OS X Server 10.5.4

In our giddiness about OS X 10.5.4’s release yesterday we neglected to mention that the server version of OS X has also been updated to 10.5.4. The server update (which you can download directly here, or get the combo updater here) includes all the fixes that were in the client version of 10.5.4 in addition to the following, server specific, fixes (this is taken from the KB article describing the update):

• Improves reliability of Directory Services
• Mobile home directories now work on Mac OS X clients bound to Novell eDirectory
• Includes the Web Objects 5.4.2 Update. For more information about the content of this update, see About the WebObjects 5.4.2 Update
• Improves Mac OS X Server Security. For more information on the security content of Mac OS X Server 10.5.4, see this article

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Parallels Server for Mac available now

In October, when Apple introduced a change in policy allowing Leopard Server to run in a virtual environment on Apple hardware, Mac IT geeks everywhere looked forward to the day that they could run Windows Server, Linux and OS X Server all off their pretty Xserves. That day is today, because Parallels Server for Mac is now out of beta!

According to Parallels, this is the “…first server virtualization software to run on Intel-based Xserves…and to power VMs running on the Mac OS X platform.” Similar the the Parallels Desktop product, Parallels Server lets you run virtual instances of different operating systems on top of OS X Leopard Server, including Leopard Server. The next beta of VMWare’s Fusion, which like Parallels Desktop is a consumer product, will support Leopard virtualization as well, but Parallels Server is a little different and aimed at a different market.

The difference is that the hypervisor used in Parallels Server is hardware optimized and takes advantage of Intel’s VT-x acceleration (which new XServe and Mac Pros have) to provide a more robust experience with better allocation of resources and memory. This makes the experience much more akin to running a completely separate machine, as opposed to running one OS on top of another.

Yesterday, we reported on Media Temple’s new (xv) project, which is the first official service that will be run on Xserves running Parallels Server for Mac. The (xv) will be running multiple VMs of Leopard Server, but Parallels Server can also support Linux (Debian, SUSE, Red Hat and Ubuntu), Windows (Server 2008, Vista, XP and Server 2003 and Windows 2000) and FreeBSD 6 and 7 as guest OSes. So if you run your website off of CentOS (which is based off of Red Hat Enterprise) but your company network runs off of Leopard Server, you can do both off of one Xserve.

Make no mistake, this is an enterprise product, and as such, it is pricey. Parallels Server for Mac is $1248.75 for the software and one-year of support and maintenance and that’s before you add in the cost of any software licenses you might need, but that’s still a lot less expensive than another Xserve.

For enterprise users who are interested in virtualization, definitely check out the free trial.

Thanks Russ! Read

Popularity: 19% [?]

Microsoft compatibility problems, iPhone charging, Mail bouncing, syncing, and more

In this riveting episode of Ask TUAW we’re catching up a bit on the backlog, so we’ll be looking at a couple of problems generated by Microsoft products (Hotmail and Photo Story), charging an iPhone from a sleeping Mac, syncing personal data between two user accounts, using a Mac mini as a backup server, and more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you’re running and which version of OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we’ll assume you’re running Leopard if you don’t specify). And now, on to the questions!

Andrew asks

I’m running the current version of Leopard on a PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz with 1.25GB memory). I was wondering if there is a way to shut the lid on my laptop while still keeping power to the USB ports. I would like to be able to put my computer to sleep and keep it charging my iPhone..

Unfortunately, no; this is a hardware issue. In fact, Apple recently added this feature to the iMac line. However, according to this thread and this hint the FireWire port is still powered while the computer is asleep. While you can’t sync your iPhone over FireWire, you can possibly use that to charge it with a FireWire to Dock connector cable and if indeed if you use this double headed cable ($19) you don’t even have to switch (i.e. plug in both at the same time).

pjones asks

When using iChat, I love that the icon bounces in the dock when I receive a new message. Is there a way to assign this same icon “bounce” behavior to the Mail.app dock icon, so that it bounces when I get new mail?

As another reader pointed out this is easily accomplished with a Mail.app rule. Just configure a rule in the Mail.app preferences as follows:

Kyle asks

I have recently switched to a mac mini 1.83Ghz running leopard and now use a .mac e-mail address. Previously I used a windows live hotmail account as my primary e-mail and I am wondering if there is any way to have e-mails to the hotmail account delivered to the “mail” application on my mac?

I have a very short-term solution for you: the Mac OS X HTTP Mail Plugin will allow you to download Hotmail into Mail.app. However, the developer has a note saying that “Microsoft is closing us down” as of June 30, 2008 because they’re replacing WebDAV access with a new proprietary (and undocumented) technology called “DeltaSync.” Now if you’re willing to pay you can get POP3 access with a Hotmail Plus account. Finally, there’s also a third-party service called IzyMail that will supposedly allow you to access Hotmail with an IMAP mail client, however I have never used it and cannot comment on its reliability.

My wife had this problem when switching and I finally just switched her over to Gmail. If I were you, I would go ahead and just pull the band aid off switch away from Hotmail. Microsoft’s mail service is just not competitive anymore and it’s a bear to deal with as you’re finding out.

Adam asks

Some time ago, in the not so distant past, I noticed that the .Mac sync icon started to appear on the top menu bar for me. I have a MBP running Leopard. I have never synced anything with .Mac, yet so much as subscribed so I have no clue how this appeared. Now I want to know how to make it disappear, the .Mac button in Settings does not help me out as far as I can tell.

The sync item will also run for the iPhone so that may be how it got there. Anyway you can remove in either of two ways. Just hold down the ⌘ key and drag it off the menubar. Or you’ll find the checkbox setting in the Sync tab of the .Mac Preference Pane.

joeyjoe serially asks

I use my MacBook at work and home, so I created two accounts on it. I did this primarily because I need easy access to different applications at work and at home and because I didn’t want anyone to accidently stumble onto my personal files at work. This setup, however, has not really worked because I would still like to keep my email, contact, calendar and applications in sync between the work and home accounts. The simple solution I suppose would be to use one account and set up two different docks and desktops, but this isn’t even possible with Spaces. What do you suggest?

You could try using one account and keeping all of your personal files in an encrypted FileVault created with Disk Utility. Alternately, you could continue using separate accounts and adopt some kind of syncing solution. The obvious one is .Mac, however, you might also consider using something like IMAP for email and something like Google for calendar and contact information. You can even sync Google’s services with iCal using BusySync ($25) or Spanning Sync ($25/year). Address Book syncing is now possible with Syncman ($15) though apparently Address Book syncing is coming to the others as well. Having lots of this kind of data online as other advantages as well, so that might be worth looking into.
I created a Windows Media File using Microsoft’s excellent slideshow program, Photo Story, however I cannot view it on my Mac. The WMV file that Photo Story creates cannot be played in anything before Windows Media Player 10, and as far as I can tell, the latest version of Flip for Mac only covers files created for Windows Media Player 7.0 and earlier. I can’t find anything to play this thing!

I found this site with some suggestions. Basically, it is a codec problem and so the suggested solutions are converting the file to a QuickTime MOV with the file conversion site Zamzar or (if you have access to Windows) convert the file to a Flip4Mac compatible version with the Windows Media Encoder.
computergeeksjw asks

I have a Rage 128 video card that came with my old iMac. I’ve looked and looked, but I can’t seem to find a driver anywhere. ATI’s website only has drivers for Windows. I wanted to set up Extended Desktops but my Mac won’t recognize it. Apple Technical Support @ 1-800-My-Apple said to get a driver, but I can’t find one:). Any solutions/suggestions?

Unfortunately, I do not think Extended Desktop is possible with the Rage 128. The hack to enable this on older machines is called Screen Spanning Doctor but the Rage 128 is explicitly not supported.

Jason asks

…. My utopian goals for the backup system are 1) to have an automatic system that takes the responsibility out of it as much as possible, 2) have an offsite - preferably, online - backup of my photos and music (because those are virtually irreplaceable - especially the photos), and 3) if possible, have online access to all my personal files for when I travel (a lot)…. Is it possible to use the Mini as a backup & Time Machine server (with a huge HDD attached via USB) without having to buy Leopard Server ($500) to expose the external disk?

Yes. Backup to an AFP-shared HFS+ disk mounted on any Leopard computer (Client or Server) is officially supported by Time Machine. What I would do is buy a large external FireWire drive and hook it to the Mac mini. Then, share that drive with AFP and use it with Time Machine and/or SuperDuper!.

Finally as far as accessing file from the road goes there are a number of ways to accomplish this from Back to My Mac and iChat Screen Sharing, to others like iGet ($49). You might also want to check out a little application we posted on before called FarFinder ($35).

Sam asks

If I have a 1st gen iPhone and want to get a 3G one, could I just buy a 3G phone and put my 1st gen sim card in?

You’ll probably have to unlock the new phone to get this to work. It’s obviously not known yet whether the unlocking tools with work on the 3G iPhone.

Joel asks

I am thinking of an application, but I can’t remember it’s name, and I can’t find it via searching for the life of me! It was talked about on TUAW, and what it does is, it allows you to make a bookmark of a website, and it treats the bookmark like an application that you can open separately, and keep on your dock and stuff.

I’m not 100% sure what application it is you’re referring to. I suppose you know that you can just drag a URL to the right side of your Dock (assuming it’s on the bottom) and add a spring icon to launch any website.

If what you want is a site-specific browser, you can check out Fluid or Prism — these custom builds of the Webkit and Firefox browser engines can create one-off apps that launch a specified website in a standalone window.

[Via TUAW]

Popularity: 50% [?]

Apple posts podcast on Leopard Server

Here’s something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link].

There are two episodes available now; “Setup and Administration” and “Managing Your Server.” Each features a screencast walk-through of some basic tasks, as well as as a monotone and articulate host in the standard issue black mock turtleneck.

Seasoned Mac OS X Server administrators will find the content pretty basic, but still enjoyable. If you’re considering Leopard Server for your work group or small business, these videos are a nice introduction. When you’re ready to join the ranks of Mac OS X Server pros, swing by afp548.com and macenterprise.org for additional webcasts and training resources.

Popularity: 11% [?]