Apple's X11

Something I don't think Apple emphasises enough about OS X is the availability of an X11 server out of the box. In fact, X11 is not even installed by default. You have to select it as an optional extra component.

Click on image for 1024x768 version.

While OS X (I'm still stuck on Panther) has become my favorite desktop platform, I still use Debian Linux (Sarge) on my other computers, including my webserver. Pictured above is a local box named vega. Right now it's half busy recomputing Xeno's Xoom in 1280x720 resolution and half idle. Don't worry about the spare CPU, it will be put to use soon enough.

As you can see, applications running remotely on vega can have their displays on my Power Book G4. I can also do the same with my webserver. The data is going over an SSH tunnel using X11 forwarding, so I am not giving up any security for the convenience.

It's not all perfect though. X11 isn't a very light weight protocol. As a result, drawing can be quite sluggish. I generally don't bother with X11 to my webserver because that only has a few T1 lines to carry the traffic. But it's usable over a LAN. The other minor issue is visible with xeyes. On a standard X11 server such as Xfree86, there is no frame around the eyes. Apple's X11.app draws a frame around every window.

Nevertheless, this is nice functionality to have out of the box. I am still more of a Linux user than an OS X user in many ways so it is a boon to have OS X play so well with Linux.