TalkTalk staff swapping PCs for Macs in Apple trial

ISP gives London workers a taste of Cupertino

UK broadband company TalkTalk is running a trial that will see staff in its London head office ditch PCs for Apple MacBook Pros.

TalkTalk confirmed to silicon.com today that 150 of its employees have been moved over to the laptop devices with a view to extending the trial more widely over the course of 2010.

A move from PCs to Apple hardware is relatively unusual in the business world as confirmed by a recent silicon.com CIO Jury poll which suggested a wholesale switch to Macs is unlikely for the majority of enterprises.

TalkTalk is considering a switch to Macs, something of a rarity in the business world
(Photo credit: Apple)

When asked after the release of Snow Leopard whether the new OS would prompt them to move to the Apple machines, just one of the 12 CIO Jury respondents said it would.

The main reason given by the IT chiefs for their rejection of Macs was that the cost of switching their entire desktop infrastructure was considered too high - and particularly prohibitive during the economic downturn.

However, there is some evidence to suggest that business users are interested in alternative desktop options such as Macs.

And while recent research found that CxOs tend to buy no-frills laptops and smartphones, the brand rated as best hardware maker in both categories was Apple.