Aussie Business Dumps Windows For Apple Because It Was Cheaper

by , 11:15 AM EST, November 24th, 2003

One of the myths many Mac users encounter every day is the idea that Macs are more expensive than PCs. Today we have a story from Aussie magazine Australian IT that offers a bit of first-hand proof that this is a myth. The magazine has published an article about an Aussie business that dumped its Windows based server in favor of an Xserve running Jaguar Server solely because it was cheaper than comparable Windows systems -- half the price, in fact. A big part of that decision, it would seem, was due to Microsoft's current licensing schemes that seek to lock customers into a two-year software rental agreement. From Australian IT:

DISLIKE of Microsoft's new licensing regime and a major cost difference has led Australian resources company Ausmelt to leave its comfort zone and cross over to Apple. The Victorian company urgently needed to update its nearly decade-old HP ProLiant server, running a 133 processor, before it fell over.

What began as a routine exercise of collecting quotes for new servers evolved into a decision to move from a Wintel system to an Apple Xserve environment. Ausmelt technical development manager Robert Matusewicz says cost was the main factor that led him to consider alternatives to a straight upgrade.

"When Microsoft changed to Licensing 6 we didn't like how prescriptive it was, going to a two-year upgrade cycle and recommendations to buy Software Assurance, so you pay to get these things with no guarantee they'd ever release any," he says.

[...]

"[With the Apple system,] you can just put on the users and it is not an issue." Cost was another factor in Apple's favour. "Surprisingly, it came out at about half the price of a Windows server and these days you just can't ignore that," he says

There's more in the full story, which we recommend as a very good read. Note that the prices given in the article are in AUS dollars.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is a fantastic article from the standpoint of Apple public relations, and we only wish it was in a US mainstream media outlet. We'll take what we can get, however, and are delighted to see it published in any shape or form. Now, if only some of Mr. Matusewicz's US compatriots would be as open minded.

Australian IT Story