Help! IT want to make us use PCs!
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- TruffleShuffler0
Canon have been useless in terms of support. It's difficult even getting a response from them but there's some contract to use Canon printers which is where it all started but it's not even about the printer any more. IT just want to prove a point. I'm not sure what that point is mind you...
- VectorMasked0
Wouldn't be better and cheaper to train a couple of Chris Farley's lookalikes on macs, than make such a change and train whatever number of designers/computer users are in there?
- Bluejam0
seriously. it's a fucking computer. if you're so connected to using a apple product, get a new job. end of.
the only viable argument to use is one of cost and whether it's in the best interests of the company you work for to spend money on new equipment (inc hardware & software).
- so they should use Apple then?ribit
- I want to call you all kinds of foul names Bluejammonospaced
- ********0
That "design" stance simply doesn't wash in 2009. If you were all web developers on the other hand, I'd say you had a fundamental reason to demand a mac.
- <idiotipissexcellence
- What?section_014
- that doesn't sound rightmonospaced
- Horp0
Wow, I didn't think things like this were an issue any more. I had this exact same problem years ago when I went to a company to set up an in-house design department. It was almost identical, I couldn't print to their printer.
The IT team immediately went on an offensive about me having to switch to PC. It was a long and bloody battle and the upshot of it was that although I won (ie I built the department on macs not PCs) the IT Dept were then a total bitch to us for ever more.
The way I got around it was:
- to pursuade them that buying my department a couple of dedicated Epson bubblejet printers for a couple of hundred quid would be cheaper than expecting my team to relearn their trade on an unsuitable PC that could not handle large amounts of dedicated graphics work.
- That by allowing us to be a self-sufficent Mac island they would avoid a slew of compatibility issues
- That by doing our data intensive full colour graphics ripping and printing to our own very cheap but superior quality printers, we would not cause frustration by keeping everyone waiting in a queue for our files to process.
- That by being a stand-alone Mac set-up with bridges to the main server, we would largely take good care of our Mac set-up ourselves, as Mac people are by necessity their own IT support as well... so it was actually in the interests of IT to let us do our own thing.
- but years ago macs were superior in terms of performance, especially in design matters. not any more...jimbojones
- I meant to add that this was back in 1999.Horp
- I didn't even own a mac back then :)jimbojones
- Macs are still superior as the Adobe applications are developed with the Mac hardware in mind.monospaced
- bullshit, give me some links to support that.DrBombay
- adobe apps run equally well on macs and windoze. it's the system (vista and xp) that can slow things down, but that doesn't have to happen.jimbojones
- jimbojones0
and tbh freehand and fontlab run so much better on windoze... but that's totally antique software.
- WHO USES freehand! Macromedia doesn't even exist any more!papasmurf82
- still kicks illys assjimbojones
- TruffleShuffler0
This is basically the way we work just now, and have done for years. Someone in IT has decided we've got too much freedom and they can't control us in the way they'd like. I think that's their issue anyway. We've all got Intel Mac Pros that don't need replaced so it'd be a total waste of money.
- ipissexcellence0
Before the economy fell or whatever happened. My office switched to PC. My Mac G5 was taken and some plastic dell placed in front of me instead.
I say embrace all of the excusable downtime you will have. Use the month or two you say you need to adjust to look for a new job.
Sure, switching OS isn't that great a reason to leave a place of employment. But, Imagine what those bastard IT nerds will try next. I feared sandals and board shorts would no longer be acceptable work attire... There will be change, fear the change!
- http://www.qbn.com/m…********
- Moth, I am a crying black baby... what is your point?ipissexcellence
- http://www.qbn.com/m…
- blaw0
Goodness, you sure sound silly crying about an OS. Two months to learn how to use a PC!? That's either pouting or incompetence. Both are wonderful traits to find in a co-worker or employee.
- Pouting. I also start to hate my surroundings every year or so. The OS was more an excuse to leave.ipissexcellence
- pixelchef0
Save money on Anti Virus software ;)
- spikejd0
Just thought I'd stick my oar in a bit...
The IT guys may not be so happy after a few weeks of MAC users using PCs. What I'm getting at is the Cottonwool-type user protection that the beautifully solid OSX environment provides.
IT people with micro$oft certificates seem to be set in their ways. But saying that, this problem does seem to be a result of some underlying political "us v. them" attitude. Some people will do anything to break up the manotany of the "have you tried turning it off an on again?" daily cycle.
Oh, and you could always try to get the drivers from Canon:-) If there aren't any available, and you need to use that printer, this has to be a failing of whoever chose to buy the printer. ...IT?
If you bought a toaster and it came with the wrong plug attached, you wouldn't change all the plug sockets in your house would you?- Apparently there are no drivers from Canon that will work with Leopard. They were quite happy for us to use our own printer until it broke down and IT tried to fix it by sticking a butter knife in it.TruffleShuffler
- until it broke down and IT tried to fix it by sticking a butter knife in it.TruffleShuffler
- testspiro
- section_0140
I prefer pc's for design. Especially web design. There are just more tools available development wise. Plus, I've been doing it for so long this way so I know how it all works.
Overall, though, I do like OS X better. I have a mac that I use for audio production at home and use it for my general web surfing too. I also like the terminal way better than the command prompt.
One complaint I'll always have with photoshop on the mac is the way files aren't self contained in the window. I often have up to 100 photos open and it's so much better to work with them on a pc. I used to work at a newspaper that ran all macs and it was an utter nightmare to work with that many photos.
The IT department making you switch is stupid though. Especially since you would be going to Vista. I still run XP and will be on it until I probably make the switch to OS X full time when Windows 7 ends up being shit. I'll just run crossover for IE testing I imagine.
- ********0
PC's are great for IT departments, they require so much maintenance and fixing that they keep them in jobs.
Only people that ever have computer problems at my work are the 2 who insist on using Windows- +5000 in this economy I'd be happy to cush myself into an IT manager job fixing virus infections all day longvaxorcist
- raf0
Use #1 for reference
- Beach8oy20
I think you're company needs to hire someone similar and get rid of your windows only IT Guys
- spiro0
test
- iheartfun0
Tell them conficker will haunt there ass forever and you'll make sure of it!
- monospaced0
I got this great in-house job recently, and showed up to find a sub-par, standard-issue, corporate Dell laptop piece-of-shit. They expected me to design with it.
Long story short, they not only got me a Mac, they got one for each member of the creative team and productivity has risen immensely.
The best argument I've seen in this entire thread is that it's cheaper to buy printers for the Mac, which will be churning out massive jobs, than it is to convert to a PC based system, both in hardware and software. Looks like the IT fucks are worried they couldn't justify their position if Macs were around since they don't really need much work.
- Out of interest, did you ask at interview what tech kit they had?Beach8oy2
- Yeah, I knew they used PCs, but I said that I would only design on a Mac. They just didn't deliver on it until I threw a fit after being hired.monospaced
- vaxorcist0
Are you creating multi-page docs longer than a few pages? In a test some time ago, font metrics on PC's were somewhat inaccurate comparing screen to print, whereas macs were accurate. This meant that your 100 page book on a PC screen may be 101 pages when printed, thus potentially costing a bundle in reprinting....
