Apple has updated its Mac OS X Web page. Besides details on the next generation operating system, a display that counts down the days (three, as if you didn’t know) until OS X goes on sale, and a list of in-store promotions, the revamped site also gives details on Apple iServices.
Apple’s iServices are designed to help you take advantage of a range of customized and personalized technical services. The iServices technical training provides training for system administrators managing OS X systems and developers building applications with Cocoa and WebObjects. Cocoa is the object-oriented development environment. WebObjects is Apple’s application server framework for the Web.
Apple is also developing exams and certification programs that the company said “will ensure the expertise of technical coordinators and system administrators of Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server systems.” The exams and programs are “coming soon.”
Instructor-led training can be held in an Apple iServices Training Center or on-site at your business. Apple said the training balances theory with hands-on, practical exercises. The courses are developed and maintained by Apple’s own curriculum authors and purportedly incorporate real-world experience gathered from Apple engineering, consulting engagements, and technical support calls.
Training classes are offered across North America and Europe and are taught by Apple iServices and certified training partners. Courses in the current curriculum include “Mac OS X Administration,” “Cocoa Development,” “Programming WebObjects,” and “WebObjects.”
The revamped OS X site also promotes development tools. Those tools include Apple’s own Project Builder, an integrated development environment for OS X, as well as third party tools such as CodeWarrior, Absoft Fortran Toolets, REALBasic, Java development tools, and others. There’s also info on the Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop (MPW), a product designed specifically for professional Mac software developers. It brings together a collection of Macintosh core development tools designed to support C, C++, and assembly-language programmers who are writing software for Mac OS 7.x/8.x/9.x.
Finally, the OS X site lets you take a tour of Mac OS X and offers links to downloadable software (some of it still in beta and even alpha testing) such as LeTarot (a card game), ICQ (a chat program), Web Devil (for downloading Web sites), and Pixel Toy, which creates unique, vivid special effects that can incorporate animated text, images, sound waves, and more.