Travel Technology - Technology Awards: 2005

Not specifically about travel tech, but probably of interest to many who hang out here: Infoworld magazine has just announced its 2006 (for 2005, of course) "Technology of the Year" awards. Among them:

Best Enterprise Server: IBM eServer OpenPower 710
Best Industry Standard Server: HP ProLiant DL585
Most Innovative Server: Sun Fire T2000
Best Blade System: ClearCube PC Blade System
Best Workstation: Apple Power Mac G5 Quad
Best Server Operating System: Mac OS X Server v10.4
Best Client Operating System: Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger

Since Inforworld is mostly about enterprise-level computing, they didn't give awards for personal systems of any kind even though enterprises, obviously, buy and use them. Other awards were in categories such as networking, storage, and collaboration software. The complete list is here. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/01/02/01FEtoyawards_1.html?s=feature)

Looks more like a who's who of companies that paid Infoworld the most ad revenue...

Naming MacOS the best server OS is just silly. Same for a client operating system. No enterprise in their right mind would implement MacOS as a large scale client OS.

Looks more like a who's who of companies that paid Infoworld the most ad revenue...

Naming MacOS the best server OS is just silly. Same for a client operating system. No enterprise in their right mind would implement MacOS as a large scale client OS.
Without wanting to get into the overworked Mac-Windows-Linux religious debate, you might want to read the article behind the OS awards (http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/01/02/01FEtoyos_1.html?s=feature). It explains the basis for their choice, which is based on technological advances during 2005. And Infoworld is hardly a hotbed of Mac fanatics.

odd that they didn't mention anything related to mobile software: mobilization of enterprise applications, crm, pim, vertical apps, etc...

Without wanting to get into the overworked Mac-Windows-Linux religious debate, you might want to read the article behind the OS awards (http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/01/02/01FEtoyos_1.html?s=feature). It explains the basis for their choice, which is based on technological advances during 2005. And Infoworld is hardly a hotbed of Mac fanatics.

I did read it, and I read Infoworld every now and then (they won't stop sending it). Lets put it this way; that magazine is not what it used to be.

odd that they didn't mention anything related to mobile software: mobilization of enterprise applications, crm, pim, vertical apps, etc...

Not really, it is just like most of their articles; put together on a rainy afternoon.

Not really, it is just like most of their articles; put together on a rainy afternoon.
I have to agree with ScottC on this one. The quality has definitely gone out of this rag. I have never, ever encountered a Mac OS on a server in the business world (note, I have never done any work for Apple).

It is funny that no matter how many times I decline to complete a "renewal" card I continue to receive this and other tech rags in the mail.

yep, we get infoworld, too.

'Have to say, when I do read it, I don't recall Apple advertising much in it. OTOH, I see HP, Dell, MS, et al with at least one ad per issue without fail.

With the introduction of the xserve and xserve raid and x11 support, more large businesses have considered and/or purchased apple servers. They are actually very good values, usually quite competitive with their Windows counterparts and often quite a bit cheaper. However, they won't work for every environment. Options are still somewhat limited, but what they do they do well and cheaply.

I have seen some companies switch from windows/linux to OS X from the server on down to the clients. They've been happy with the results.

However, you're right. These companies are few and far between. Most large companies are entrenched in Windows and couldn't switch even if they wanted to. The OS X boxes that one does see are generally machines used by the staff, not as servers.

Still, the fact that some companies have even considered OS X server hardware -- and that the hardware out there is worth considering -- is significant imo.

Still, the fact that some companies have even considered OS X server hardware -- and that the hardware out there is worth considering -- is significant imo.

I once considered buying a Ford, that does not make Ford a good brand.

Considering something and not purchasing it means the company found a compelling reason NOT to purchase it, and given Apples marketshare in the server segment I think a lot of companies found a reason NOT to purchase Apple.

The reasons more companies don't use Apple servers generally have nothing to do with their OS - which is what this award was for. They have to do with their staff's and potential new hires' existing knowledge, the availability of multiple hardware sources, dependence on applications that use proprietary Microsoft interfaces and things like that. (Easier support can be a negative. How many MIS managers want to offer "Hey, boss, let's switch to this product so I can have a smaller department reporting to me?")

To relate this to the imperfect car analogy: if that Ford had a fantastic engine, it could legitimately receive awards for "best engine of 2005," even if the rest of the car gave you reasons not to buy (or even consider) it.

OS X is Unix based right?

OS X is Unix based right?

yes, it is a freebsd variant I think.