When you want a job, it is bad form to start asking for perquisites. You first GET the job, then kindly ask for "this or that" if it is no trouble.

"I don't have anything against Windows, but I really feel more comfortable and productive on a Mac. Is it cool if I use my Mac for work?"

Simple, straightforward question. Don't try to be clever, just ask. Don't get into UI X vs UI Y, just ask. Don't say you don't like XYZ about Windows but ABC of Mac OS X is great, just ask. Don't be strategic and avoid Windows-type coworkers, etc, as it'll be really obvious you're trying to be "that guy", just ask.

Remember that they may have chosen that equipment and setup for a reason. Say . . . because that's what they want and have approved to be on their network. Don't be "that Mac zealot" and complain about it. (I'm not saying you will, just noting it.) Getting an exemption may require the approval of whoever oversees the network, manages the internal support, etc. You might not get that approval, so don't turn it into a big event. Just ask. :)

I think schneb said it best and it states what I said earlier. Getting the job is the first priority!!! Without that nothing else matters. Now that I have the job, I must learn it. So it may take a while for me to introduce the Mac, but it's a good idea for me to check with the network people and casually see what they think about this. If they approve, then maybe trying to convince the boss to use a Mac is a mute point.

The disconnect is incredible
 

Let me preface this by stating that I was a Mac user all through school, and all through school Macs let me down. The freezing - the unhappy Mac face, and then I shifted to a Windows machine. At first I thought it sucked bad, but then little things caught my attention like when I ran Photoshop, Illustrator and ten other programs together, AND the OS didn't crash??? I was in heaven!

At the time, I also noticed how the gamma correction in Photoshop had been altered in the PC version, so as to screw over Windows users - this had been done by Mac heads at Adobe. I never forgot that, and it cost me a few clients. As years passed, I listened to people tell me about their Macs, and was nodding my head as inevitably in mid-demonstration, their machine would crash ... "Hmmm ... that's funny?"

That said, I find it very Mac like that nobody here has stated even one valid comparison-based reason why the Mac is "better." I actually "like" OSX and need to convince my boss "why it's better." At a big company, nobody cares about viruses - they're nuked before anyone's hit. Better hardware, possibly, but dollar to dollar, the Mac is smoked by Windows.

Essentially, you can somewhat argue that the hardware selections are better on the Mac to begin with and the easy OS means little learning curve, but then again, shouldn't you know your OS already? However, arguing that something like Photoshop works better on the Mac isn't true, as Photoshop is now written first for Windows machines. The Mac version uses software translation called Rosetta, which actually means, it runs slower on the Mac. This is true of a lot of Mac software. The market comprises only 2% and that's not large enough to make it a primary focus in software development.

If you work at a creative firm with people that need the Mac style, then yeah, because dollar-wise, it will help convince clients that you've got a really "creative" (regardless of what they can actually do with the things). BUT if you work at ANYCORP, how's the custom OS gonna help and not hurt their bottom line? Because you know, that's all they really care about.

It's like a business lunch. Is it more convincing to take a client to a five-star or Joe's Deli? Answer, if the client has money to spend, it's the five star every time.

So far, no one's posted any "convincing" reasons? The stuff stated here might convince a ten person company, but short of that, you'll definitely need some better reasons.

Brain, first, welcome to the forum and your first post.

Second, you are living at least two years behind the curve. Photoshop CS3 is Universal Binary and screams on the Macintosh--even with all its bloat. I have nothing in my arsenal of applications (and I have plenty for video, audio and still) that is remotely in need of Rosetta. Windows XP is stable, yes. But our entire global software firm lost an entire day of productivity due to the "I LOVE YOU" virus. I was cross platform, so my Macintosh hummed along. I have not had a single kernel panic since Panther. Now I am on Leopard, yes, having a few issues, but not as much as the Vista folk.

Microsoft is not the innovator in our little computer-based world, it is, and always has been Apple. Today it is becoming more obvious because Apple is innovating faster than Microsoft can copy. The Macintosh is better because it has a rock solid foundation in UNIX. Though it severely lacks backward compatibility, it also lacks software bloat. Which in software terms, is obesity that can get out of control. OSX is lean and mean, as well as tailored for its hardware. Because the hardware and the software are made within the same company, high end tasks can be planned and executed more efficiently. The key was the UNIX foundation. The next big step was INTEL. Now its a matter of bringing down the space, heat, noise, and power usage a you are going to be looking at some killer units in the near future.

And yet none of this matters in a corporate setting where you're trying to convince your boss or IT department to let you use the computer of your choice. Why? 'Cause it's not an Internet forum or Apple Store sales floor.

Perceived platform superiority doesn't matter when you're trying to use whatever computer you want at your job. All that really matters is communicating what you're most comfortable with, and demonstrating the benefits provided by such comfort.

What, you think I'm making it all up from Apple brochures? For our company of 2,000 people to be shut down for a day because of one virus was a pretty big deal. I am not some Macintosh fan boy who works on an Apple Store sales floor. I use both platforms daily in my job, and both do well for various purposes. Just that one needs an entire IT department to keep happy, when the other just needs a guy who knows Macs and how to get them working happily on the network.

Please put your best convincing argument forward, I would love to hear them.

As for some of the others, let stay on the topic of convincing your boss to let you use a Mac in the workplace. I for one would really love to have an excuse to buy another Mac that runs both windows and OSX and what a better place to do this then at work.

I don't know what is easier: to convince someone that Macs are better than PCs or vice versa... I think if the boss was a Mac fan, it would be difficult to make him use Windows - he would say: I have Parallels/Boot Camp it suits me.
The fact is that the change of PC to Mac will not lead to positive/negative changes in the functioning of the office. So it is the matter of taste first

Well, I ask the network about VPN capability today. They told me that in order to get it I would have to use a company computer where they put a certification on the machine to provide you access. In fact to even log on the wireless network, you need to have a computer issued by them. Seems like a daunting task when everything is automatically issued to you by the network administrators. Maybe I should tell ask them to purchase me a laptop for use as a VPN but can it be a Mac Book Pro that runs Windows and Macs?
Ok, you can stop laughing now.:)

However, when I brought this up with a colleague, he was quick to suggest a work around since to him this doesn't make since if you already have your own laptop.

Well, this could be arguing semantics but if they offer you the job you can try to negotiate anything. Its not like they are going to not offer you the job if you ask for more money.

When I got hired at my current job they were offering macbooks to all the TIS employees, and I simply stated I want a Macbook Pro. I got a Macbook pro. All you have to do sometimes is ask.

I'm coming from the viewpoint of one looking to get a job. If you have ever seen the short animated film "Get a Job", the dog applicant came in and started making demands in order to be "more aggressive". He was thrown out on his can of course. Yes, if you are offered a job, then you can respectfully negotiate such items and hardware. Never hurts to ask--but sometimes it does upon first impression.

That is why you never negotiate until after the job is offered. I had been interviewing for a new job for several months before I got my current job. I was stuck between entry level and a higher pay scale and my current job at the time would not promote me and kept adding on responsibilities to my job with out compensation. It got bad enough where I didn't want to work there any more.

My first good promising interview was with a medical research firm what was going to, for the first time, deploy a 50/50 mac/pc ratio in their network. They were 100% windows based before that. They told me up front out of all the Applicants that applied they were only interviewing two people, and I was one of them. Apparently, there were only two of us were qualified enough for the job. The interview went great, and the IT manager had some second thoughts about my windows experience because I had been supporting macs for a long time, and he didn't like my answers about AD. I told him that almost all of my current experience was with Novell, and that I hadn't touched AD in a while, but it is all the same concept and in a few short weeks I could be back up to speed. I was honest, and I have windows experience. I used to help maintain over 60 windows 2003 servers, we just used eDirectory instead of AD. I mean MS stole it from Novell to begin with, but thats a whole other story. He was very impressed with my Macintosh knowledge, so that was the great part of the interview, and that I had self maintainer experience for many years.

So, it comes down to one last thing. Salary. The job was posted in a very obscure manner. It was posted just as Mac admin, with no listing of responsibilities, pay, location, or anything. They were keeping it a secret until they deployed them. So, they asked me what this job was worth in a dollar sense. I told them the range of salary I would expect at this job. They called me about a week later and told me that I didn't get the job. I am certain either the other applicant just had more experience than me, or he was older, or I got low balled on salary.

it all worked out for the best because I ended up getting a new job like 2 months later which actually paid more than they would have paid me, and I am getting the best possible experience now. Managing 7500 or so mac clients, 20 xserves, open directory master, and other various back end technologies.

So, in that case I was unable to negotiate after they offered the job because they wanted to know what I expected first, and they asked before anything happened.

However, if they want to hire you, they will, and if they want you bad enough they will negotiate because good help is just too hard to find sometimes. So, your point is well taken, and very good advice for someone starting out. I think though that someone given the right experience should negotiate, because there are always higher pay scales.

For that scenario, yes, I would probably respond the same. I think it is good that you did not get that first job. It sounds pretty unprofessional. On an aside, sometimes they ask you what you want as a salary just to see what you think your talents are worth. If they want you, they negotiate anyway. I'm glad it worked out for the best for you tlarkin.

For me, I got the job first, learned as much as I could about Windows and its network. Then asked for a Mac to use next to the PC. Since I created their CD interfaces, I needed the Mac to do cross-platform titles.

Word of advice. Never give them a salary range until they make you an offer. You should say something like, "I would love to give you a salary range but since I am not sure about all of my responsibilities until I get in and start working, it would be difficult for me to give you a salary range at this time; or you ready to make me an offer?"

By giving them a salary range, you are showing your hand and can unknowingly eliminating yourself. If you must give them a salary range, make it wide so that a truck can drive through it.

So I have a unix solaris box on my left and a windows box on my right. I was given a switch box so that I can view the unix account on one display. Can the macbook pro run both the PC and Solaris unix? If so, I will ask for a mac book and say that it can incorporate both Solaris unix and PC and thus help to save you $$$ in the long run.

Ron

Yeah that job interview was kind of weird. You see it was a medical research firm, so the user base were all very smart scientists. They have been asking for macs for years, but until recently, macs had no compatibility with the existing infrastructure. The IT manager was a very cool guy and had been toying around with Macs. He had been researching about how it was possible to integrate them into the network. However, scientists, are a special kind of user. How do you simply tell a user, who is most likely a genius, they can't do something, or that it doesn't work that way?

So, they were keeping it very low key because they didn't want to be hammered with requests until they were ready to deploy, basically it was a secret. Since, not all the details had been thought of or looked into because they didn't have a mac admin on hand, they were looking for someone to fill the position. I gave them my range for the duties they described to me.

I think they really wanted to hire me but the other person was more experienced, or equal but they low balled me. They were going to hire additional help like 2 months later and told me to reapply because they wanted me to work there. I didn't want to go into another mid level position, so I went job hunting some more, and found my current job. Which is what I was looking for.

The range I gave them had 10k/year difference on the low and high end of the spectrum, I gave them a very broad range.

I personally think that specifying a salary before you are hired is good, or bad, depending on the market. If there are a lot of positions availabe, and you are competent in your field, you should specify a price. It would be foolish not to, because you might end up with a low salary when you could have done better.

But, on the flip side, if there is a small job market or if you aren't really all that great at what you do, you should probably not specify and just take what you can get.