IT support for Mac users: working normally on a Mac inside a Windows company

Almost every small business I work with has at least one Mac user. Sometimes it is a director who loves their MacBook. Sometimes a designer who cannot work without a Mac. Sometimes a developer or video editor. And almost always this person is left to fend for themselves, because "nobody supports Macs anyway".

That is not true. IT support for Mac users in a Windows company is a perfectly normal thing, it just needs to be set up correctly. In this article I go through everything a Mac user in a Slovenian company runs into in practice, and how each of these things is properly solved.

Why a Mac user in a company is often an IT orphan

A typical scenario: a company has 12 Windows computers and one MacBook. IT support knows Windows, Active Directory and Outlook on Windows. When the Mac user asks something, they get an answer along the lines of "we do not know that, figure it out yourself".

The consequence is that this person:

• uses a personal email for work matters, because nobody properly set up their work one
• saves documents locally on the desktop, not in OneDrive
• does not use two factor sign in
• does not have an encrypted disk
• loses half a day in case of a problem, because they have nobody to turn to

This is not just inconvenient. It is also a security hole and a business risk.

How to include a Mac in a Microsoft 365 environment

The good news: Microsoft 365 on Mac works almost identically to Windows. All the main applications have native macOS versions.

Mail and calendar

Outlook for Mac gets exactly the same work email, calendar and contacts as Outlook on Windows. You can also use the Apple Mail app, but Outlook works better with shared calendars, Teams meetings and rules.

Documents

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote are equally functional on Mac. Documents open, edit and save without loss of formatting. OneDrive and SharePoint are accessible via a browser or the native client.

Teams

Teams has a full macOS app. Calls, meetings, chats, screen sharing and shared folders everything works. A Mac user joins the team without any trouble where others use Windows.

OneDrive and SharePoint

OneDrive for Mac syncs documents the same way it does on Windows. SharePoint folders show up in Finder as regular folders. Real time collaborative editing of Word and Excel files works.

Shared documents, network drives and printers

This is usually where things get stuck. Many small businesses have a Windows server with shared folders and network printers set up only for Windows.

A Mac can do this, it just needs to be set up correctly:

• Shared folders (SMB share): A Mac connects to a Windows shared folder via the SMB protocol without any trouble. In Finder, the folder opens like any other drive.
• Printers: Most business printers have macOS drivers. For network printing through a Windows server, the SMB or IPP protocol is used.
• Scanners: Mac supports most scanners via ImageCaptureCore or ICA, sometimes with the manufacturer's driver for older devices.

Important: if the company is planning a move from an on premises server to the cloud (SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams), this is the right opportunity to do it once for everyone and Mac users immediately get the same access as Windows users.

Security of Mac computers in a company

The most common myth: "Mac is safe anyway, it does not need antivirus." Mac really does have fewer classic viruses, but it is equally vulnerable to phishing, password theft, ransomware and physical device theft.

The basic set of security measures for a business Mac:

• FileVault: on Macs with Apple silicon or a T2 chip, the internal drive is already encrypted automatically, and turning on FileVault ties that protection to your sign in credentials. On older Macs, FileVault is needed to encrypt data. In a company it is important to check the status and manage the recovery key securely.
• Two factor sign in (MFA): mandatory on Microsoft 365 and all business systems.
• macOS and app updates: automatic, without delay.
• Strong passwords and a password manager: not storing passwords in the browser, but in a business password manager.
• Touch ID for unlocking: quick sign in, without reusing weak passwords.
• Find My Mac: activated in case of loss, so the device can be locked or wiped remotely.

Central management of Macs (MDM)

With one or two Macs, IT support can set all of this up manually. Once you have 5 or more, it is worth adding an MDM solution (Mobile Device Management).

Options:

• Microsoft Intune: makes the most sense if the company already uses Microsoft 365. One system for managing Windows and Mac devices.
• Jamf: a specialised solution for Apple devices, most powerful, sensible with a larger number of devices.
• Apple Business Manager: free company registration with Apple, enables automatic enrolment of new devices in MDM.

With properly configured MDM, new devices set themselves up automatically the first time they are switched on, apps install themselves, security policies are enforced without user involvement.

The most common issues for Mac users in Slovenian companies

• Pantheon, Saop, Minimax and similar: most Slovenian accounting programs are built exclusively for Windows. A Mac user accesses them via remote desktop (Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac), via a browser, or via Parallels Desktop, which runs Windows as a virtual machine inside the Mac.
• Digital certificates: SIGEN CA and similar digital certificates can also be used on Mac, but this often requires manual installation and a call to the bank or AJPES.
• Slovenian banks: online banking mostly works without issues, mobile tokens and e banking apps have native macOS support.
• VPN into the office: macOS supports all standard VPN protocols. Configuration is quick once you know the parameters.
• An office with a Windows printer and scanner: it works, but sometimes requires a specific driver that needs to be found from the manufacturer.

When a Mac in a company pays off and when it does not

A Mac makes sense for people whose work relies on productivity, creativity and reliability: managers, designers, video editors, developers, marketing. For them, a faster, quieter and longer lasting stable computer ultimately means less lost time.

A Mac does not make sense when work is tied exclusively to a business program that only exists for Windows and requires a lot of manual interaction with that program all day. In such cases a plain Windows computer is simpler and cheaper.

How I can help your Mac users

In practice this means:

• correctly setting up a macOS device for business use
• integrating it into Microsoft 365 with mail, OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint
• setting up printers, shared folders and VPN
• security measures (FileVault, MFA, passwords, updates)
• setting up MDM for central management as the number of Macs grows
• help with everyday problems, the same as for Windows users

A Mac user in your company should not be an IT orphan. With the right setup they work in a Windows environment without issues, have the same level of security and the same quality of support as everyone else.

Conclusion

A Mac in a Windows company is not a problem, only if nobody is willing to take responsibility for it. When IT support is prepared to cover both, Mac users get the same level of service as Windows users, and the company gets a uniformly managed environment without security holes and improvisation.

If you have Mac users in your team and it feels like they have been somewhat left to fend for themselves, that is a problem worth solving. Not for them, but for the company as a whole.