4. Linux

Don't worry. I'm not going to advise you switch to . From a purely financial standpoint this has rarely made much sense for smaller businesses, considering they usually pay for Windows licenses without any choice when they buy a new PC.

Instead, I'm going to recommend Linux for your file servers. This avoids the need to pay for expensive Windows Server licenses. If you go with something like , the most popular form of Linux, you'll pay nothing at all for an installation serving an unlimited number of client computers.

is that, as a popular form of Linux, support is never far away. Googling any problem will almost certainly reveal somebody else who's had the issue, or you can head over the hugely popular to ask for help.

In terms of technology, Ubuntu offers Samba, which can effectively recreate a modest Windows-like file and printer sharing setup. Both Macs and Windows computers will have no problems connecting, and will be unaware that they're not connecting to a Windows server.