MacMini and Leopard server

So much happened since I last posted on the blog!

We purchased a Macmini to test Leopard Server and its new groupware features, and compare it to Windows 2003 server with Exchange and Sharepoint.

The Macmini is an amazing PC. For just £360, it is an incredible value. Up until now, we have set aside a budget of £450 per PC that we purchase (including monitor). We are talking branded PC from HP or Lenovo. Nothing fancy but good runner, with adequate specifications.
The MacMini is at least just as good, only smaller and incredibly quieter. Coupled with a a USB keyboard and mouse (or with an adaptor), and a standard monitor, it does the business, and more.

What's not to like about Leopard server? I have installed and manager Windows server for many years, from NT 3.5 to W2003 and I have installed Exchange from its humble beginnings to Entreprise 2003. I liked SBS 2003 most and thought it was a nice and easy product. That was until I started dealing with Leopard Server. As an experienced techie, I found it easy to understand and manage; very intuitive. The most amazing is that, for the first time, I could have a truly integrated platform, with Mac and Windows XP clients feeding from Open Directory as if - in the case of XP - they were on a Windows domain.

The thing that blew my mind, as an IT Manager, is the possibility of having any mainstream client platform happily working. Linux and Evolution, Windows and Thunderbird/Lightning, and of course Macs and Mail/iCal. And that is not all. A user can have multiple calendars on the server and have them all displayed at the same time, which is not easy or intuitive with Exchange/Outlook. The cherry on the cake was the ability to subsribe to a group calendar, and view all the calendars at once in a clear way.

As an Administrator I was so taken aback by the ease of setting up anti-virus/anti-spam software for all emails. I was showing all the tech guys how I could perform all admin tasks with only 2 applications (Server Manager and Workgroup Manager), as opposed to Active Directory, Exchange, IIS, DHCP, DNS, etc. (I know they can all be found together in a custom Management console, but it's extra work, and it's not as nicely laid-out)

I would describe my Leopard server configuration 'cheeky'. I made it part of the AD domain, could access all the users and groups through Workgroup Manager, and set them up with all the resources they needed from Leopard - from email and calendar to file share. By playing with DNS and DHCP I was able to create a completely new 'domain' that the original Windows 2003 servers knew nothing about, yet clients were moving back and forth between servers without the faintest idea that they were actually talking to a Mac server not running Exchange or Sharepoint.

Having proven my point, the Macmini is back to being a client PC, running Leopard and NeoOffice. As I don't need my calendars on the server, I use Apple Mail because of its useful utilities, and iCal because it's neat. I tested Darwine to run Office 2003, which I thought was OK (I prefer NeoOffice).

There are hurdles, still. The first one is the fact that Sage won't run under Darwine - even when it seems it installed correctly. If anyone knows how to make it work, I would be eternelly grateful, to hear from you. The second issue I have is an issue with Excel; NeoOffice does a great job, but some of the finance spreadsheet are quite complex and some links are not automatically updated and cells will give an error (ERR:504 on a SUMIF function with arrays); this is a real show stopper. Finally, we have Infotec printer (2525 and 2838) that are PCL/PXL only and use a user code for printing; the ppd file does not seem to work properly enough to allow printing.

However, overall, the combination of Macmini and Leopard makes for a more productive day and more enjoyable computing experience. That is invaluable.