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Server Applications

Xtools

Company Page Home Page Release Notes Screen Shots License:
Commercial; $199

Current Version: 1.2 (March 9, 2003)

Tenon Intersystems the Xtools X Window server package for Mac OS X. From the Xtools web site: "Xtools is a new, built-from-the-ground-up, object-oriented, multi-threaded Cocoa application that takes full advantage of CoreGraphics and Quartz. Xtools is optimized for the velocity engine and multiple processors and supports hardware accelerated OpenGL. Xtools is not only a vehicle for displaying remote X11 client applications, but also for developing local X11 clients. The Xtools X11 libraries let developers build clickable X applications that can be minimized in the Dock. Xtools is based on open source industry standards and is tightly integrated with Mac OS X and Apple technologies."

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Also See . . .

Can't find what you're looking for? Try a search:

Also, if you have an older Mac, be sure to check out the "Classic" applications page for more options.

Finally, take a look at ALEMIA if you think you know that name of an application, but aren't quite sure.

Built Into Mac OS X

Mac OS X has a huge amount of TCP/IP-based server software built into it that I don't specifically cover here. Your "Sharing" Preference Pane allows you to enable and disable these services with a click of the mouse. The software running behind the scenes to provide many of these services is generally of the open source variety. The standard release of Mac OS X includes, among many others:

  • Apache httpd (web server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • Postfix (mail server; see Mac OS X Hints for more information).
  • tnftpd (FTP server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • OpenSSH (Secure Shell server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane via "Remote Login" but additionally configurable via selected applications listed on this page).
  • BIND (Domain Name System server; see Mac OS X Hints for more information).
  • Samba (Windows file sharing; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • XFree86 (X Window server; enabled via the "X11" application in your "Utilities" folder, if you elected to install it with Mac OS X).

Of course, Mac OS X Server includes many more, in addition to offering more recent versions of many of the above servers.

Related Links

Graham Orndorff has written a superb collection of articles on setting up email servers and secure email clients on Mac OS X.

Also Consider . . .

These are applications that are newer and of potential interest, but which I haven't yet selected for permanent inclusion. Have a look, and let me know if you think they deserve to be part of the permanent collection!