From the EditorCan’t We All Just Get Along?

Joshua Hoffman

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress." Truer words were never spoken. And if you've taken a look at the cover of this month's issue of TechNet Magazine, or perhaps read through the Table of Contents, you probably have a pretty good idea of why those words of wisdom are foremost in my mind right now.

It may surprise you to see words such as "Linux" or "Mac." These certainly aren't topics discussed in our pages very often. Yet, while we hold fast to our belief that Microsoft products and technologies offer many of the most compelling IT solutions available (and we also admit to our bias in that opinion), we are, if nothing else, realists. We know that any number of circumstances—business requirements, organizational issues, or even just plain personal preferences—often lead to situations where an IT professional is responsible for managing a heterogeneous environment.

Loyalty is OK. Preference is OK. You like Windows? Cool! You prefer a Mac? That's your choice. But the fact is, you've got a job to do, and restricting yourself to being just the "PC Guy" or just the "Mac Guy" hinders your chances of getting ahead. Our job is to help you do your job, so set aside partisanship this month and instead focus on what it takes to get things done in the real world. (Don't you wish it were that easy in politics?)

We begin with a seminal article from our own Gil Kirkpatrick. You may have seen Gil's work grace our pages in the past—always with truly expert content about Active Directory. Well, Gil has outdone himself this time with a definitive guide to integrating Linux clients into your Active Directory environment. It's a must read.

You'll also see two of our contributing editors—Don Jones and Wes Miller—tackle interop topics this month. Don and Wes are both experts in the Windows platform, but they also secretly harbor a bit of a "thing" for Macs. So in this issue, they'll walk you through what it takes to make your Macs and your PCs get along: connecting Macs to Windows file shares and shared printers, integrating Macs into Active Directory, configuring network settings on a Mac, and much more.

Needless to say, we feel like we've gone out on a bit of a limb with this issue, so we're anxious to hear your feedback! Drop us a line at tnmag@microsoft.com and let us know what you think.

—Joshua Hoffman

Thanks to the following Microsoft technical experts: Eric Charran, Eric Huebner, Don Jones, Jingmei Li, Michael Murgolo, JJ Streicher-Bremer, and Jim Truher.