A Mac in a Windows World

Remember that Mac commercial, no not that one, the other one. I'm talking about the one where the PC and Mac are holding hands to show how compatible they are. Never mind the disturbing image of the young woman pulling a picture from her backside. Nope, I'm talking about the compatibility thing. In general the Macs are compatible, but there are some challenges to running a Mac in a Windows world.

Issue 1: WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service). Like DNS, WINS provides a way to name network devices such as servers and printers instead of referring to them by an IP address. Why does this matter? It makes life easier for us IT guys...and ultimately easier for you.

Using WINS not only makes it easier to find and categorize network devices (much like typing a URL in your browser as opposed to typing the IP address), it also makes it easier to manage the network. You see, IT guys are constantly tweaking the network to do things like add and remove servers, update segments, and move equipment from one location to another.

What does this have to do with the Mac? Well, Macs don't always recognize WINS names, sometimes you have to use the IP address or create a host file that contains both the WINS name and associated IP address. What's the big deal? The big deal is that every time the a network device you're connecting to changes IP addresses in the network, WINS is updated and Windows PCs don't know the difference. You, on the other hand, have to make the corresponding network changes on the Mac.

Issue 2: Windows Network Password Expiration. If your company is like ours it has a password expiration policy. This policy requires passwords to periodically expire, forcing you to create a new one. Now I know that you believe that the only reason your company has this policy is because your IT department is evil. While I can't speak about the intent of your IT department, the reason this policy exists is that it helps reduce incidents of hacking. It's also required by your auditors.

Now, the Mac is blissfully unaware of the Windows network password expiration policy. When your Windows network password expires, the first time you find out about it is when you try to connect to a network device. And, you don't get the opportunity to change your password. Instead, you have to find a Windows PC and us it to change your password.

One solution to this problem is to set to set the Mac users' passwords to never expire. As an evil IT guy (insert maniacal laughter here), I personally think this is a poor practice.

Issue 3: Fantasy Football Live Draft Applications. This is undoubtedly the most egregious compatibility issue. Tonight while trying to access my fantasy football league's draft I found out that the live draft app didn't work correctly. Fortunately I was able to use my wife's Windows XP laptop and all was well.

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Lest you think I'm dissing the Macs, I'm not really. My primary business computer is a MacBook Pro. I'm just pointing out some of the challenges IT departments face as Macs become more popular in the corporate world. If you've resolved some of these issues I'd love to hear from you. Also, as I find solutions I'll pass them along.

In the meantime, I wonder if there's a way I can steal Shaun Alexander for my fantasy football team...