free780 Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 I'm curious what an all Mac school would do with exams software ?
Shadow_Walker Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 Yes, about 25. They have been a PITA, but the techies will not accept the problems and always blame the fact we have Windows servers and say AD is the problem. I see that a lot - Apple users are happy to dismiss all sorts of problems with iPhones, Macs and iPads that they would bitch and moan about were they any other brand of devices. It's almost comical. Now we have Casper Suite they reckon all our problems are gone . . . . Personally I have found OS X is not as robust as Windows. At home I have a Mac and a PC and the Mac will lose connection to network devices like my NAS and these need to be manually re-mounted. I have tried various scripts to check for a connection and remount if one is not found, but Apple seems to change things at a whim stopping the scripts from working. If Windows loses a connection (say because or a firmware update on the remote drive) it will re-connect automatically. IMO it's about the brand and some people think they are somehow superior by buying into the brand - Apple is very good about cultivating the perception that its products are better with no justification in reality. Anything OS X or iOS doesn't do is countered with 'I don't need that anyway' or 'who needs more than 720p on a phone?' or 'an SSD is so fast anyway you really don't need the extra optimisations Windows offers' and so on. You can never win an argument with an Apple fanboy (well you do win, but they never accept it!). To be honest reading this it sounds as though you yourself don't like macs or apple products. The same way you criticised you NM and technician for not liking windows. Everyone has there preference for which devices to use. Macs just work and when they are set up correctly that is what happens. You need the right tools to set them up using products like casper suite and other software mentioned on here.
mrbios Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 To be honest reading this it sounds as though you yourself don't like macs or apple products. The same way you criticised you NM and technician for not liking windows. Everyone has there preference for which devices to use. Macs just work and when they are set up correctly that is what happens. You need the right tools to set them up using products like casper suite and other software mentioned on here. The real issue here is something that has already been highlighted. The decisions should not be made by anyone on personal preference alone, it clouds your judgement over what is best for teaching and learning. Whether that be to go fully windows or fully mac doesn't matter. A decision such as this, with this much effect on teaching and learning, and the financial aspects involved, should (in my opinion) go all the way up to governor level, SLT at an absolute minimum. It should be a decision that's thought about from EVERY possible angle, with considerations taken over an extended period of time. Two guys in IT should NOT be making that decision on the schools behalf. 1
scgf Posted November 26, 2015 Author Posted November 26, 2015 Absolutely! I'm not anti-Mac - I have one at home, and have used Mac OS X since the first OS X iMac (the lampshade model). I prefer Windows personally, and moved to a Windows desktop as my main machine after Windows 8 came out. I am now on Windows 10. As ICT Coordinator I like a mixed economy - at school we have Windows, Macs, Surface tablets, iPads and a couple of Android tablets. All have their uses. I just hate the 'Apple is best whatever' mentality of the fanboys. I personally instigated Macs in our music department because I felt they were the best solution for music. Yes, mrbios, I absolutely agree that technical staff should not be making decisions about teaching and learning. They should support and implement what the school decides, giving advice along the way.
Brimstone Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 I used a plugin for SCCM written by Parallels. It's still being used so far as I know but I'm not working there any more. It's a good product and it takes away a lot of the pain of managing the things but proportionality speaking, the Macs still took up more of my time than the Windows PCs did. Windows is designed from the ground up to be centrally managed. Frankly, Macs aren't. The OP's original post appears to be implying that his network team thinks that switching to Macs will eliminate their problems. It won't. At best, it'll just bring them a whole new range of problems instead. Especially if you have no experience managing them. That's completely the opposite view of one major IT vendors that has switched.... ‘Every Mac we buy is making and saving IBM money’ - IBM | Computerworld
Edu-IT Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 Personally I have found OS X is not as robust as Windows. At home I have a Mac and a PC and the Mac will lose connection to network devices like my NAS and these need to be manually re-mounted. Do you have the newest Apple hardware though? If you don't, that could be the problem. You've got to keep at the forefront of Apple. I'll get my coat.
AwkwardUnicorn Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 We run a college with around 3000 Apple computers (iMacs, macbooks, etc etc) and a few windows. We have 2 apple servers, 1 is a cache box the other a Casper disribution point. The rest is windows / Linux. The Mac's are so easy to manage compared to when we were a windows enviroment. Honestly it leaves our department to focus on improvemts rather than constantly fixing nonsense issues. Our users are NOT domain bound as they own their own computers, however with the power of Casper we still have all the functionality (is we needed it) as if they were. If you go full mac get a decent management software such as Casper. There really is no subsitute.
scgf Posted November 26, 2015 Author Posted November 26, 2015 Do you have the newest Apple hardware though? If you don't, that could be the problem. You've got to keep at the forefront of Apple. You mean software surely? I'm using El Capitan and had the same problem with Yosemite.
Blue_Cookeh Posted November 27, 2015 Posted November 27, 2015 We have been 100% Mac clients side for 2 years. I did run 100% Windows for my first 11 years here. I can tell you the Mac setup is my preference now. That's a really interesting post, would you mind diving a bit more into your infrastructure for supporting those? Are you running OpenDirectory or Active Directory? How are you locking these down? Do you use any remote management/MDM, if so what and does this apply to Macs also? Are you Time Machining all of your staff Macs? What sort of server is managing this? I'm genuinely interested now...
Edu-IT Posted November 27, 2015 Posted November 27, 2015 You mean software surely? I'm using El Capitan and had the same problem with Yosemite. No, both. You need the latest hardware and the latest software. Always.
Crumpet Posted November 27, 2015 Posted November 27, 2015 Our network manager and technician feel it would be far less troublesome and easier to manage than the Windows network we currently have. He feels that Mac OS X is far superior to Windows.
Brimstone Posted November 27, 2015 Posted November 27, 2015 Hey @scgf if you want a more reasoned opinion then I would recommend speaking to some Mac Professionals, such as Apple Authorised Service Provider - London & UK | Amsys https://www.afp548.com (there are MacAdmins on this site managing thousands of Macs worldwide so they know their stuff) N.B. I do not work for Amsys
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