Apple Computer Inc has upgraded its QuickTime Streaming Server, adding localized versions in French, German and Japanese and doubling from 1000 to 2000 the number of concurrent streams it can support. The update will be released as a component of Mac OS Server as well as separately, under Apple’s open source license. What’s more, the Apple Open Source Streaming Server code – presumably the same thing as the Darwin Streaming Server – has been updated to support Linux on Intel-based systems. That means developers can create Linux-based streaming server products without having to modify the code-base at all.
QuickTime is the only open source standards-based internet streaming solution, claimed Apple VP Phil Schiller. With support from the open source community we have doubled the performance and added support for Linux – all without adding any server tax. The term server tax is a dig at Apple’s streaming media rivals RealNetworks Inc and Microsoft Corp. Both RealNetworks and Microsoft give their streaming clients away for free but charge content providers for their server software.
Apple, which derives the bulk of its revenues from hardware sales, enjoys the luxury of being able to give its streaming server away. The updates to QuickTime Streaming Server and Apple Open Source Streaming Server are available for free download from the Apple site. To support 2000 concurrent streams, the software needs to be running on a 450MHz G3 with ultra SCSI, four-port Ethernet and 512MB of RAM.