The hospital had been managing PCs with LANDesk, a Windows desktop management software suite, says the engineer. When the number of Macs began to grow in the last 15 months, from 80 to nearly 180 earlier this year (and tracking to 230 by next year), the hospital turned on the Mac option in the Windows suite.

Problem solved? Not quite. The Mac reporting feature didn't report accurately at times, the engineer says, and other times not at all. Wrong RAM. Wrong processor type. No optical drives showing up on the report. Remote tools sometimes failed to connect.

"It's disingenuous when you say you have a Mac product that lacks the same Windows features," the Mac engineer says. Even worse, he says he's often treated like a second-class citizen when seeking support: "One guy said, 'I'll look into it when I get a hold of a Mac.'"

Bomgar's McNeil understands the problems vendors face when weighing investment in better Mac products and support. "Vendors are going to become competent to the extent it reflects their customer base," he says. "That was true of us as well."

Yet Bomgar has been on the frontlines of Mac support, says Chuck King, team leader of desktop deployment and maintenance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bomgar's client base is heavy in Mac stronghold industries such as media companies and universities, thus Bomgar has had greater incentive to build strong Mac solutions and support. (CEO Joel Bomgar says he figures that half of his customers use the Mac features in his flagship product.)