CIOS 110 Lesson 1

In studying the common operating systems, you have considered the availability of software that runs on each OS and the general reasons one may be chosen over the others. Put yourself in the position of an information technology professional in a new company that will open its doors on day one with 50 employees who will need computers on their desks connected to a corporate network and will need to work with standard business applications. What are some other practical considerations that you can think of that must come into play when making this decision? Your answer does not need to specify a particular OS.

My first consideration would be the type of software that the company needs to support. If the company required a lot of graphics and editing work, my experience indicates that a Macintosh system would be the best choice. However, if limited graphic editing was needed, a Windows-based system would be my first choice. I think it's highly likely that most new employees will already be familiar with Windows-based systems based on their dominance in the PC market, so less employee training will be needed. It's also likely that the company can lease computers, giving us the option of upgrading in a few years when the leases are up. Because all of the computers are interconnected and, presumably, connected to the Internet as well, I would look at the security configurations of the different systems. Finally, I would make sure that the IT professional has time to set up and test all of the computers before the company opens its doors to make sure that each computer can properly connect to each other, to peripheral devices such as printers and to the Internet.