IT Guy wants to jump in to the Mac world

I have been in the IT field for over ten years now and currently hold the position of Network Manager at the company where I work. Although I have had five iPods and three iPhones over the course of my life, I have never owned or used a Mac computer, not because I have anything against them, just that I've always used and supported PCs. I recently saw and fell in love with the new retina display Mac Books and thought that maybe now was a good time to jump in to the Mac world. Since funds are limited at home I thought I'd see about replacing my PC at work with a new Mac. My main concern besides having to get used to a new OS is that I won't be able to use the necessary tools to do my job in the Windows world where I work. We are in a Windows 2008 R2 domain and use Exchange Server 2010 for e-mail and I have to manage and administer this environment on a daily basis. I have read that going with either Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion was the way to go if you want to just virtualize Windows 7 on your Mac but I am wondering if that's the only way to use the domain admin tools that I require. Are there any such tools available for the Mac or am I just going to have to run everything in the VM? I am also wondering if there are any other hurdles that I should be aware of when using a Mac in a Windows environment.
Thanks in advance for your input.
-Chris

If they will let you, sure, go for it. But it just seems to me there is a big difference between an end user using an Apple device on a Windows-based network domain, and an admin having to administer that network/domains windows hardware.
One thing you can do, if funds allow, is set up a second monitor with your Mac. You can keep the Windows VM running in one and have the other as your OS X desktop, instead of switching back and forth between them. I used to do that with my Mac Pro at my previous job (I only needed windows to occasionally trouble shoot a user's issue with Windows-only software applications, or to test open source apps to write documentation for them).
Also, if going the VM route, do not skimp on RAM. OS X 10.8 is okay with 4GB (but for many uses, more would be better), plus you will have the overhead of the VM, and then Windows itself will need RAM for itself. These days, I would say if running both systems all the time, 8GB would be the minimum I'd want, and I would prefer 12-16GB (but that is based on the kind of use I see - bioinformatics and data analyses), so I could have a 6-8GB Windows 64-bit installation.
A 16GB iMac with an external monitor would make a good such machine at a reasonable price point, to my mind - add another 25-27" monitor and you would have a nice dual mode setup.
However, at my current place of employment, I don't get the option of picking my own hardware - I miss that freedom.

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The following article(s) may help you.
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Trying to understand the Mac world

I've had my IMac for nearly 2 years now but have struggled all the way to migrate from a Windows environment. There seem to be so many hurdles to overcome, not least due to the horribly closed Mac universe which has made accessing things like music files, and sharing documents, incredibly difficult.
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1. Microsoft Mac Office apps use command-Y for repeat last action, but that appeard to be missing from Apple's own apps, so it might be a Microsoft-specific thing.
2. The "open Excel and Word minimizes" issue is one I have not seen in something like 14 years of using them on Mac OSes on a few dozen Macs. Sorry. I honestly don't know how to do that, but it's worth asking Microsoft Support about it.
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While looking through profile first aid, I came across this that might help explain my problem.
Searching for profiles...
Checking 20 profiles...
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Open up any folder>>all files>> or buy an external to store more data.
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Help!! New to the mac world!!

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Stu
PS My wireless router is a Sitecom Broadband 2.4GHz, 140g. The mac can find the network on the scan and displays it but other than that, no go. Boo Hoo:(

i haven't tried it with the Ethernet cable as yet but im sure the wep key is ok, ive looked up my settings to confirm it is wep. I can connect other devices to the network no problem such as my Nintendo DS and PSP, Laptop PC etc, just not the mac.
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Merry Xmas!
Stuart
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Hello,
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IT Guy wants to jump in to the Mac world

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