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  • #1

    From facepalm to headdesk...

    I do 3rd shift tech support, company unspecified.

    Many moons ago, I get a call from someone requesting help to access the company's remote access site so he can access his computer remotely.

    SC: I'm at home and need you to help me access my computer at work.
    ME: Okay. Are you running Windows?
    SC: Yes, it's Windows.
    ME: Ok. What version?
    SC: (pauses for a second) Uhh.. I don't know. It's a mac.

    ME *facepalm* The company does not support Apple/Macintosh OS. Furthermore, the remote desktop connection doesn't work with Mac.

    SC: (Proceeds to make feeble arguments about how he has to have this working now because blah blah blah and "some dude" told him it would work and "some other dude" was able to get it to work and he swore it was a mac like his. blah blah blah")

    ME: Sir, company policy is company policy. There's no support for it. I don't even have documentation nor do I own a mac.

    SC: Okay, well, I have this Amazon Kindle. It can access the internet. How do I remote to my computer with it?
    ME: You can't.
    SC: You're sure?
    ME: Yes. Amazon Kindle is a proprietary OS that has no built in support for Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol.
    SC: I don't think you know what you're talking about. I'm going to call back and talk to someone else who is competent and can help me.
    ME: Okay. I'll send an email out to my department to look out for you. Have a nice night. *Click*
    Fixing problems... one broken customer at a time.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Okay, the Kindle comment is dumb, but yes, Windows is capable of running on a Mac.
    "Sigh, I'm going to Hell.....but I'm going with a smile on my face." -- Gravekeeper

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    • #3
      I do realize it is possible that windows/windows emulator can run on a mac.

      He's a company exec that thought he was slick and tried to manipulate the system.

      Strict company policy - If it touches a mac, can't touch it. Period. Doesn't matter if it's a windows emulator or not.

      There was a company wide communication sent out that if you insist on using a mac at home, we will not support it. No if's and's or but's about it.
      Last edited by Blade_Raver; 07-10-2011, 05:43 AM.
      Fixing problems... one broken customer at a time.

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      • #4
        Microsoft and Apple are cats and dogs, water and oil, sky and earth, yin and yang gas and dryers. Hatfields and McCoys. Asymptote and axis. Ne'er the twain shall meet. This is common knowledge-- or at least should be, for someone fancy enough to twig to a Windows Emulator. "Nice try."
        EDIT: isn't it also possible to run Mac Em on Windows?
        And better yet, use neither and go with Linux?
        "Is it the lie that keeps you sane? Is this the lie that keeps you sane?What is it?Can it be?Ought it to exist?"
        "...and may it be that I cleave to the ugly truth, rather than the beautiful lie..."

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        • #5
          Nope, company won't support Linux either.
          At least we can be more direct and say "Sorry, we don't support any flavor of Linux. Use windows and call back."
          Fixing problems... one broken customer at a time.

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          • #6
            Quoth teh_blumchenkinder View Post
            Microsoft and Apple are cats and dogs, water and oil, sky and earth, yin and yang gas and dryers. Hatfields and McCoys. Asymptote and axis. Ne'er the twain shall meet. This is common knowledge-- or at least should be, for someone fancy enough to twig to a Windows Emulator. "Nice try."
            EDIT: isn't it also possible to run Mac Em on Windows?
            And better yet, use neither and go with Linux?
            Actually, as mentioned above, you can run windows natively on an Intel mac. My Macbook Pro, dual-boots (not very often though) into a windows XP boot, not an emulator. I actually did this to use the remote access feature for work before they got it working with Firefox.

            Running Mac OS on windows is another story all together. I haven't played with it, but I'd suppose emulators can be set up to do so...

            Eric the Grey
            In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

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            • #7
              Quoth Eric the Grey View Post

              Running Mac OS on windows is another story all together. I haven't played with it, but I'd suppose emulators can be set up to do so...

              Eric the Grey
              its possible, but very difficult. as in you have to make sure you have the mac drivers for all of you hardware, and it has to have been in a mac to start with for it to work. i was able to install it on a toshiba laptop once but never got the wifi or my nic to work.
              This is a drama-free zone; violators will be slapped. -Irving Patrick Freleigh
              my blog:http://steeledragon.wordpress.com/

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              • #8
                Quoth SteeleDragon78 View Post
                its possible, but very difficult. as in you have to make sure you have the mac drivers for all of you hardware, and it has to have been in a mac to start with for it to work. i was able to install it on a toshiba laptop once but never got the wifi or my nic to work.
                Same here. I tried a Dell laptop once, I got the wired NIC to work sometimes. It frequently crashed for some reason, my guess is a driver issue.

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                • #9
                  Hackintosh FTW!

                  It has to be VERY specific hardware that is shared with Intel Macs or the community has a driver for it...

                  To that end i have 3 standard pc's ( 2 towers and one laptop) that succesfully run OSX on a daily basis...
                  There Can Be Only One

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                  • #10
                    Quoth teh_blumchenkinder View Post
                    And better yet, use neither and go with Linux?
                    he already is even if he does not know it, the kindle runs a cut down version of linux and I think might actually share some of the source code.
                    "My experience has taught me one thing. A shaved cat is much angrier than an unshaved cat."
                    Chester Holiday Apartment

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Quoth Blade_Raver View Post
                      Furthermore, the remote desktop connection doesn't work with Mac.
                      Uh, actually it does.

                      Yeah, I know you can't support it, but it does work.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        MP - Good point, but the OP was talking about remoting *into* a Mac from a Windows machine, not vice-versa. ^_^

                        If the company allows it, you could always use a web-based service like LogMeIn. I've used it to remote into both Win and Mac from Windows, it works just fine, and the basic version is free (basic = no sound (I think), no Flash, no direct file transfers between the two systems (that's why I have an FTP server dammit), just straight-up "take over the Desktop/comp", but it functions as if you were sitting there at their comp otherwise). The only thing you don't get to see (unless they've fixed it recently) are the UAC popups in Vista/7 -- If those show up, you just get a static (unchanging, not "snow") screen until the user clicks it away.
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          EricKei - It's the opposite. Remoting into a work Windows PC from the user's Mac at home.

                          The company's remote access site utilizes Windows's RDP, which Mac natively doesn't have installed on their machines.

                          The company doesn't want us wasting 15+ mins of time on the phone trying to tell a novice user how to install 2nd?/3rd? party software (From a Mac perspective) to get them to remote into their work machine. Especially since we don't have Macs on our desks to try to work with and we can't remote into their Macs to help them.

                          The company is anti-everything but Windows support for the most part.

                          LogMeIn wouldn't be a viable solution because the company is for-profit and there's something in their TOS that states if it's being used for business purposes, you have to pay for a license. Company won't buy LMI licences. Especially since the company has about 20-30k people employed.
                          Fixing problems... one broken customer at a time.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            My bad. From your initial post, I thought you were using a PC. Me be confoozled lol
                            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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