Is this true about Macs?

[CactusData]

Thank you to Satcomer and nixgeek for constructive comments.

The other commenteers could learn from these two who obviously have real life experience with the issues and actively work for solutions.

Note please, that we don't write that macs are sh.t, neither that Access is God, neither that Macs and Access can't coexist, just that some (few) know how to handle this combo - pros like Satcomer and nixgeek - and some (most) - lack this knowledge or refrain from obtaining it.
The advice we give is for the situation where the Mac people are ignorant - the typical attitude is that "if this Windows/Access/Evil Empire crap doesn't work in our Mac environment as is, it is .. crap. Those win geeks are not coming telling us to do anything". All Mac people are friendly, you say, but then read the comments here again. Time has learned me that this discussion is not worth five minutes and, in that case, you just have to take your own precautions like those described.

Note too, that we don't claim that Access/JET is the answer to anything. It is a file based database which is extremely good for what it is designed for. It is not comparable with server based database engines.

Finally, Access/JET does run mission critical applications around the world wether you like it or not - and at just about zero cost. We have clients here running different applications with Access/JET as the backend database experiencing 0 (zero) failures for more than 10 years. This is a fact.
Still, from case to case, we may very well advice clients to use some other database for their specific task if we can see Access/JET won't fit the bill.

/gustav

[fryke]

Well, apparently your article only generated some traffic about a year ago. Your reply is a tad late. Your article describes Macs as being "noisy". They're not, of course. You mention Mac users transferring large graphics files. That's not noisiness, that's network useage. If your network can't handle the traffic, you need a router that controls the traffic and keeps enough bandwidth for your database functions. That's not something that has anything to do with Macs being noisy. What if your Windows users start saving or transferring large files? The network doesn't care whether it's graphics or movies or zipped archives or anything. It just handles the traffic.
And: Coming here now after several months to tell us whom you find interesting or, as you put it, "professional", seems a bit tacky. Even more so since you yourself say it's not worth five minutes of your time. Just accept that it kinda sounds funny if a list for Access mentions keeping Macs away. It ignores the actual problem. Sounds racist, even.

[ora]

Wow, reading the comments on the article is kinda funny, and Gustav seems as irritated there as here:

Some quotes from Gustav.

But the remarks on the noisy Macs are based on experience. We have several advertising agencies and TV/film production companies among our clients all of them running an Access based time/billing/ERP application, and the list of "issues" we have seen is endless. Main problem is that Mac tech people (not users, they don't know anything) believe they understand networking. As a general rule and warning (exceptions exist of course) they don't. Worse, when (not if) something misbehaves regarding the network, they blame _everything else_ connected to the network for being the source of trouble.

It is possible to make Macs and their users to coexist with pc users and Access but it requires a top-notch network which Mac people typically neither do or will understand not to say are willing to allocate the money for. It is more fun to spend money on a 30" flat screen or a new stack of RAID disks for a NAS.

Lets just say people on both side of the Mac/Windows fence are guilty of shouting insults across to the other side.

[CactusData]

Better late than never!

You certainly don't add much to the knowledge base, so I'll only spend a minute more on this.

I think we all would benefit from working with the issues that do exist in mixed environments in a constructive way. Many Mac people think likewise but some don't for no apparent reason.

Anyway, thank you for your comment.

/gustav

[CactusData]

Thanks Ora! You are absolutely right.

Well, you have to draw some sharp lines in an article to gain attention. Editors requests clicks to attract advertisers.

However, these divined Mac people with this "Mac only" attitude do exist. They are not prepared to make any compromise as an attempt to solve a problem.
For some years we have worked with a local Mac house with skilled people and we call them to resolve such cases. We know what to be done, but it is much easier for our Mac friends to persuade a Mac admin.

/gustav

[nixgeek]

CactusData,

With all due respect, you're making some bold claims about the members of this forum that are stellar contributors and have been for many years. You've only recently signed up and you're basing your conclusions on a few comments posted in this thread. Many of these same people work with multiple platforms on a daily basis in various functions.

Welcome to the Internet. Not everyone is going to agree with whatever you posted on your blog, but reacting in the same fashion will not garner much support in your favor.

Also, expect there to be some bias towards the Mac on a Mac-centered forum. The same would happen on any other forum that is of particular interest to a particular platform.

In earnest, it does seem as though you were looking for hits to the site (which can be deduced by your reply to ora's comment here). Considering that it's been close to a year since today's post, I have to wonder if you're looking to generate more visits in order to "refresh everyone's memory" about this blog post. I can only hope that you don't paint the Mac and the users here with a very broad brush, as it would be an injustice not just to the people here, but to yourself as well.

[CactusData]

Well nixgeek, didn't I exclude you from the crowd?

And no, I don't earn from clicks, but if you visit that page again - which I did today - you will find near the bottom a link to this forum which I didn't know about. That twist made me curious and I signed up.

To my disappointment, to a simple and polite question put by gphillipk only two comments contained useful information. You are right, I may be very wrong about the skills of the other commenteers, but I think you will agree that bashing Access is not to demonstrate a stellar status.

What I write about establishing a (logical) separate network for users of a shared Access/JET database is a zero discussion and fast solution with a success rate of 100% which _will_ work in those cases where other solutions cannot be obtained for whatever reason. To repeat myself, other solutions do exist but they require active and open-minded cooperation from people like you and - sadly - in some cases that may be hard to find.

/gustav

[CactusData]

Charlie,

> .. why store it in Windows?

Access (JET) is a shared file based database. The file is stored on a shared network drive which can be hosted by just about any OS, including Linux, Solaris, Novell NetWare, Mac OS, and any newer version of Windows.

/gustav