Fresh research from the Yankee Group reports a growing corporate marketshare for Apple, with the analysts observing the Mac to be "gaining significant momentum among corporate users."

The research, published yesterday and penned by analyst, Laura DiDio, states: "Don't look now but Apple Mac hardware and the accompanying OS X 10.x operating system software are gaining significant momentum among corporate users."

The report cites a new Yankee Group web-based survey of 750 global IT administrators and C-level executives. This survey found nearly four out of five businesses -approximately 80 per cent - have Macs and OS X installed in their networks. 

"Although the Apple Mac hardware and OS X operating systems still represent a small niche, adoption and acceptance of Mac hardware and operating system software are growing at a steady and sustained pace not seen since the late 1980s," DiDio observes.

As explained, survey responses indicate that use of Apple products in a corporate environment is much more pervasive and complex than previously thought. Nearly one-quarter, or close to 25 per cent, of the survey respondents have a significant number - greater than 30 or 50 - of Apple Macs and Mac OS X present in their corporate networks, the analyst said.

Cool technologies such as Safari, iChat, FileVault, Time Machine and new bundled applications within Mac OS X 10.5 are also boosting enterprise adoption, the analyst said.