MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

If this is true it is HUGE!!!

*crickets

Thank God, it's about time! Creep'n into the office..... good bye MS.

We'll see how effective this is in the next few years. VISTA is a new coat of paint on XP, but it includes a bunch of new "features" that a lot of Windows users will not be happy about (DRM, overbearing security).

Apple is great at integrated solutions so I can see them making a compelling product, but how well they'll sell remains to be seen.

This could be huge, especially for a small professional office: an alternative to Microsoft Exchange that's easy to deploy and maintain. It's enterprise for the 21st century. Bring it on, Steve!

The implications are huge, the calendar means little, but the fact that they are working on such things means volumes.

-Pi

Link to original article is broken.

Nah... Microsoft Exchange is too entrenched & just too damn good. Apple's piecemeal approach can never unseat Microsoft in the enterprise. Never. Let's face it, folks... it just isn't going to happen. That's not a really horrible thing, though -- Steve Jobs has his eye on the consumer, and he's winning over the consumer. But he will NEVER EVER EVER win over the enterprise customers. It just isn't going to happen in our lifetime or the next lifetime. Sorry. But consumers are where all the real fun is to be had!

For a small company like us in France this sort of colllabrative tool built into Os X server will save us a bundle on our meagre IT budget. I know there are progs out there that share calendar data but take up some time in managing and are not centralised. I am the IT department, head chef, maintenance man etc etc and know there are plenty small companys that don't want to spend all day managing their IT infrastructure.....now if they can do it with the address book as well I'll be really happy.

this is where they should partner with Google

i think having an alternative to Exchange would be huge

I read that RoughlyDrafted all the time. He is good. He has lots of good articles about Apple.

@ MacBill - ..."It just isn't going to happen in our lifetime or the next lifetime."

Well not to diss you but lets check out the figures here, the average life span for a person in the "Western world" at the end of the Twentieth Century is about 77 years - and i am going to round this number down to 70 years, and then add half that figure - to come up with 105 years.

Apple are only 30 years old, and look what they have achieved so far in this nascent biz.

The Wright Brothers made their first powered and controlled flight in 1903 and by 1969 man was walking on the moon - only sixty-six years later.

So many many things are going to change, even by the end of my lifetime and I'm almost 48. The next 105 years will be so phenomenal, if not worrying, that my head spins thinking about it.

The computer enterprise market is still a glint in the consumers eyes.

Hang in there buddy, plenty of time for a change in the weather......

this is true and has been known for sometime, why is this just making news? It will also have a new wiki server as part of Leopard server, it's all very easy to setup also and the blogs even easier. Hoorah for whole IT deparments who total a number of 1 (like me, lol). Who cares if MS continues to win enterprise wars, let apple go for the consumers.

Simple1 : I knew about the iCal server, but the Wiki is very cool.

iCal Server

Wiki Server

Microsoft's Exchange product is very entrenched in IT infrastructure, and many competitors - including IBM - have not yet broken through.

So if the likes of these industry heavyweights have yet to make a dent, what hope is there for an open source calendar server?

There's a long, long way to go before Apple will have a credible (i.e. it works) and viable (i.e. you won't get fired for installing it) solution to compete with Exchange.

So show me. I'll believe it when I see it.

Now that's something I'm interested in....

Zimbra already runs on OS X Server and offers a real alternative to Exchange.

Marcus is on the right lines.

Apple's servers will be very tempting for smaller businesses that need to be largely self-sufficient. Currently the usual solution is to employ specialist IT staff, often a small department.

By providing a solution that saves salaries, Apple can have a beneficial effect on the bottom line. Larger companies have IT departments that are too tied to Microsoft to make that sort of jump at the moment, but things might change if Apple starts making significant inroads into small and medium businesses.

That guy is really smart @ RD.
Does a lot of research or just knows too much about
apple and tech in general. Good read.

Hey, this advancement also is about moving data to and from the iPhone and the next generation iPod. Think of the big picture here -- integrated hardware and software.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple use this as a part of more affordable home and small business servers. Calendar Server technology is applicable in these markets as well. Already, Home servers are needed now for multimedia storage (music, still photos, home video, and commercial movies and TV shows). Such a tool also could be used to help schedule automated iTunes Store downloads or HDTV recordings on a Calendar -- should Apple ever add a DVR capability to the Mac.

But if it is successful, the iPhone will drive the need for the Calendar Server.

Always a favorite. Roughly drafted...heheh....

That would be so insightful if I hadn't written the same thing already back in August when Leopard was announced:
http://www.innerexception.com/2006/08/apples-leopard-attacks-part-1.html

For those talking about home and small business, servers. Don't forget that Apple's new AirPort Extreme Base Station allows users to plug in a large USB2 hard drive ( or multiple drives and printers via a hub ) in order to provide shared networked storage which will be available to all users on that network.

Some of the features in Leopard look as though they'll be able to make excellent use of that sort of ability.

One of the thing that always impresses me with Apple is how all the individual parts work together and form a system that works wonderfully together.

This really isn't anything new. Apple talked about all of this at WWDC and even has it posted on their website. The only thing new here is the assumption (rightly so) that they are doing this to go after MES.

I agree - great article.

Not too sure if Apple providing an alternative to Exchange will work. Most people want their machines in integrate with what they have.

Still we'll haveto see what Leopard has for us and what Apple have come up with.

I love people who say, 'This can NEVER happen'. *LOL* How many of you can predict disruptive technology emergence? Oh yeah, that's right -- none of you. How's that crystal ball, Mr. Know-it-all? Broken, as usual. And the people who say, 'Show me, and I won't believe it until it's here' -- they're just as intellectually dishonest. Go to the links, you lazy dingleberry, and see for yourself. I mean, sheesh!

Think roll-your-own "push mail" to the IPhone for the SOHO.

Forget the large enterprises (say 1,000+ employees). It will be a decade or more before Apple gets any significant penetration there. (Apple effectively gave up that market in the early to mid 90s.)

What Apple is after are the SOHOs and SMEs. With this product they become much more viable in these markets. Expext Apple to make strides here.

Unfortunately, Apple's new (802.11n) Airport Extreme base station lacks gigabit Ethernet for LAN networking, and this cripples it for use in new generation home offices. And a faster FireWire 400 drive would have been a much better choice than USB, though I realize Windows converts might appreciate this...

I'm hoping Apple might release an Airport Extreme Pro with these capabilities...

If this new server will talk effectively to Exchange through iCal and integrates with Mail and allows me to see other Exchange calendars in iCal (and my IT department miraculously decides to implement it), then I can ditch Entourage and I'm a happy camper. Otherwise, I have to stick with Entourage, for those very reasons.

BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots: "Go to the links, you lazy dingleberry, and see for yourself."

Hey, do you believe everything you read? If so, you need to bust your own skull for drinking the Kool-Aid so easily.

My point was that even if Apple bundles and supports a calendar server, that is NOT likely to pose any significant competition to Exchange's entrenched position.

Why? Because Exchange is more than a calendar server, and well-funded companies like IBM and others have tried to break Exchange's dominance without success.

A few customers, probably in the small and medium enterprise market, may very well adopt Apple's calendar server, if and when it ships.

But that is hardly likely to pose any serious challenge to Exchange's success with Fortune 1000 companies. And if you belive otherwise, then you're a moron and your own skull should be in pieces.

For you nay sayers, please read the article by Daniel Eran at roughlydrafted.com

He has addressed most of your arguments.

I would say Daniel Eran is arguably the best Apple analyst out there. He undesrtands the history and the technology of the industry not just Apple and comes up with amazing essays.

Steve Awesome: So if a fanboy like Daniel Eran writes something, it must come true?

Why not? I'm sure all the CIOs in Fortune 1000 companies are thinking the same thing right now: Eran's a genius, so let's stop making up our own minds and just follow what Eran says.

Just pointing out how silly it is to assume that people who make decisions will think the same way an analyst does.

I have been saying this for over a year.

In order for Apple to threaten M$ they need to make middle wear.
An attack on back orifice is just the thing......

Just My $0.02

Apple will win over small business. I know because I use them in my high end construction business. It would be great to have more software alternatives like this Calendar server. We use .Mac now and piecemeal solutions together. If they ever get a total solution though, it would be great. I won't use Microsoft.

Uh - wow!

If we actually get a real alternative to Exchange, the next thing is to push it hard. That means advertising on tv, and mailing advertising to all IT depts. everywhere. I expect to see lots of mail come to our IT department hounding them to look to alternatives to Exchange.

People, stop creaming in your pants. The MDN headline is very misleadiing. Apple isn't going to displace Exchange anytime soon.

Yes, some percentage of small and medium business - percentage wise, probably in the single digits or low teens - might adopt Apple's calendar server, if and when it ships.

But even a fanboy like Eran admits that "Obviously, there are not many large Enterprise organizations that have standardized on Notes or Exchange that will suddenly jump ship to Apple’s server offerings this year."

So feel free to dream on about replacing Exchange in your own company with Apple's future offerings (which remain vapor ware as of today). But unless you're a small or medium company, it's not going to happen, and Exchange isn't going to fall this year or next or the one after that.

And MDN: Get a clue about writing more accurate headlines.

MacBill

Nah... Microsoft Exchange is too entrenched & just too damn good. Apple's piecemeal approach can never unseat Microsoft in the enterprise. Never. Let's face it, folks... it just isn't going to happen.

Sorry MacBill, but you are wrong. Apple has a hammer lock on certain segments of the computer requiring population and those people will leap at a chance to go with an all Apple solution.

There is also nothing piecemeal about Apple's offerings. They have the superior hardware/software integration their clients love, and they have the power of Open Source to deliver solutions on timescales Microsoft can never match. Education is a huge market, and working with as many schools as I have I know it's all Macs in the classrooms and WinPCs in the office. And while one part time guy can look after a school full of Macs, it takes one dedicated IT guy to keep a dozen WinPCs and a server running.

Offer them the chance to go All Mac, All the Time, and it's a done deal.

Apple's products will change everything. The foremost reason being because they already have...

I thought Lotus Notes (IBM) was more used in enterprises than Exhcange, anyone has figures on this.

Apple is going to have a tremendously hard road with large Enterprise deployments, but I don't think that is where they think they can have a big impact. SMBs, SMBs, SMBs! Easy deployment, no IT department, fixed cost.

@Macbill

Exchange Server is a very comprehensive offering - but it is too comprehensive for most small to medium businesses who don't need the advanced multi-server networking features of Exchange. It is also expensive unless you buy it as part of small business server - which is horribly complex to set up and run despite all the efforts by MS to make it simpler. After 13 years of running Exchange in my business, I am migrating to OS/X server for mail, file and print sharing. Its just so much easier to set up and run - and of course its more secure and I am happy to connect my OS/X server to the network without virus software protection (I ran Symantec Norton AV for 12 mths until the licence expired and I printed the report which said it had found 0 viruses in 12mths...)

Most larger enterprises, and even smaller ones, run Exchange as a standalone application. This makes it vulnerable, especially at upgrade time, to a cheaper, simpler solution on OS/X.

Be scared Microsoft. Be very, very scared... Bit by bit, niche by niche, the end of the Microsoft era is upon us. And before anyone accuses me of being an Apple fanboy - I am relatively new to Mac; have 30 years in this industry, MCSE certifications (very out of date I will confess), and 8 Windows NT/2000/2003 servers in my business.

If I could move my whole business to Apple today I would. Instead, I am replacing servers one by one - starting with Exchange - to avoid having to upgrade the O/S and Application at huge expense to acquire features I will never use.

I'm actually amazed to say this but this is an awesome article. Great find. Thanks.

Seriously, if the language were tweaked and edited very slightly and some citations for the numbers were added (and a few more numbers for comparison), you've got the beginnings of an executive summary of an IT restructuring proposal. I can't wait for the next article.