Commonwealth Bank's Sydney swaps employee Dells for MacBook Airs

Staff at the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, Australia are preparing to move to a new location, where a fleet of 11" MacBook Airs will replace their Dell desktops.

According to website iTnews, most of the desktop Dell computers used by the bank's 4,000 employees will be replaced with the MacBook Airs. However, those machines will continue to run Windows. "It is just a hardware change," the bank noted in an email obtained by iTnews. It's presumed that the move is meant to prevent bank employees from having to learn a new operating system. It's unknown if proprietary or mission-critical, Windows-only software was a part of the decision, not to mention the bank's IT department.

It's also interesting to note that the bank has done away with traditional offices and desks for many. Instead, they've set up many docking stations with a display, mouse, keyboard and network access. Also, LCD collaboration screens and smart whiteboards will be used for presentations.

Here's hoping Comm Bank workers enjoy their new Airs, and are prompted to see what they can do with Mac OS X installed.