Apple's OS X 10.4, codenamed "Tiger," was released in desktop and server editions last Friday. Alongside more heralded additions to the company's Unix-based operating system, including the desktop search program Spotlight, came the introduction of Jabber.
Desktop Macintosh users who use iChat, Apple's IM client, gained the option to access accounts on Jabber servers. On the server side, Tiger shipped with "iChat Server," a turnkey IM server built around Jabberd 1.4, with some enhancements from Apple engineers.
While not all of Apple's offering has been well received by existing Jabber users, and at least one analyst isn't sure whether the company's entry into the IM server business will change the overall landscape of enterprise IM anytime soon, Apple employees and Jabber developers are generally optimistic about the company's adoption of XMPP (define) .
Secure Chat for Internal Networks
iChat's introduction of Jabber functionality brings to three the total number of IM options for Apple users. Previous versions of iChat supported access to AOL's AIM network via either standard AOL user logins or Apple's .Mac service; or "Bonjour" (previously known as Rendezvous) messaging, which allows users on the same network segment the opportunity to chat independent of a central server.
Apple has a reputation for simplifying user interfaces, so the addition of Jabber functionality as a separate chat option (as opposed to rolling it into Bonjour messaging) seemed a little out of character for the company. Apple has been using XMPP to drive Bonjour since the feature was first introduced, without exposing Jabber functionality until now.
By having a separate Jabber buddy list and discrete access to Jabber servers, said Zelenka, "users will know which [servers] are secure and which ones aren't," which goes hand-in-hand with the primary goal of iChat Server: "[iChat Server's] big focus was to provide secure IM."
Shepherding users into iChat Server networks also increases the user management options many enterprise IM management tools are stressing. According to Zelenka, Apple's implementation of Jabber's server includes integration with Open Server, the company's directory and network authentication services architecture.
Open Server offers the use of Open LDAP and kerberos, and provides an interface with other directory services based on LDAP, NIS, or Microsoft's Active Directory, among others. Through user and group management, Zelenka said, access can be granted or denied to specific internal Jabber servers. That sort of internal access control, sometimes referred to as "ethical firewalling," provides a way to ensure that regulatory compliance concerns can be handled by restricting internal employee communications over official channels.
Though iChat users with an account on one of the many public Jabber servers can still use their existing account, the program offers no way to create a new account. That's reflective of the emphasis on iChat Server: "It's more of an in-house IM system," Zelenka said, noting that Apple's assumption is that administrators will have created a user account on an internal server for the new Jabber user.
The Interoperability Door is Only Open a Crack
Apple chose to leave a few other pieces of Jabber functionality out of its client as well: Though it's able to use them if they've already been set up on another Jabber client, there's no option within iChat to do the service discovery needed to access Jabber gateways.
Gateways allow server administrators to provide a conduit for their users to access other IM networks via Jabber servers. Common gateways in use on public Jabber servers include portals to AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and ICQ. Through these gateways, Jabber users have access to their buddy lists on other services. Gateways have had a rocky history, owing largely to periodic changes in the proprietary IM networks they access: A change in protocol sends gateway developers back to the drawing board and breaks compatibility with Jabber servers until a new version of the gateway catches up to the changes.
In chatrooms and on bulletin boards, Macintosh users and the Macintosh-curious are buzzing about Tiger, the newest version of Apple Computer's Mac OS X, version 10.4. The open-source kernel, or base of the system, "Darwin", plus all the features of Apple's proprietary Quartz user interface features, software, and system utilities have passed through their next phase of upgrading and scrutiny, and have been shipping for more than a week now.

Apple reports that Tiger, the code name for this release, includes over 200 new features and new versions of application software such as e-mail client Mail, web browser Safari, and multi-person audio/video/text messaging client iChat. Entirely new features have also been rolled out in this release:
* Spotlight integrates search in the core of the OS, and utilizes meta-data in its algorithm.
* Dashboard provides a sandbox for widgets, handy mini-applicatios like a calculator, sticky notes, and a dictionary, made available at the stroke of a key.
* Automator, a graphical scripting interface that enables non-programmers to automate repetitive tasks.

One user of the new operating system made this comment:





 IRC chat snippet:   





   
 Amgine> so... how is it?   
    
pHatidic> It's like being in the future.   
   



Industry analysts have pointed to both the advances and the failures of the new version already. Many of the bigger technology advances have gained high praise, but, they point out, Microsoft Longhorn is also expected to have many of these advantages when it is released, expected in late 2006. And inter-operability, long a strength of Macintosh to work with other operating systems and networks, has had a few bugs—such as reports of issues with Server Message Block (SMB) and Active Directory. Another issue for some is the fact that Cisco System's VPN does not work with Tiger. Cisco has promised a compatible release before the end of the month.

The biggest technology breakthrough is Spotlight. Using meta-data, searches are fast and easy and very thorough, and the results of the search can be used over and over again and will automatically update and change as you use your system. Search queries on a user's data can be saved as "Smart folders" without ever moving files on the hard drive, so you can collect all your photos, receipts, and webpages about your summer vacation, for example, while still keeping things ordered on your hard drive. According to a review by ''PC World'', this alone is worth the US$129.

Still, even Macintosh support sites such as Mac News suggest waiting for the first "point" release (10.4'''.1''') before jumping in, which is expected in late May. Apple Computer has been on a semi-regular release pattern since moving to Mac OS X, with four versions released in 5 years. This constant development program has occasionally been accused of being aimed at forcing users to constantly pay out for expensive new software, but the returns of regular releases have been quick bug fixes and leading edge technology.