exchange lasted longer than the rest of office, but Google Apps' introduction of IMAP and the Calendar and Contact APIs allowed the move. We switched from Moto Qs and Blackberry Pearls over recent months, and finally cancelled our corporate Exchange hosting this month. Using IMAP keeps all desktop and portable computers in sync for mail, including flags and read status. iCal syncs personal and shared company calendars to Google Calendar using BusySync (or Spanning Sync subscription). Plaxo keeps contacts in sync, but that's coming soon for Spanning Sync thanks to Google Contacts API.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

Try dumping Exchange for Zimbra. It integrates with Outlook MAPI, Activasync, Blackberry, iSync, has a J2ME client for java mobiles and the list goes on. We switched several months ago and have had no issues supporting all of the collaboration that Exchange provides (and more) in a mixed Mac/Windows environment.

By: Don Jones

Don Jones — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

Is this where the virtualization technology comes in to help – the VMware's of the world? It makes the OS less relevant?

By: Shane Ketterman

Shane Ketterman — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

This is highly encouraging to hear, yet, sadly MS will take the defense. They come back fighting like immature kids that aren't yet ready to accept change. People are getting exposed to an Operating System and design that isn't bothersome or in your way and MS still hasn't latched on and rewritted theirs from the ground up. This reminds me of the Porter's Five Forces model in strategic planning and I have to say…..maybe MS should use it or at least update their SWOT. They might be amazed the world is changing.

By: MikeK

MikeK — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

If things are working for you under Windows why on earth would you want to change?

By: Raj

Raj — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

I no longer run Windows on physical hardware — it's all Ubuntu. "Hardy Heron" is pretty awesome.

Windows on VMWare feels great for me — it seems much faster.

By: John Madden

John Madden — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:52 +0000

I have 62 employees including 40 salespeople in one location in the US, and I'm opening an office in Sydney with 10 more – all on Macs. They never break, they never get viruses, and the slimline form factor of the iMac takes up very little room on a desktop. I cannot be more pleased with my Macs. SalesForce runs well in both Safari and Firefox, although an application I got off the AppExchange (AccessHoovers) will often hang Safari, so we use Firefox. Armed with a few off-the-shelf software products including Office 2004, we rarely problems of any kind. My only issue is that the rest of the business world hasn't caught up. I would recommend 100% to anyone to make the switch. Security is a breeze, and if you absolutely need Windows, Boot Camp lets you run your Mac as though it was a PC. Sorry, Mr. Gates – we won't be needing your services anymore.