| Related Stories |
| WWDC: Notes From the Floor WWDC: Apple Surprises, Apple Delays WWDC: Day 2 Digest WWDC: What Is It? |
People continue to chew on the pushed-back release date for the final version of OS X; while the release is being spun as a generally good thing if it means a more solid final product, there is, as one columnist warned, the risk that “the titles Copland and Mac OS X will begin to sound awfully similar.”
Now that Apple’s had a chance to wow developers with the keynote and the closed-door demo, they’re stepping back and letting third-party companies wrestle for the hearts and dollars of Mac developers. Since one surefire way to win friends is to cut prices, Voodoo Server did just that. The tool, which works in concert with Metrowerks CodeWarrior, is targeted toward the folks who like tracking revisions made to their software.
Another way to win the attentions of developers is to show them cool things: LaCie did that by previewing their high-performance rewriteable DVD drives. The drives, which will be out this summer, come equipped with a FireWire interface, thus permitting users to plug them into the FireWire ports on their Macs and begin using the drive without an elaborate setup.
Alternately, some developers simply want support. Fortunately, Mac-based network managers are going to start to get it. Apple is expanding and overhauling its Professional Services, a.k.a. iServices, to provide system integration support for complex products like WebObjects and QuickTime Streaming Server. This announcement is significant because it’s a sign that Apple’s beginning to regard the business community as a market to be supported with the same fervor as their educational and creative professional markets.
The biggest news for those following WWDC news is the all-WWDC Quick Links page MacWEEK pulled together; it’s worth looking at to see how other media outlets are covering WWDC. Be sure to also check out the WWDC coverage areas on MacWEEK and MacCentral.