Leopard Server set for October shipment

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 13 June 2007 15:03

Business IT - Technology

Steve Jobs wasn't really telling the truth when - in the customary dig at Microsoft - he asserted that Apple will only be shipping one version of Mac OS X 10.5 in October.

While the desktop version of Mac OS X 10.5 deserves most of the attention, Mac OS X Server also has a strong following. And while Leopard Server might have 'only' 250 new features rather than the 300 Jobs claimed are in the regular version, some of them are very significant.

Many of the improvements make it easier for small sites to deliver modern facilities without requiring high levels of technical expertise. Among the new features are:

a wiki server to simplify publication and maintenance of reference material within a workgroup;

automatic configuration of Leopard clients to work with the server;

iCal Server to share calendar information among users of the new version of iCal coming with Mac OS X 10.5 as well as Sunbird and other CalDAV compliant applications;

Spotlight Server to speed searches for information on the server;

Podcast Producer to ease podcast publication (including the ability to distribute video encoding across the Macs on the network);

iChat Server for secure instant messaging with users on outside systems;

64-bit versions of core services including Apache 2 and MySQL 5; and

optimisation for multi-core Intel CPUs.

"Only Apple can deliver an advanced server operating system packed with over 250 new features on the same day as our client OS," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With no client access licenses, Leopard Server is the most affordable way to bring innovative server features, such as group calendaring and a wiki server, to everyone from small businesses to large educational institutions."

Mac OS X Server 10.5 will cost $A699/$US499 for the 10-client edition or $A1499/$US999 for unlimited clients.