HELP my boss wants to switch from mac to PC

OK so my boss wants to switch from mac to pc's. He says its because we need to upgrade and adobe is having major issues with the intel chipset, also he is bringing into the cost factor and also saying OSX 10.4 is no good.
we work n a marketing dept. running Adobe CS2 creating print ads and catalogs. I need a concrete argument, exactlly what to say, this is a pc guy who has run the IT dept for years.

D'oh.

Tell him to call me. I'll straighten him out. Good God.

Adobe CS3 is on the horizon, written to run on the Intel Macs. Adobe didn't update CS2 due to issues with Intel, more of not wanting to release an updated Intel CS2 version and then immediately have CS3 due for release. Be sure to tout the longer Mac product life-cycles (3-4 years vs. 1-2 years of a PC), so really the savings is short-term. Remind him of the stability of OSX and the ease of maintenance of Mac systems. Encourage downsizing IT department and saving the company $$$ which can be use to line his own pockets down the road.

nukemm said:

Adobe CS3 is on the horizon, written to run on the Intel Macs. Adobe didn't update CS2 due to issues with Intel, more of not wanting to release an updated Intel CS2 version and then immediately have CS3 due for release. Be sure to tout the longer Mac product life-cycles (3-4 years vs. 1-2 years of a PC), so really the savings is short-term. Remind him of the stability of OSX and the ease of maintenance of Mac systems. Encourage downsizing IT department and saving the company $$$ which can be use to line his own pockets down the road.

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you've had to argue this point in the past haven't you.

do you get to keep the mac at work even if you get the PC? maybe just ask him to let you keep the mac on your desk and you can switch using them from time to time. and then when he realizes that you use mac more than the PC he would let you keep using the mac?

I have to use PCs at work in the Graphic Design field.

Tell him Jordan L. of Little Rock, AR hates it with a passion unequaled.

Even with a full team of IT guys, we have system wide crashes every day due to dummies opening emails with viruses in them, slower work flows, problems calibrating our print colors on our screens, etc.

Ugh, that's why I just surf the web all day...

thanks, this is all great stuff, I feel like he should know all this, there must be an alterior motive.

Download the latest Photoshop CS 3 beta and let him know how much it rocks on a mac...

Point out that a large majority of publishing houses and designers only use macs...

we work n a marketing dept. running Adobe CS2 creating print ads and catalogs.

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So you've got a workflow working well and he wants to disrupt it for no good reason?

If you're a serious design company then you wouldn't even consider switching to PCs. You'll be a laughing stock for a start.

You've also got a workforce who've probably only worked on Macs. You'll be losing months of productivity as everyone farts around switching to a system not even designed for the kind of work you do.

You'll also end up employing a lower caliber of staff in the future as not many people would even consider applying for a design job at a company that says they use PCs in the job advert.

He's insane.

Alexis said:

So you've got a workflow working well and he wants to disrupt it for no good reason?

If you're a serious design company then you wouldn't even consider switching to PCs. You'll be a laughing stock for a start.

You've also got a workforce who've probably only worked on Macs. You'll be losing months of productivity as everyone farts around switching to a system not even designed for the kind of work you do.

You'll also end up employing a lower caliber of staff in the future as not many people would even consider applying for a design job at a company that says they use PCs in the job advert.

He's insane.

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precisely right. Mac is the industry standard for design. Every design studio I've seen/visited/worked with/applied jobs for uses macs as standard. Every universtity and institution I've gone to uses macs as standard for all their art and design departments. If they don't, you'd think they're just a little bit out of the loop.

Here's an interesting post I found on another site, discussing mac vs. PC in the field of design
Link here

My father went to work for a design agency as art director. When he arrived, they had a handful of Macs around the office. No techs on staff. Well as they grew... someone decided they should save $$$ by getting PC computers to replace the aging macs. Well, it wasn't long after the new computers arrived they hired a tech guy to take care of them. Now they have 4 techs on staff making $60k+ a year each. So much for those savings.

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Now unless each (or a great many) of the designers you work with, Starfox, knows a PC inside and out (hardware and software as well as OS) then I wouldn't be surprised if the scenario above repeats itself in some way. Right off the bat, a PC may be cheaper, but I think the costs for upgrading and maintaining it, buying compatible software and so on, can quickly stack up.

If your boss is a PC IT guy, then you might want to sit him down, as all this (above posts included) could come as a heavy blow to him, heheh

I don't think macs make a better designer, but they certainly contribute to a more efficient designer.

In reality though PC's aren't cheaper, when you stack the hardware part for part, add the equivalents of all the software that already comes on the mac. Plus having to upgrade to CS3 anyway. You don't come out ahead at all.

And it's very true that PCs require more support staff. And the other productivity point that have been made I second. Also, as previously stated, everyone in the creative production world uses Apple. I've been to several News paper, magazine, and marketing departments, CGI studios, music recording studios, etc. And they all have Apple, and it is true. Even television broadcast. All the schools use Apple for Graphic Arts Classes, and Marketing Classes.

So all in all, even in the short term it ends up costing more. Probably allot more.

Is there anyone above him? or is the the top? It think what he really wants is to find a reason to increase his budget.

And if you all already have the intel Macs, then just upgrade to CS3. It will be heaps cheaper.

starfox25 said:

OK so my boss wants to switch from mac to pc's. He says its because we need to upgrade and adobe is having major issues with the intel chipset, also he is bringing into the cost factor and also saying OSX 10.4 is no good.
we work n a marketing dept. running Adobe CS2 creating print ads and catalogs. I need a concrete argument, exactlly what to say, this is a pc guy who has run the IT dept for years.

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Uhm does this mean he just bought Intel-based Macs? Or he was planning to? Unless in his all-knowledgeable self he wants to buy AMD PeeCees?

Anyway tell him he's not the one that will have to troubleshoot the d*mn things. And if he thinks Mac OS X is no good, guess he doesn't use the same hardware/software as the rest of you?

Oh and once he is caught in the Windoze upgrade scheme, it's pretty hard to change back. Heck, I know people that are still using Mac OS 9 and still doing fine!

Not to mention the worms and virii attached to emails, etc.

Anyway if he has his mind set, guess no matter what we can come up with won't make him back down.

That's management for ya! Then they blame poor productivity on the workers except they equip the workers with crappy tools! Meh. :blind:

if he keeps going, threaten to quit. Because he isn't providing the tools necessary to complete the task, as required.

Ice Cream Man said:

In reality though PC's aren't cheaper, when you stack the hardware part for part, add the equivalents of all the software that already comes on the mac. Plus having to upgrade to CS3 anyway. You don't come out ahead at all.

And it's very true that PCs require more support staff. .

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True story...I support Macs for a living, having come from a background supporting PCs, and while I believe that both systems have their advantages, there is no comparison in cost: Macs are cheaper in the long run, period.

Has he thought about the nightmare of firewalls and virus protection and continual updating needed to keep PCs secure? And the hours spent defragging and hunting out the cause of weird problems, and crashing? And the shorter life span of heavily-used PCs?

Plus if he goes over to PCs now, you're talking Vista, which is just too young to be messing about with yet....

KICK *** GUYS, I think i'm just going to send him this thread

You may want to only take bits and pieces of this thread in a well written letter quoting the thread. This thread is a bunch of people comfortable around each other talking about why pcs are not good in the graphic design world, we are not talking as if we were talking to your boss.... maybe even if you put a presentation together.

Yah, some of this was written without diplomacy in mind. You could use Keynote and make a presentation.

Ah but it came from the heart!... ;^)

The are some real world facts.

Macintosh Justification

Ice Cream Man said:

And if you all already have the intel Macs, then just upgrade to CS3. It will be heaps cheaper.

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We dont have the intel macs, all are ppc g4's and g5's. He said that he tested the new intel mac with CS2 and it was terrible. First of all he tested a intel mac mini when they first came out with cs2. A mac mini cannot be compared to a artist workstation (g5). :radioacti