Gartner Group Study Finds No Cost Penalty for Companies Supporting both Macintosh and Windows

Report Confirms Lower Support Costs for Macintosh Platform

Orlando, Florida--October 11, 1995--An extensive survey of technical support costs for corporate computing just completed by Gartner Group Consulting Services finds no incremental cost for companies supporting dual platform computing (Apple Macintosh and Windows-based PCs) vs. the cost of supporting Windows alone. The study, available this month, also confirms consistently lower Macintosh support costs.

The report, previewed today at the annual Gartner Group IT Expo in Orlando, was designed to determine the incremental cost of supporting a dual platform desktop environment. The Gartner Group is a leading independent advisor to business professionals making information technology (IT) decisions.

"Support costs are a critical factor for companies in selecting information management technology," said Don Strickland, Apple vice president for Business and Government markets and solutions. "Here is real world data showing that standardizing on one desktop platform is not the answer for reducing those costs. We are delighted to have Gartner Group affirm what we and many of our corporate customers have known for years--Macintosh costs less to support than PCs running Microsoft Windows. When we take this result and combine it with other evidence for increased productivity of Macintosh users vs. Windows users, Apple has a compelling story for the IS community at both corporate and departmental levels."

Entitled "Technical Support Costs in Dual-Platform Computing Environments: Managing Diversity," the report analyzes data collected from a broad range of US-based companies with varying mixes of Macintosh (up to and including Mac OS version 7.5.1) and Windows-based desktops (up to and including Microsoft Windows version 3.11). The research was conducted in the first half of 1995, prior to the public release of Windows 95.

Other conclusions offered by Gartner Group include:

The higher the percentage of Macintosh, the lower the technical support costs.
Support costs for Macintosh are approximately 25% lower than those for Windows.
On the average, less than 3 days of training per user per year tends to increase support costs per user.

"This report contains a large amount of significant data for IS managers looking to reduce the cost of their computing resources," said Dr. H. Walter Johnson, Gartner Group vice president of Consulting Services and author of the study. "And the major conclusion is that, while conventional wisdom might suggest that standardization on a single platform would lower technical support expenses, there is no premium associated with supporting both Macintosh and Windows."

Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the business, education, consumer, scientific & engineering and government markets in over 140 countries.

Press Information Contact:
Keith Toleman
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-4104
k.toleman@applelink.apple.com

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