Just a quickie, here; it seems that recent events may be having a positive effect on Apple's inroads into markets in which it wasn't previously all that welcome. We've already mentioned Apple's quiet but increasingly effective push into the enterprise market, where Macs have traditionally been about as easy to find as a brown M&M in a rock star's dressing room; now it looks as though Macs have their foot in the door for government use, as well. Government Computer News reports that, thanks to the Office of Management and Budget, the Mac has been added to the list of "supporting platforms" as defined by the Federal Enterprise Architecture's Technical Reference Model. In other words, Macs have been blessed by the OMB in the FEA's TRM. OMG!

Now, we're not entirely certain what that all means, since the article doesn't say what the "supporting platforms" are actually supporting in the first place, but the implication seems to be that government buyers are now free to purchase Macs for projects if they so desire; previously the TRM of the FEA only listed Java 2, .Net, and Windows 2000 (plus some "wireless and mobile technologies") as acceptable platforms. It does our hearts good to think that the U.S. government has now (apparently) officially given the green light to Mac OS X for... whatever it is they're greenlighting stuff for, while Windows XP is still nowhere to be seen. Keen, huh?

So what caused the change of heart? Well, it's pretty obvious that the approval process probably took a good long while (we are talking about changing government policy, after all-- at least, we think we are), but we can't help wondering whether the recent Blaster and SoBig.F outbreaks sped up the process just a wee bit... especially after that whole mess with the Department of Homeland Security signing a $90 million contract with Microsoft just one day before Microsoft admitted the existence of the security flaw that made Blaster possible (and, indeed, inspired that particular worm's creation). Suppose the government was a little miffed with Microsoft for clamming up about that vulnerability until the day after the deal was sealed?

Anyway, whatever this government approval for Mac OS X turns out to be, we're glad to see it arrive. The thought of 140,000 Windows desktops in the Department of Homeland Security alone gives us a screaming case of the heebie-jeebies, and we'll sleep a lot better at night knowing that at least Macs have become a possibility. For something. We think.