Leopard
Apple posts Snow Leopard Server information
Many people forget that Apple makes 2 variants of OS X for Macs: client (that’s the one you run on your personal Mac) and Server (which is normally found on a server, oddly enough). We’ve already posted (twice) about the client version of Snow Leopard, but what about Apple’s next iteration of their server product?
Head on over to the Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard page that Apple just put up, and you’ll find out a thing or two about what your Mac server will be serving up in about a year or so. Amongst the new features we find:
- iCal Server 2: Adds group and shared calendars as well as a way to invite non-iCal Server users to meetings and events. Also includes a web app to let people access their calendars on the go.
- Podcast Producer 2: This little known Apple app makes creating content and getting it into the iTunes Store a snap. This version looks like it adds a number of great features including support for recording both the presenter and the presentation they are giving and a way to locally host your podcasts.
- Address Book Server: This new component lets you share contacts across machines, as well as create a central Address Book without having to have an LDAP server.
- ZFS: The long rumored addition of Sun’s file-system is finally coming to OS X Server. Snow Leopard will be able to both read and write to ZFS volumes.
All in all, Snow Leopard Server seems to add quite a few new features. Read
Popularity: 4% [?]
Apple posts Snow Leopard website
It is clear that Apple isn’t ready to talk too much about the next version of OS X, Snow Leopard, but they are eager to set expectations. In addition to the press release we pointed to earlier today Apple has created a new section on its website explaining the focus of Snow Leopard.
Snow Leopard is all about making sure that users have a consistent experience across Apple products. Apple will be adding full Exchange support in Mail, Address Book, and iCal because it is in the iPhone. Apple is working on shrinking the amount of hard drive space OS X requires, no doubt because they figured out how to make OS X much smaller to run on the Apple TV and the iPhone. We’ll also be seeing a new version of QuickTime, QuickTime X which will support ‘all modern codecs.’
There isn’t a ton of information on the site, but there is enough to leave you wanting more. Read
Popularity: 4% [?]
Apple previews OS X Snow Leopard: scheduled to ship “in about a year”
The next iteration of OS X was mentioned early on during today’s WWDC 2008 keynote, but little was said afterwards. Thankfully, Apple hasn’t left us completely out to dry, as a recent release gives a few clues as to what Snow Leopard has in store. First and foremost, the OS isn’t expected to ship until about this time next year, and just as predicted, it will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. Specifically, it will “enhance the performance of OS X and set a new standard for quality… rather than focusing primarily on new features.” Still, we do know that it’ll play nice with Microsoft Exchange 2007 from the get-go, provide “unrivaled support for multi-core processors” with a new technology dubbed Grand Central, extend support “for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL),” and raise the software limit on system memory up to a theoretical 16TB of RAM. Heck, you’ll even find QuickTime X in there. Yeah, we love those new features, but we can honestly say we’re looking forward to a nice round of polishing.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Landmark Event, 2 diverging bridges, Snow Leopard?
Here’s a late breaking hypothesis: the landmark event is not just about the iPhone SDK’s GPS hooks, Core Location, and the incredible possibilities they represent. The Snow Leopard OS mystery is about Apple branching off into 2 diverging Major ‘desktop’ OSes. Leopard for large traditional computers, Snow Leopard for MacBook Air and smaller - like Tablets? Stuff that would run on the Intel Atom.
This makes sense across a lot of lines. Intel Atoms are extremely energy efficient, but they are also underpowered for a desktop OS. Apple could be releasing an Intel Atom optimized version of OSX today….
Or this could all be hooey….What do you think? Read the rest of this entry
Popularity: 3% [?]
Apple shuffles execs, Scott Forstall now head of iPhone Software
Looks like El Steve’s getting the house in order before all the guests roll in for WWDC — AppleInsider says there’s been some exec reshuffling at the top. Most prominently, Scott Forstall has been bumped up to Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, which means he now reports directly to Jobs. Given Apple’s big push into the mobile devices space, that’s a big responsibility, but Forstall’s got the chops — he’s been working on the core of OS X since the NeXT days, and he was responsible for the release of OS X Leopard. Also getting a fatter paycheck is Bob Mansfield, who’s the new SVP of Mac Hardware Engineering and will report to COO Tim Cook. MHE hasn’t had a leader since 2004, when a committee of Mansfield, Jonathan Ive, and Dan Riccio was put in place to lead development. Of course, all these guys are merely puppets in the grand schemes of Dear Leader anyhow, but hey, someone’s got to do the paperwork, right?
[Thanks, Mark]
Popularity: 5% [?]
