Are Macs Viable In Law Firms?

I love technology.  It is exceedingly difficult for me to not purchase the latest gadget, and eventually I succumb regardless of my intention.  Therefore, I own both a Mac and PC even though I have no practical use for a Macintosh.  But they are now using Intel chips!  And Windows can get so irritating – can’t I just use a computer and it work as intended?

Well, that was my intention in purchasing the Mac.  I heard all the great things from Mac folks.  They are a die-hard group that nearly died before Steve Jobs came back to the company and did an incredible imitation of Bill Gates – except to cool people rather than geeks.  That is, if you find a guy wearing a black mock turtleneck cool.

The question for me, however, wasn’t whether I was going to learn how to run Mac applications – they were way too expensive for me – it was whether I could run Windows inside of OSX, Mac’s operating system.  So, my first foray into the Mac world was definitely through the lens of someone wanting to keep his desktop, but just access it through another operating system.  A thoroughly weak reason to purchase a computer (which ended up being a 15 inch MacBook Pro).  However, shortly after blowing a few hundred on a few virtual machine apps (Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion) and feeling my lap burn from the intense heat generated from running both applications, I realized I was wasting my time.  This is a Mac.  Don’t run Windows on it unless you have to.

From that point I set out to learn how to use it on its terms.  In many ways it reminded me of the old OS/2 Warp look and feel, but definitely mature and full of features.  But can it run my office?

The simple answer is no.  I know of no legal software vendor who is actively developing Macintosh native applications – at least any that write to a database.  So in my view, the debate is dead in the water until Apple or a software developer on that platform begins to cater to attorneys.  There are some tempting technologies that may make platform irrelevant – for example, cloud computing – but these are still emerging technologies and last I checked law firms were not cutting edge in utilizing technology.  Cloud computing is a newer model where a vendor sells a web application that is hosted on their end but accessible on any compliant web browser.  This simplifies roll out, training, and administration.  It also holds confidential business information off-site.  In my world that won’t do.  There are ways to host web applications locally but you’d best find a good consultant or an in-house developer or you will be nickel-and-dimed to death by vendors.

I use mine primarily to manipulate images, video and other intensive artistic endeavours that PCs are getting better at doing but are far behind Apple in perfecting.  In a legal environment that pretty much limits its usefulness to marketing, website development etc.

I know of some firms who have attorneys who just like the look and feel of the Mac keyboard and the superior touch pad (that allows you to scroll by using two fingers, for example).  Still, the key to them is connectivity to a Windows environment.  Windows Terminal Services allows just about any platform to connect to a server and run applications as if you were sitting at your desk using Windows.  This allows anyone with a prior propensity to use a Mac the ability to use it at work.  But this technology has been around for a while.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that whatever platform your end users prefer, the back end is still going to be Windows.  With the relatively stable Windows XP and the coming Windows 7 (which, like every other version of Windows, incorporates some of the best ideas from Apple into it), the only reason I see at this time to use a Mac is to just want to use a Mac.  Administratively and for the end user, there are complexities you must overcome that are on top of what other Windows users already face (unless you run the entire network through terminal services).  

Therefore, I see no reason for using Macs in the law firm unless you just want to be cool.  And I mean the figuratively, because if you run either of the virtual machine applications listed above on a MacBook, your desk/lap/whatever the laptop sits on will be searingly hot.

If your firm uses Macs and your experience differs from mine, please feel free to share your experiences in the comments section.

Google Browser Signals End of “Mandated” Operating System

Google is set to release on Wednesday a first public “beta” of a web browser that at first glance appears to join a suddenly crowded web browser marketplace.  After reading its “comic” explaining the idea behind the browser, it becomes apparent that Google isn’t just trying to enter the web browser market – it is trying to transform the web browser into a vehicle for stable, web-based application delivery.

As explained in the comic, traditional browsers can crash pretty easily when delivering web applications.  This is due to the framework of the web browser.  It was initially developed to do small tasks such as render text and graphics quickly.  As browsers grew, they added tools for email and calendaring that were fine for individuals, but added bulk and instability for those who wanted to use browsers to push internal applications.

Google has responded by placing each tab of the browser in its own process (ie, each tab is like opening a new instance of the browser) so that if one tab becomes unstable, it doesn’t affect the other tabs.  This also prevents a script that is slowing down the rendering of a page to affect the other tabs.

This comes with a cost – additional overhead (more RAM memory, better hardware).  But for business use, this can finally usher in the end of executable-based client server applications and push all business applications through your browser.  This will not only simplify administration of applications from an IT perspective, it gives freedom to end users to choose whatever operating system they want to use (which may end up increasing IT administration, so that may be a wash – IT isn’t going to be less of a need in the future in any event).

Perhaps this is what will challenge virtualization (something Microsoft envisions as it prepares for the end of Windows).

The above is merely scratching the surface of the new features of Google Chrome.  The browser will be open-source, meaning developers around the world will be free to see, use, and improve upon the source code (and create their own applications based on the technology without paying licensing fees).  It also tries to improve upon the user experience that takes advantage of Google’s omnipresence on the internet.   Read the comic by clicking here to see more of what Google envisions with its browser.

The bottom line is that computing as we know it will soon be a thing of the past.  New technologies that are in their infancy now will be in the forefront of your technology decisions soon.  Make sure your IT department is testing these technologies now so they can give you a better opinion on which to choose when the time comes.

UPDATE:  As if on cue:  ”Google believes any task done in a standalone desktop computer application can be delivered via the Web and Chrome is its bet that software applications can be run via a browser.”  Read more here.