A recent customer survey (of only 200 customers -- what are these surveys getting away with only 200 respondents?) claims that the iPhone 3GS has a 99% satisfaction rate. A full 99% of 200 polled iPhone customers claim that they are satisfied with their purchase, while 82% of them claimed they are "very satisfied." That's higher than previously, too: previous versions of the iPhone got a 73% satisfaction rating. You're probably not surprised by this, but guess what? People love their iPhones.

What don't they love about them? 8% said the phone wasn't compatible with their company's IT infrastructure. 41% still say the battery life isn't long enough for their tastes. And a little company called AT&T has drawn the most ire: 55% of respondents say the AT&T network was the worst feature of the iPhone 3GS. So there you go. This just in: ten of eleven Twitterers I just surveyed do like ice cream. That survey is probably just as shocking as the iPhone one, which is not much.

Still, quite a deal Apple has. Your product has almost unanimous satisfaction from customers, and the worst thing about it... is the fault of a completely separate company. Good deal indeed.

Seems a little redundant, doesn't it? What else would an app named Server Admin Remote do? Well anyway, if you're in the market for something to remotely administer your servers (to a point), particularly Mac OS X servers, this is one handy and powerful tool. View logs, enable services, even reboot the server all from your iPhone (or iPod touch). Plus, there's support for multiple server instances, which you switch between just like in Tweetdeck -- a quick swipe left or right does the trick.

Server Admin Remote (iTunes link) is currently $7.99. We're planning to have a more in-depth look later, so stay tuned.

This concludes our WWDC video series. Thanks to all the developers kind enough to stop by and show what they are doing. Your efforts make Apple's desktop and mobile platforms truly amazing.

Yesterday, amidst the SlingMobile débâcle and an OS update, Kerio Technologies released Kerio Mail MailServer 6.7. The mail and collaboration server, often used as a replacement for Exchange, has added several new features, including a few geared toward Mac users.

The Kerio Global Address List (GAL) is a new feature that provides a simple way to get address and contact info from clients like Outlook or Entourage. It syncs and authenticates with both Microsoft Active Directory and Apple Open Directory, as well as Kerio's own user directory. In any company, people join and leave the group, and users are often required to manually update their address books to add and remove entries. With GAL, it's a single directory in a single place, and changes are transparent for users. It supports Entourage, works with the iPhone and functions offline.

Kerio MailServer 6.7 also comes with an auto-configuration script for Entourage 2008, downloadable within the Kerio client, providing pre-configured account setup. There's support for private events in iCal, allowing users to maintain personal schedules without requiring a separate calendar application. AddressBook gets some additional love with support for synchronizing groups (which become Categories in Entourage).

Kerio has had good support for iPhone users for a while now. For non-iPhone mobile users, there's new support for viewing HTML emails on Nokia devices, as well as DataViz RoadSync compatibility.

The MailServer itself is now a certified VMWare appliance, and promotes compatibility with two new Linux distributions: Ubuntu 8 and Debian 5. CentOS is the preferred platform for running on VMWare. IT admins and users alike will appreciate the dramatically improved anti-spam engine, which has been optimized for multi-CPU use, parallel processing of email messages for large queues, improved heuristics and 13 layers of spam protection.

In addition to some of the previously available migration tools provided by Kerio, a new IMAP migration tool relieves what is undoubtedly one of the biggest headaches in switching mail servers: keeping your old mail. It's a cross-platform utility which moves messages, folders, accounts and domains from the old system to Kerio MailServer. The IMAP migration tool has been fully tested with OS X.

Kerio's pricing has remained the same with this release. Starting at $499 for 10 users, there's a range of options available for different configurations and add-ons, as well as subscription pricing. See Kerio's pricing page for more details.

I had to do some extensive testing before I got too excited, but after a conversation with the developers I'm pleased to announce that ExpanDrive 2.0 is out. We've mentioned it before, but to recap: ExpanDrive allows you to mount remote servers as drives directly accessible in Finder. With a completely rewritten (again) SFTP layer, the existing FTP support and new Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Solution) support, it's even more useful than the last time we mentioned it. One of the developers, Jeff Mancuso, mentioned to me back at the last WWDC that the S3 support was in the works; it's great to see it come to fruition.

In my testing, I found that a previously-existing S3 option, JungleDisk, can cause conflicts with ExpanDrive's S3 support. JungleDisk users should note that there are some issues, but they seem to clear up if you create vanilla buckets in your account and use those with ExpanDrive. I personally found that I was willing to give up JungleDisk entirely at this point, preferring this direct-mount with all of the perks, including a contextual menu in Finder for quickly setting public read/write permissions.

I can attest to the fact that it's faster, and that the S3 support is working (wonderfully, without JungleDisk). ExpanDrive 2.0 is a $39.95 purchase (well worth it if you deal with remote UNIX systems or S3), and a $19.95 upgrade for existing users. There's a free trial available.

Brian Stucki over at Macminicolo has compiled a list of seven iPhone applications he uses regularly as an IT guy. It's a great start to putting together your own server-wrangling kit on your iPhone.

Brian includes Network Ping Lite (Free [iTunes]), Web Tools ($1.99USD [iTunes]), and iSSH ($4.99 [iTunes]), among others. He also somewhat reluctantly admits to frequently using the infamous (and now technically unavailable) tethering app, Netshare. We'd like to add a few applications to the list, and I'd love to hear about any additions from your own arsenal in the comments. Our top picks include a few iPhone apps, some of which are alternatives to entries in Brian's list and some which are additions:

• FTP On The Go ($9.99USD [iTunes]), because sometimes you need to get in there and your iPhone is your only choice ...
• TouchTerm ($2.99USD [iTunes]), another good terminal emulator with SSH
• 1Password (Free [iTunes]), keep track of all of those server passwords
• SleepOver ($2.99USD [iTunes]), another Wake-On-LAN utility which comes out a little cheaper than iWOL (mentioned in Brian's list)

A few web apps should also make the list, such as Inco (TUAW coverage), Webmin and iNagios, all of which are free and can be set up to allow server monitoring and/or administration from your iPhone. Take a look at Brian's list, have a peek at our additions, and then fill us in on what you're using on your iPhone to keep your server(s) up and your IT fires under control.

Years ago, Macs didn't even acknowledge the presence of Windows networks, which made those LAN wine-and-cheese parties pretty awkward. Now, however, OS X machines are exemplary network citizens, and apparently can even manage Windows workstations under the right circumstances.

TidBITS linked to a roundtable discussion at Cornell University, where Philip Halcomb, of Cornell's Mann Library ITS staff, demonstrated managing user accounts in Active Directory. Now, this wouldn't be very exciting, except for the fact that he was using Mac OS X Workgroup Manager to do it. Sweet.

Phil's part starts at about 7:30. It's a long QuickTime video, too -- almost an hour -- but for IT folks, especially in an education environment, the roundtable series is a must-see.

(Thanks, MHA, for Phillip's name!)

Apple has posted a listing of the sessions which will be offered at this summer's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.

There are three tracks to choose from: Mac, IT and new this year, iPhone. Of course, the Mac track has the greatest number of sessions available, and poor IT is dead last.

Early bird registration has begun, so purchase your ticket and make your hotel reservations. And if you're an iPhone developer, we're really waiting to see what you come up with.

The long history of the Parallels Server release is moving ever closer to an end: SWsoft (which is changing their name to Parallels) has announced that the product has moved into beta. This thing is the holy grail for Mac server administrators, apparently-- it's supposed to not only be the first virtualization solution to run on Apple hardware, but will also allow admins to run multiple versions of Leopard on one box, and even on Windows or Linux servers. I'm pretty clueless at fine art of administering servers, but even I can see how that would have all the IT guys in a tizzy.

It's still a closed beta at this point, so you've got to sign up if you want to experience the magic for yourself. And apparently the Parallels folks work fast, so odds are we're headed for an open beta within a few weeks. Soon, Mac OS Server will be at the mercy of any IT overseers to bend and use at their will.

CIO magazine recounts a Forrester Research report from last week on "The iPhone is Not Meant for Enterprises," a $280 piece of critical business intelligence that tells IT departments something they a) wanted to hear and b) already knew: the iPhone is not a Blackberry (quel suprise!). Without key features such as remote kill, data encryption, and full Exchange support, Forrester says the iPhone is DOA in BigCo environments; despite this, IT folk need a strategy for handling the iPhones that make their touchable way in the revolving doors.

Nobody expects IT to embrace the iPhone with both arms, but the tale of the numbers suggests that the warmth of the welcome may be irrelevant: the iPhone is here in a big way. With sales data suggesting that the iPhone has passed Windows Mobile in share, vendors like Visto promising full Exchange integration, and an SDK around the corner for blessed development, corporate technologists may have to settle for a policy of benign discontent as the shiny pretty things invade.

Update: Some well-phrased and funny debunking of Forrester's stance by the Macalope and John Welch.

[via Macworld]

Like They Might Be Giants, the Mac blogosphere has two big Johns: Gruber and Welch. While both are highly informative/informed and entertaining writers, there are some key differences. Welch's blog has to be described as Not Safe For Work. Still, he cleans up right nice. His recent Top 22 Mac Products article for InformationWeek was a considered, cogent and eye-opening take on the "software you can't live without" story.

As we've noted for the past couple of weeks, thanks to writers like Welch, Tom Yager, Seth Weintraub and Ryan Fass, there's more and more rosy Mac coverage in the IT industry trade publications. From the perspective of Mac-centric IT folk like yours truly, this is definitely a Good Thing.

Last week was a good week for Mac press in the IT weekly trades. Over at ComputerWorld, Ryan Fass chimed in with an opinion piece on how OS X is ideal for small business.Meanwhile, John Fontana in Network World had a long article about how IT pros are beginning to "discover Mac platforms that are being transformed into realistic alternatives to Windows and Linux." With the Intel platform switch, Boot Camp and virtualization options, a Mac purchase is more flexible and futureproof than ever before.

Sure, it's not news to us, but as the costs associated with this upgrade cycle to Vista are coming into clearer focus, it's an opportunity for Apple (and for Linux vendors) to make inroads with an alternative to Microsoft Everywhere. Obstacles to this vision of happiness? Well, aside from FUD and inertia, both writers point out that Apple's support and sales infrastructures are not really oriented towards the needs of the enterprise... yet.

[via MacFixit]

Apple, of course, boasted how fantastic of a deal they're offering on stage with these new Xserves, but it's always prudent to hear it from the actual community these products are targeted at. Fortunately, reader Jonathan Fingas pointed us towards just such an article from IT Jungle that analyzes the offering and opportunities of new 64bit, Intel-based Xserves that can run Not only Mac OS X and Linux, but now Windows as well. They do their own price breakdown between other Enterprise server software offerings, as well as a hardware match up with a (somewhat) comparable HP server. They conclude that Apple has quite a killer offering on the table, no matter how you slice it.

Check out the IT Jungle article for yourself, and since most of us aren't exactly Enterprise gurus, keep tips like this rolling in, as they're a great window into how this particular community is reacting to Apple's big changes.

Beyond a doubt, Apple's retail stores have been and still are making headlines of all kinds - from business magazines hailing the stores' sleek design, to consumer reviews giving the stores high marks for their unique and (ideally) helpful Genius Bar feature. However, as some of you may know - not everyone's trip to the genius bar wraps up with a happy ending, and I'm not just talking about the customers; the Geniuses don't always have it so peachy-keen either.

Hence, Ungenius - a blog by "JC" who apparently has some stories to tell of his adventures "aton[ing] for the sins of a multinational corporation during nearly four years as a Mac Genius". JC delves into all sorts of topics surrounding the world of the Genius including QA, the obvious defects that have made headlines as of late, and even some thoughts as to why Class Actions might be bad for consumers.

Whether you've made a shrine for the last Genius who helped you out of a pickle or you're putting the finishing touches on a Genius Voodoo doll as you read this, Ungenius might be an interesting read from the other side of the cheery Apple retail store fence.