Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me buy a Mac Pro
It's not often that we get to do an advice column here, but let's see how this goes. An email arrived at the office just the other day...
Dear Aunt TUAW,
I work in the engineering college of a large private university, where I manage 6 Mac-based labs. I just tried to order myself a brand new Mac Pro to replacing my aging PowerMac G5 and was told by my dean that the college would no longer be buying Macs because they had absolutely no place in the engineering industry. He said that from this point forward, the college "would only be buying Windows computers, period!"
I know that he is wrong and that there are engineers that use Macs professionally and I can give a few examples to support that. If I am going to win this argument I'm going to need a lot of proof.
Signed,
Mac-lorn Admin
Dear Mac-lorn Admin,
Darling, didn't you realize the Mac Pro is a Windows machine, and a darned speedy one? Last time I checked, Boot Camp + Mac Pro = a Windows dream! The adult in us loves the reliability and UNIX backbone, but the kid in us loves the GUI and tasty frosting! Having a single machine that can do double or triple duty with Mac apps, BSD/Linux engineering power and Windows compatibility would be the envy of any right-minded academician.
Still, we know that logic isn't going to sway that mean ole dean of yours. TUAW readers, can you help Mac-lorn? Leave us your testimonials about using Macs in your professional lives -- particularly in engineering or in higher ed -- in the comments.
Love,
Auntie T.
