Turning The Mac Into The Ultimate Corporate Client
By Paul Shields

In order to sell to the corporate world, Apple needs to deliver a machine that makes sense to corporate users. This week I will take a look at the key functions and features that need to be added to the Mac OS in order to make it the ultimate corporate client. Where appropriate, I'll point out solutions available today from third-party vendors. They are in no particular order, just a few examples that I have direct experience with and enjoy using. The focus is turning the Mac OS into the OS for the corporate desktop. Apple has an opportunity to make inroads into the corporate desktop, while corporations await the release of NT 5.

Native SMB/CIFS Support

Native SMB/CIFS support would give Mac OS clients the ability to communicate directly with Windows NT/95 machines. We all know how bad Service For Macintosh is under Windows NT Server, and there is no direct link between Mac OS and Windows 95 machines. Native SMB File & Print services would help stabilize the Mac in corporations because it would facilitate direct file-sharing between Windows and Mac OS users.

Native SMB File and Print services were planned for Rhapsody, and will hopefully make it into Mac OS X. Appleshare is being updated to support access from Windows 95/NT clients, so Apple has begun to acknowledge the importance of File and Print integration, they just need to carry it to the desktop.

Available Third-Party Solutions

Dave ­ Thursby Software Systems

TCP/IP Client Tools

The base OS should include a standard TCP/IP toolset. With Internet Explorer or Communicator as the Web Browser standard, Apple should focus on a basic set of connectivity and test tools. These should include utilities like Ping, DNS Lookup, Telnet, FTP, etc. The development costs of these tools is low; in fact, viable third-party tools already exist that Apple could purchase and integrate.

Again, with Rhapsody and the BSD tools, Apple was set to release an OS that supplied command-line versions of all of these tools. Hopefully, the command-line versions carry forward into Mac OS X. But the Mac OS promises so much more with its great graphical interface that Apple should make GUI versions of all of these tools standard in the OS.

Available Third-Party Solutions

AGNetTools ­ AG Group
Fetch
IPNetMonitor
BetterTelnet

Performance Monitoring Tools

One of the things IS professionals struggle with on a regular basis is making decisions on whether to upgrade, expand, or replace a given system. Performance data can be a valuable tool in making these decisions. Neither Apple nor any of its ISVs currently provide comprehensive performance monitoring tools. Things that one should be able to monitor include; Disk I/O, Memory Utilization, Paging Activity, and CPU Activity. These capabilities are standard on both Windows NT and UNIX workstations. They should also be standard on the Mac and we should be able to monitor performance over the network similar to Windows NT.

Apple has made no indications about future possibilities in this direction. Mac OS X with its Mach core and BSD toolset may provide some local tools for performance monitoring, but still no good network capable tools.

Available Third-Party Solutions

None

Better Third-Party Drive Support

Apple should get off it high horse on this one, and start supporting a wider variety of third-party drives as part of the standard OS. It is ridiculous that there has to be a variety of third-party tools to get something that should be part of the base OS. It limits flexibility of the Mac OS and in some IS shops can be a show stopper. Many IS shops want to keep their third-party software load as small as possible, but still get some hardware flexibility. Apple is not in the drive business and thus has no interests to protect. It is a short-sighted decision that hurts their reputation. This practice inflates the price of Mac hard drives because the vendors must license or develop a formating utility to include with the drive.

AU/X supported third-party drives, so the precedent exists. Although, nobody in Apple seems to be getting the message that this needs to be a standard part of the Mac OS.

Available Third-Party Solutions

A variety of standard tools exist for the Mac OS. Most third-party drives come with an OEM or custom built tool.

Desktop Management Software

Apple should supply and support a standard suite of tools for managing desktops. They should also be working with all of the major network management vendors such as Tivoli, CA-Unicenter, and SMS to ensure that Mac OS support is a standard part of their management suite. SNMP support for the Mac OS is also a must, and thankfully it may be coming in Mac OS 8.5 and Open Transport 2.0. They should also continue development of their own Apple Network Assistant Toolkit for smaller Macintosh only sites.

Apple should also investigate and implement hardware management features such as Wake-On-LAN. These would allow an IS manager greater flexibility and will play an important role in the development of thin-clients.

Available Third-Party Solutions

Asset Insight
SMS 1.2 - Microsoft
ANAT ­ Apple Computer

Application Development Support

This is probably Apple's weakest area and one of the most important in corporations. The ability to develop and deploy corporate applications is becoming more important everyday. Application development can range from simple Visual Basic applications to complicated and involved development projects using tools like PowerBuilder, or Developer/2000. As Java continues to spread, Apple must also provide a stable, robust, and fast Java VM.

Recently, it was announced that PowerBuilder would no longer be updated for the Mac. Oracle's Developer/2000 is also lagging, and most Java development tools are updated on the PC months before they are on the Mac OS. Apple needs to be working with these companies and using their products as a means into corporations. Their recent announcement of licensing the Symantec Java VM will help as long as they can deliver an integrated product by late summer. Much longer and they will miss the Java bandwagon.

Available Third-Party Solutions

PowerBuilder
Omnis 7 - Blyth
RealBasic - Real Software
Visual CafÈ - Symantec

Paul Shields has been supporting and using Macintosh computers since 1985. He is currently working at a major telecommunications firm supporting a mixed installed base of Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX workstations. He has been dealing with the issues of integrating the Mac into the corporate world for the last five years. For more information please visit his website at http://www.cyberramp.net/~pshields/

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February 09, 2010