“Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs opened Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday with a keynote that put an end to weeks of speculation about new products and features in the next generation of Mac OS X. The announcements Jobs made can be broken down into four major areas: information about Apple, the new Mac Pro, the new Intel-based Xserve and a preview of Mac OS X Leopard, which is due out by next spring,” Ryan Faas reports for Computerworld.
“As I expected, there was no mention of new iPods or an iPhone. This was an event for Mac software and hardware developers, along with other Mac IT professionals. The focus of the keynote was correctly all Mac,” Faas reports. “I’d like to focus not just on yesterday’s announcements, but on what the upcoming changes mean for Mac professionals — both those who work in the IT field and those who use Macs as part of their daily job.”
Faas reports, “The Mac Pro includes two dual-core Xeon processors, effectively giving it the power of four Xeon processors — more than double the computing power of any other Intel Mac (and setting it higher than most Intel PCs) and twice as fast in real-world tasks as the Power Mac G5 Quad it replaces. One reason for the additional power might be that many professional Mac users work with applications such as the Adobe suite that are not yet Universal apps. This extra power should provide significant improvements when running such applications under Rosetta emulation. It also simply provides professional users with more raw power, thus differentiating the Mac Pro from Apple’s other desktop offerings and most PCs. (A comparable Dell PC would be as much as $1,000 more than a standard Mac Pro.)”
Fass covers much more in the full article, including Xserve, Mac OS X Server Leopard, and many upcoming Leopard features like Time Machine which when “paired with a dedicated backup server, could eliminate the need for third-party software. This could easily cut the cost of developing an extensive backup strategy.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “vitaboy” and “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
And so it begins…
Only instead of the orcs besieging the good guys, it’s the other way around.
This is just the start. As Apple grows and begins to gain some serious marketshare, the FUD will only get more intense. I’m sure we will see a flood of inane articles from Thurott and Orlowski trying to convince everyone that Apple is offering nothing new.
But it seems that Apple is converting users where and when it counts, even if most the world is saying “meh.” Hopefully for every piece of FUD, there will be writers like Faas who will be talking straight.
Hey, What happens when Apple under cuts Dell in the profitable areas of their computer pie. Do they rise the cost of the cut rate computers to offset the lose at the top. If they cut the cost per unit at the top and rise the cost at the bottom-do Apple computers become more price attractive compared Dells at the bottom end.
Uhhhhmmmmmnnnnn, I that Dell is going to have isssues.
Hit at the top and strike low….sound like a war to me!!!
In any case….can you say market share increase for Apple and decrease for Dell…..
A message for Micheal Dell…..sell the company and give the money back to the investors!!!
IT Pros will never move to Mac.
It’s too easy. Users deal with the few Mac issues they get themselves. IT is less necessary.
Windows is a freaking mess no matter how you look at it. Users don’t try to deal with Windows. IT Pros are necessary to deal with Windows.
It really is that simple.
New hardware, Mac OS X Leopard could make life easier for IT pros
Easier life? Hell it’s doing even more to replace the geeky, nerdy freaks and getting them out of our hair.
Especially the Windows IT techs, they are the most brainwashed M$ bootlicking sons of a britches the world has ever seen.
Do the world a favor, put a ad out for Windows IT techs and use them to satisfy a volcano gods need for fresh virginal blood.
I don’t think the keynote put an end to any speculation. I think the speculation is just started, what with the stress on the top secret advances and technology that we were not allowed to see.
Noooooo! When my company’s BOD hears about how easy mac network IT management is, not to mention how much money they can save, my entire department will be slashed, with 10 people doing the job of 100. And with only 10 IT techs under me, I’ll surely lose my big fat paycheck and keys to the executive washroom. Waaaah!
“IT Pros will never move to Mac. It’s too easy. Users deal with the few Mac issues they get themselves. IT is less necessary.”
The need for IT correlates equally to the stupidity of users. As long as I’m still being called to tell someone how to turn a page to landscape view (which happened today), or try (emphasis on try) to convince someone that despite what the e-mail text says, there just isn’t anything attached to it (yesterday), I’ll be in demand. 800 PC’s and I’m mostly a tutor.
Chris Moore,
Which is exactly why the Mac makes more sense for IT. It frees up your time when you aren’t tutoring, instead of pulling your hair out trying to keep Windows up and running.
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Here on Earth we say Tiger Server, or Mac OS X Leopard Server, not “Server Leopard”…
Why exactly does Adobe need to make Mac versions if we can run XP in Bootcamp and get native speed for the XP version of CSx?
…I mean from Adobe’s point of view. ($$$$$)
Shaun,
You can call it whatever you wish, but we call it “Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.”
http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/leopard/
@ChrisMoore
Thanks dude I needed a good afternoon laugh! I am familiar with similar situations to the ones you have mentioned and I am just a graphic designer/Mac Operator.
Abode,
I kinda agree with your sentiment. I have actually trapped CS making calls to a non-existent toolbox, so it isn’t even OSX native let alone universal.
I think its because they are a virtual monopoly themselves that they aren’t pulling their finger out and writing a universal, clean CS.
Sure it’s a big job, it takes a lot of work and these are big applications, but I just bet that if some company came along to fill the void, Adobe would be back here real smart.
MW: “and” as in …and planning to write a creative suite
We’re sooooo close to having our own Apple-licious Office and Photoshop Killers….dammit, why can’t we be there yet?
Pixel-level editing, text and layers in iPhoto & Aperture please…!!!
Well…this may be an unpopular view here, but I actually think that Microsoft has done a pretty good job of their Office suite. Word is a little bloated, but very functional, while Excel is really quite brilliant. Unfortunately Microsoft turned to putting graphical elements around their PC operating system as well, and that’s where the trouble started. Win 3.11 what a frankenstein of a creation to inflict upon the world.
On the creative front, we had competition in the form of Macromedia with Freehand (vs Illustrator), but there really wasn’t a Photoshop alternative. Plenty of web markup tools of course. Page layout was a duke out between QuarkXPress and InDesign.
Now Quark is the only competition, and Adobe probably think that no-one could develop a credible Photoshop alternative in the year that it’ll take Adobe to make CS native. The only ones near the desktop that could do it are Apple, but they’re kinda busy right now…
Apple should buy Adobe.
Worst news of the week was M$ announcing they are removing Visual Basic scripting from next version of Excel for the Mac. This means the app will be next to useless for doing any serious work; and means I’ll be forced to run Windows or Virtual-Windows to use a fully-featured version of Excel. Not good 🙁
Abode, while Windows can now run on Macs, Adobe can’t assume that a significant proportion of Mac users will be installing it, let alone using it that much. (Otherwise, why did they buy a Mac?) Indeed, existing Mac users will stick with Mac OS X.
Another reason for Mac support is that Microsoft is as big a threat to Adobe as it is to Apple.
theloniousMac – Even though Macs are great for end users they have their issues just the same as PCs. Networks, mass storage, application support, hardware support and security (yes, our beloved Macs need VPN security as well) will still be issues even if a company were to switch to Macs exclusively. You are only fooling yourself if you think a Mac client can be foolproof among a myriad of other aspects of a company’s infrastructure. No IT professional thinks Macs will eliminate their jobs – they are more concerned with Accountants who think outsourcing is a better option. I work as an IT support technician in a mixed environment with Macs and PCs – trust me, Macs do have problems. Do you think if Apople made a car you would never need it serviced? Don’t get me wrong, I love the Macs, I prefer Macs, but I am not in the least concerned if they were to switch to Macs exclusively.
Real IT Guy, go see the Isle of Man school district. One IT guy, 200 Macs. Your job is in serious jeopardy.
winmacguy,
I too am just a graphic designer, but in our office I seem to maintain all five of our production Macs and all 5 of our sales/accounting PCs!!
I’ve come to the point that if it’s anything more difficult than a simple tutorial, I tell them to call tech support.
Now, if they were to get new Macs for all of our sales people (“Why, yes, they do have the internet!”) then I’d be more than happy to do the occasional update/fix.
BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots
A 1:200 ratio is actually quite common in the world of IT. Nothing new in your statement.
Oh, war has beend declaired alright!
Between the numerous spoken and visual digs to Microsoft (way more than usual) plus the Dell price comparisons highlighted, there is no question it’s down to hand to hand combat with knives at this point. The sneaking and shooting from a distance is over.
NewType “Which is exactly why the Mac makes more sense for IT. It frees up your time when you aren’t tutoring, instead of pulling your hair out trying to keep Windows up and running”
In all honesty I don’t have much trouble keeping the PC’s up and running. The machines are configured like they should have been out of the factory. Real problems are few and far between. The real trouble with PC’s are not everyone who gets one is a tech or has access to one. I’m constantly hearing from employees and students (I work at a college) about the problems they have. We don’t support their machines, generally though I’ll offer a bit of advice now and then. For the most part their SOL.
Maintenance takes longer for the PC’s. Today is the day after patch Tuesday and I’m just begining to catch my breath. Policy is we defrag and scan disk after every update. A Mac update comes out and I just Apple Remote Desktop it to the computers, restart and forget it. Takes an hour on a bad day.
I for one would love to see every PC replaced with a Mac, not going to happen with our IT culture though. Macs are often the forgotten step child here. No matter how much sense it makes there will always people like my bosses who have PC’s ingrained in their heads.
And todays tech call winner of the day: Her: “This Excel attachment won’t open, it say’s our security settings won’t permit macros from running” Me: “Macros are usually macro viruses, this is a security concern so we set Excel not to run them.” Her: “Oh good, so you can change the security setting down so I can view the document.”