Inside Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server OS

19 years ago

“With the upcoming release of Mac OS X Server 10.5, aka Leopard Server, the Mac IT world is thinking ‘What is going to be new?’ Well, to be honest, everyone is. Apple’s infamous closed-mouthed approach to major OS releases, while great for marketing purposes, isn’t always so great for the IT world. However, Apple isn’t a road map company, so if we want to get an idea of what to expect in Leopard, we have to dig into the public information Apple has released,” John C. Welch reports for InformationWeek.

Welch reports, “Fortunately, there’s a decent bit of it. It’s not everything, (certainly not Steve’s famous “Top Secret” features), but it’s not a sharp stick in the eye either. One of the big features for many people is the iCal server. I know I’ve not been alone in saying that the lack of calendaring in Mac OS X Server has long been a real hole in the product’s feature set, and with iCal Server, Apple is making its first real attempt at plugging that.”

Welch covers:
• iCal Server
• Wiki Server
• 64-Bit Capabilities
• File Services:
• Web Services
• QuickTime Services
• iChat Server 2
• Mail
• Xgrid 2
• Open Directory 4

Welch reports, “Apple is taking items that either cost a lot of money, or need a lot of expertise, and selling them real cheap, and in a way that while you still need some basic networking knowledge and skills to set up, won’t require the same levels as other systems. Will it let you gut a large-scale Active Directory/Exchange system? Of course not, but if you’re a business with a hundred or so people, and you want to add services, increase reliability, and not go into deep debt to do so, Leopard Server is going to be a compelling option.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]