Apple's Tiger not house trained, firms claim

Several companies say their networking software isn't compatible with Apple's new operating system, and some blame changes made to the kernel of Mac OS X.

A number of the products in question are VPN programs that allow a user to connect to a corporate network. Cisco Systems said last week that its VPN software was incompatible with Tiger, the latest version of the Mac OS that went on sale on Friday.

Other networking products are also affected, including two from Thursby Software. Thursby chief technology officer Paul Nelson said that with Tiger, Apple created a new set of kernel programming interfaces that change the way the operating system works - with software written directly to its kernel. The move rendered obsolete some long-standing Unix networking program methods, known as Berkeley protocol stacks.

Nelson said: "Now we have to go back and redesign our kernel extensions to work with Tiger, which is a major job for us."

The software maker hopes to have updated versions of its ADmitMac and DAVE products by August.

Microsoft is also reporting problems with the Virtual Switch networking feature of its Virtual PC software. Zero-configuration printing and the ability to launch PC programs via the dock are also impacted, it said.

A Microsoft representative commented: "Microsoft is working closely with Apple to address issues and will put out a patch within two to three months on www.microsoft.com/mac."

Other vendors have reported problems as well. Lobotomo Software reported Tiger-related problems with its IPSecuritas VPN software.

Equinux warned on its website that its VPN Tracker software also won't work properly with Tiger.

The company said: "In extensive tests we confirmed that Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger has a bug that seriously affects the VPN performance.

"Depending on the actual application, the VPN throughput under Tiger is about 50 to 75 per cent lower than under Mac OS X 10.3 Panther."

Equinux said it can't solve the problem, calling it a bug in the Tiger kernel. "However, we're closely working with Apple to deliver a fix soon," the company added.

Ina Fried writes for CNET News.com