Hi Gary,
Just a few thoughts from my own experiences.
I also support a network of WinXP machines (40+, so fewer than yours).
I use FOG (
http://www.fogproject.org/ ) to automate tasks and re-image
the machines, and everything runs quite smoothly.
Some time ago, I tested a Fedora install with VMware Workstation running
our WinXP image for the Windows-only apps (CAD, Sketchp), and it worked
really well;
- the only problem was strong resistance from stubborn users.
You can also run IE on Linux machines under Wine, but I understand that
only 6, 7, and 8 are supported that way (however, it is always possible
to address that on your own machine, so my experience is that you
*could* get IE9 working as well)
Alternatively you could run a VM which contains Windows and IE. See the
following link for more details, including a link for MS-provided VMs:
http://www.rdeeson.com/weblog/126/how-to-run-internet-explorer-7-8-and-9-...
If you are happy with Fedora, you can install it and leave it for 12-18
months, and then update when you've found a stable version of the latest
Fedora release. Since you don't want to update all the time (eg every 15
minutes), the fact that the repos of your installed version will
disappear isn't really a major problem.
I have recently installed Stella at 2 other sites. Stella is a desktop
spin of Centos - basically it is to Centos what I understand Mint is to
Ubuntu.
Stella is really simple to install (simpler and quicker than Fedora for
example), and has >90% of what I want already installed - and far less
unwanted stuff.
So far, I am really happy with Stella on the desktop and ClearOS (also
CentOS based) on the servers.
I am gradually adding features to FOG to improve support for linux
machines (both desktop and servers).
The only real-world installation of thin clients that I have seen was in
someone's home (3-5 workstations). They used LTSP, and it has been
working really well.
I am still looking at LTSP myself, but with the ease of management I get
from FOG, I'm not sure I would get much benefit.
My experience with Macs is mixed: many Mac users love them; they are not
too difficult to support; and while the early versions of Safari and
Mail were useless, we just installed Firefox and Thunderbird, and all
was good.
I can't say the same for iPhones. Trying to bend our infrastructure to
work the way iPhones demand is way too much effort. Android phones are
much easier - and that is despite having to install 5 or 6 apps to get
support for all the protocols eg, WebDav, ICS, etc.
Hope this helps,
Cheers!
Nik
One anoyance however is that wine will not run 64bit Window
applications.
--
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The only disadvantage I see is that it would force everyone to get Perl.
Horrors. :-) -- Larry Wall in <8854(a)jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
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Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam(a)sbcglobal.net