IDG IT publication InfoWorld features a cover article and several analysis pieces related to Apple in their August 15 edition, all available for online review or download via PDF. As is the publication’s general focus, InfoWorld looks specifically at what Apple has to offer the IT market in this new issue.
Editor Kevin McKean wrote a column called “The trials of Jobs,” and framed Apple’s move to IT as “the most challenging crusade of [Steve Jobs’] life: persuading IT to take Apple seriously.” McKean thinks it’s harder than it sounds, given IT departments’ habit of relegating Macs to video, graphic design and animation. He calls Apple’s latest Xserve systems and its complementary Xserve RAIDs as “as easy to manage as it is on the eye,” and said that Macs are priced competitively, especially considering the unlimited-user Mac OS X Server license.
P.J. Connolly examines the practicality and the drawbacks of Apple’s servers in more depth in a feature called “Apple RAIDs the enterprise,” and lauds the easy of use of the Xserve and its RAID system. Connolly suggests that the only question in the IT executive’s mind should be whether to buy now or wait for a G5 version.
Several other pieces penned by InfoWorld Test Center technical director Tom Yager continue the discussion. “Apple’s playing in the big leagues now” talks about Apple’s efforts with the G5, Xcode (the new development environment featured in Panther, the next release of Mac OS X), the value of Apple’s server offerings and some of the issues that Apple has to overcome to win the hearts and minds of IT professionals.
“A la mode: Key Apple add-ons” may be a cheesy pun at Apple’s expense, but Yager looks at Mac software and hardware including MySQL and PostGreSQL, Sybase’s ASE 12.5, what FireWire 800 brings to the table for IT users, and, incongruously, iSight and Final Cut Pro (iSight and iChat AV, said Yager, have “solid business potential”).
“Apple’s G5: More than a pretty face” examines the new pro desktop machine due out this month. Yager discusses some of the new Power Mac G5’s underpinning architectural features and benefits, including the 64-bit PowerPC 970 processor, and some of the issues that brings to the table — like the need for 64-bit-optimized applications and an operating system.
There’s more, too — visit the InfoWorld Web site for details.