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Ron Barrett

12 cool cross-platform tools for Windows, Macs and Linux

By Ron Barrett on Mon, 08/11/08 - 2:22pm.

Today's IT department is faced with the constant question of which platform wins the battle for the corporate network's heart and mind. I won't get into the debate of which platform will reign supreme in the next 5 - 10 years. Quite frankly I do not even want to think that far down the line. (But, can you guess my vote, given the name of this blog, A Better Windows World?) But no matter what your personal preference, the reality is that most corporate networks are a heterogeneous mix of two or more operating systems, with servers and with desktops. So the question really becomes, "What tools can we use to bridge the gap between Windows and the rest of your network?"

The major issue of the cross-platform world is to bring it all together to make managing it simple. To help you out I put together a list of tools to help you manage your environment and your stress-level. Here are 12 cross- platform tools to help make your world "A Better Windows ( Linux/Unix/Mac) World." To click through this list with speed, check out the slideshow, 12 great apps for bridging Windows, Linux and Macs.

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xTuple open source ERP version update

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By BC Wilson (not verified) on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 9:01am.

Ron, thank you for your favorable review of the xTuple open source ERP solution. I wanted to update your readers to let them know that we have released version 3.0 and we are very excited about many new features in the product. Keep up the great coverage!

14 pages for a

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By Anon (not verified) on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 12:56pm.

14 pages for a article???????

exactly, why 14 pgs? b/c

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By Anon (not verified) on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 11:14am.

exactly, why 14 pgs? b/c it's all about getting 14 hits for 1 crappy article. lame, networkworld, lame.

Tremendous Time Saver

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By J. P. Bruzzese (not verified) on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 11:54am.

Thanks for this list Ron.

With all of the different tools and products on the market it is so hard to keep up with all of them. I especially liked that they were broken into different pages so that I can refer directly to the tool on its own page. And hey... if that increases the number of hits you get... that's great.

I write for InfoWorld and just posted my weekly column on System Center tools: http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisewindows/archives/2008/10/system_center_m.html

With only time for Microsoft products (which are always changing, evolving, and so forth) I never have time to analyze newer, diverse products. This list gave me two tools I plan on researching further: Wimbas Classroom and PresenterNet. Excellent tools in my line of work.

Thanks again!

Great List was easy to look

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By T Bruzzese (not verified) on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 1:35pm.

Great List was easy to look up what I wanted not having to go thru the thing and nicely put. Your info is refreshing and ingenious. Your doing a great work for all of us. who don't have the time for this research. 14 pages who cares whats needed is easy to find
Thanks Again.
T Bruzzese

I found this article very

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By AGL (not verified) on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 11:35pm.

I found this article very helpful. As a business owner I rarely have time to do research on my own. The ability to go over 12 great products at once was a great relief for me. Who cares if it was 14 pages - it was neatly separated and easy for me to navigate through.

trends

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By Hugo (not verified) on Fri, 10/31/2008 - 2:46am.

The resume - every application, that can be web based is moving to the web. Browsers already work on all OSes!
Why didn't you mention OpenOffice? Not everybody knows it works on different platforms.

microsoft

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By andrew77 (not verified) on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 12:13pm.

Well i guess from your article the foreshadowing leads us to believe microsoft windows is not going anywhere.

I cannot tell you how stressful it can be too work through all of these different platforms.

I thank you in advance for the info you supply here.

Regards,

andrew

Seriously, 14 pages to click through to read this?

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By Jared (not verified) on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 8:23am.

I thought I cared, but then I didn't anymore...I can read about this stuff elsewhere.

Thanks

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By Life insurance on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 12:18am.

Thanks for sharing this valuable information with us.

Thanks,
Life insurance (http://www.ratedetective.com.au/insurance/life-insurance)

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About A Better Windows World

Ron Barrett, Director of e-Strategy for ClipTraining , is an independent trainer, author and consultant. He has been a technology professional for over 12 years, working for several major financial services firms and dotcoms. Ron is a specialist in network infrastructure, security, and IT management. He is the author of Office Communications Server 2007 R2: How-To , as well as co-author of Windows Server 2008: How-To and The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers. Ron has been a co-author or technical editor for several other books on Windows administration. Along with book writing, Ron has contributed to several industry magazines such as Redmond, Datamation and Windows IT Pro. Beyond writing, Ron has spoken at several technology conferences for CPAmerica, AICPA and MCP’s TECHMENTOR. Recently Ron has joined ClipTraining as the Director of e-Strategy in an effort to further the company’s presence via the Internet and social networking channels.

Ron's latest book, Windows Server 2008 How-To has been selected as the September 2009 book giveaway on Microsoft Subnet. To enter the monthly book giveaway, visit the Microsoft Subnet home page.