while my mac experience is limited to only 1 year, i can say that sticking to mavericks (10.9.5) and el capitan (10.11.6) have been exceptionally stable. Some antivirus programs such as mcafee have been known to corrupt files on the mac as was our issue previously but have since switched to a dedicated mac AV and no further issues have occurred. I think the point that could have been missed here is that IBM is not only using mac, they are also using JAMF a SCCM management suite for the mac. It is very powerful in its ability to automate deployments, set up "zero config", and essentially eliminate for the most part the typical setup and maintenance of windows systems. One can still achieve better with Linux but in the commercial markets Jamf+Mac is better than the windows solutions. As with any deployments and software you never want to be on the bleeding edge either unless you like death by a thousand cuts. we have only recently updated to 10.11.6 and will wait for Sierra (just released) until were confident it too has matured.
With jamf its simple to deploy the latest software, set up one policy to download the package, then later after it has been downloaded a separate workflow to trigger the install. Jamf is able to update systems not on the company network which in my experience i have not seen from windows and SCCM but thats not to say it could not be set up for them as well. With a special program (name eludes me at the moment) the company macs can be forced to call home from anywhere in the world and if wiped they can be reimaged remotely! pretty nifty. Apple has a lot of issues, but the Mac+JAMF combo is powerful enough that i believe IBM really is saving $500 a person, if apple wasn't so expensive it would easily grow its base rapidly. But again its not perfect, just better than windows. On Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 8:00 AM, Anselm R Garbe <garb...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 25 October 2016 at 13:34, Laslo Hunhold <d...@frign.de> wrote: >> what are the really compelling reasons for a Mac user to make the >> switch to Linux/BSD? How can we convince people to make the switch? > > The only reason for an experienced Mac user doing the switch is, > because he wants to gain more control over his hardware (and > software). I would consider this is a natural desire when reaching a > certain level of competence with IT technology. > Some people are lazy and cope with the environment they are used to. > Some are willing to progress the edge further and will then drop the > straightjacket. Some will never learn. > > Cheers, > Anselm >