Mac OS X Consolidates Three Desktop Systems (online at http://www.apple.com/education/hed/macsinaction/stanfordmedical/)
Stanford, CA - For years, Dr. Michael Cherry's desk was lost in space. More precisely, he'd lost most of his desk's available working space. A researcher in comparative genomics in Stanford School of Medicine's Department of Genetics, Cherry had three full-sized desktop computers on his desk - a Macintosh, a Windows system, and a UNIX "box" - on which he conducted his studies. But with the help of Mac OS X, Cherry recently did some office housecleaning. Now, a single Power Mac G4 running Mac OS X gives Cherry uncluttered access to his genome data, while delivering all the computing muscle he needs.
Cherry and his colleagues are funded through research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The team publishes its findings through web-based genome and research community databases, collecting data on comparative genome sequencing between organisms. In that capacity, the scientists spend the majority of their office hours before their computer screens.
"Working on our computers is what we do!" laughs Cherry. "We do computational biology, we retrieve data, perform various calculations and comparisons, and we make the results available to the scientific community. In my case, on my desk I used to have an iMac, a PC, and an X terminal - a UNIX box - and switched back and forth between the three, depending on where the tool that I needed was located. It was pretty crazy until Mac OS X came along."
Three into One With the dawn of the new Macintosh operating system, Cherry notes, his fragmented computing environment immediately came to an end. Mac OS X's UNIX-based core, along with XFree86, a freeware implementation of the X11 windowing system, easily managed his group's UNIX research needs.
Says Cherry: "Mac OS X has the UNIX infrastructure, and it's working just great for us. Now we can download Mac-compiled versions of all of our favorite UNIX tools through the `Fink' system. These are all basic development tools that UNIX people have become used to, such as the GNU [freeware] packages. With Mac OS X, it's just effortless."
Simple Cut and Paste...Made Simpler Right away, Cherry adds, he saw a huge productivity boost with Mac OS X. Instead of a laborious, inefficient process of file-sharing between three operating systems, Mac OS X enables Cherry to incorporate any desired tool's result into his Mac files with just a few clicks.
Says Cherry: "The first cool thing about Mac OS X is that it's given me the ability to copy and paste. That may seem trivial, but when I had the three systems on my desk, I had to copy something into a file, or have someone email it to me, then send it to one of the three file servers...it was really kludgey. Copying and pasting between an X11 window and Internet Explorer was the first thing I tried with Mac OS X, and it worked great. Now I use it every couple of minutes, and it's saving me lots of time."
Productivity on the Road Cherry says he's been especially pleased with his newfound ability to attend to his research duties while on the road. A Mac user since 1984, Cherry always took his trusty PowerBook along on his travels. But even though he was pleased with the system's performance, he was still constrained by the "triple threat" of his lab's computing environment.
"I grew frustrated with the fact that I couldn't work on my research projects when I was away, unless I was doing some writing in Microsoft Word," Cherry recalls. "We'd do our work in the office on UNIX, and I couldn't run that on my PowerBook. But then the new PowerBooks and Mac OS X came out...and that solved the problem. Now I can be sitting in some airport somewhere and still be working away, even with UNIX-based files and applications. It just works great."
Upgrade to Wireless Technology Several areas at Stanford have undergone an upgrade to wireless technology in recent months, adds Cherry. He's equipped his PowerBook with an AirPort Wireless Card, ensuring that he has the mobility to work "unwired" in the libraries on the Stanford campus that offer wireless Internet access.
The Only Computer a Scientist Needs Cherry says he's been especially pleased with his newfound ability to attend to his research duties while on the road. A Mac user since 1984, Cherry always took his trusty PowerBook along on his travels. But even though he was pleased with the system's performance, he was still constrained by the "triple threat" of his lab's computing environment.
"I grew frustrated with the fact that I couldn't work on my research projects when I was away, unless I was doing some writing in Microsoft Word," Cherry recalls. "We'd do our work in the office on UNIX, and I couldn't run that on my PowerBook. But then the new PowerBooks and Mac OS X came out...and that solved the problem. Now I can be sitting in some airport somewhere and still be working away, even with UNIX-based files and applications. It just works great."
Several areas at Stanford have undergone an upgrade to wireless technology in recent months, adds Cherry. He's equipped his PowerBook with an AirPort Wireless Card, ensuring that he has the mobility to work "unwired" in the libraries on the Stanford campus that offer wireless Internet access.
Crib Notes Challenges € Access and manage data located on three computer operating systems € Reduce hardware investment € Enable mobile computing
Solution € Mac OS X € 1 iBook with Airport* Wireless Card € 1 PowerBook G4 € 6 dual processor PowerMac G4 computers € 1 PowerMac G4 € Microsoft Office** € Various freeware programs, including Fink, Tree View and XFree86
Benefits € Three systems consolidated into one computer, freeing up space € Less expense for software licenses € User can work remotely, regardless of computing platform
* Wireless Internet access requires AirPort Wireless Card, AirPort Base Station, and Internet access (fees may apply). Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not currently compatible with AirPort. Typical indoor range is 150 feet from AirPort Base Station; range may vary with site conditions. Connectivity performance may vary with number of users.
** The mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.
