Integrating Mac OS X into Your Enterprise

Mac OS X can be integrated into your enterprise in a number of ways, and it fits nicely in many places. In other areas, however, it will be harder for OS X to interoperate. The answers to a number of questions will bear upon your ability to easily integrate Mac OS X. For instance, in which industry do you work? Is security an issue? And, of course, do you have to coexist in an environment with Windows machines?

A temptation exists to attack installations as an administrator who must change everything. Since any experienced Unix administrator is going to want to see what is happening below the GUI, the first thing that user will look for is the CLI (command line interface). If you're not an experienced Unix administrator, then you'll either be confused or bored by what you find in the CLI. Yet you might still have a reason to use it. For instance, if you want to compile a program and you have its source code, then you'll need to do it in the CLI. Our lead network engineer, for instance, compiled SSH immediately so that he could securely connect to his Mac OS X machine remotely.

Still, it's not that simple. I found I couldn't easily set my computer's host name, and it took some investigating to figure out how that might be done. Even then, I wondered whether I was going to break something in the underpinnings of Mac OS X. As I was making these changes in the Unix layer that lies beneath the Aqua GUI, I felt that, as hard as it was, Apple probably didn't want me doing this. Using the GUI tools didn't reflect a change at the Unix shell level. When I opened a terminal window and typed 'hostname,' I received 'localhost' in response. I found I could force the host name to change by using 'sudo hostname <hostname>' but only after editing /etc/hostconfig and /etc/hosts could I permanently change the host name. If you're compiling a program that is host-name dependent, this will be important.

If your users are not tech-savvy and you're just worried about getting the systems set up for use, then Mac OS X will not really impose many changes. True, many of your users will be frustrated by flipping back and forth between the Classic and OS X GUIs. If they can handle that and move steadily toward the Aqua GUI, then they should be able to better handle the transition -- especially as more OS X applications become available. Eventually, using OS 9.X will become history. This point became very clear to me as I quickly began to transition to Mac OS X in my daily routine.

For example, it was a breeze to integrate Mac OS X with the very same Windows 2000 servers that previously served my Mac OS 9.1 client machines. Everything was basically the same. Some initial confusion resulted, since the network tools were in a different place (no more Apple Menu, Control Panels or Chooser), but the learning curve was minor.

Application Usability

Anyone who has paid attention to Apple's Web site propaganda can see that there are a few hundred applications available for Mac OS X. Unfortunately, they aren't the tried-and-true ones that we use each day. Microsoft Office, for instance, will not be available until the fall. Meanwhile, Adobe has only recently committed to OS X development and has yet to give release dates. Given this, I had little choice but to use my favorite Mac applications in Mac OS X's "Classic" mode. Fortunately, I was happily surprised by its stability. Office 98 and Office 2001 ran just fine (I wrote part of this article in Word 98 under OS X Classic mode). My calendaring program, Meeting Maker 6.08, ran just like it always did. In fact, almost every original Mac OS 9.1-friendly application worked without issue. The only problem I ran into was with Timbuktu. Leaving its extension active in 9.1 caused the Classic environment to hang as Timbuktu started up. It took several reboots -- one without extensions booting in non-Classic mode -- to clear things up.

Aside from that, I was able to effectively perform all of my Mac OS 9.1 tasks after installing Mac OS X. My mainstay applications, which include Microsoft Office, Meeting Maker 6.08, Explorer 5.1 and OS X Mail, kept me moving along as if nothing had changed in my computing environment. When the new version of Microsoft Office and Meeting Maker come out, I will be able to just install them and let go of the Mac OS 9.1 legacy. I'm expecting to be at that point before the end of the year.

I also tried a copy of Citrix MetaFrame to see if it failed in "Classic" mode. It didn't crash, and it let me run PC applications remotely on my test Terminal Server. If your organization is already leveraging the advantages (or disadvantages) of running PC applications remotely, this will certainly come as good news. Now, this may not be the same situation all users encounter, but such capabilities do give you a good idea of how far Apple has gone to make the environment very compatible. It did require me to boot back to Mac OS 9.1 for some installation procedures, but in the end I found I could spend my day in Mac OS X and work productively without incident.

Is Apple Ready for Its Piece of the Enterprise?

I don't think that Mac OS X is any more or any less ready for the enterprise than Mac OS 9.1. The same issues persist. I do feel, however, that it's a wonderful step in a new direction. A modern operating system with all-modern features and a new, more sensible GUI are all good things. Still, Apple needs to be forceful in rounding out its offering. With Mac OS X, the company needs to stop giving the impression that it only makes a client-end operating system. For instance, where is Mac OS X Server going and how does it fit in with the Mac OS X "Client?"

If Apple is to maintain any type of hold on its market share, it needs to offer a complete product set that allows easy management of Macs. Moreover, these Macs should, when necessary, coexist with Windows machines. This will instill confidence in developers and administrators alike. Fortunately, from what I've see with Mac OS X now and with Mac OS X Server 2.0 coming out soon, I think Apple is heading in this direction. Expect to hear more good news from Apple and to see an evaluation of Mac OS X Server 2.0 from UnixWorld in the future.