[OmniX]

Tiger is supposed to be a mature operating system at this point.

Cisco VPN is a crucial, low-level networking technology that a large number of people dependent on critically.

Why are the two still separate? Why has Apple not yet included Cisco VPN support as part of the OS iteslf (i.e. in Internet Connect or something)?

At first it occurred to me that Cisco might be reluctant to allow this for whatever reason, but than it seems that there is already at least one third party solution that implements Cicso VPN on OSX, so that can't be a valid explanation.

Anyone?

cheers,
ox

[larkost]

Cisco's VPN solution is a proprietary solution... having Apple go through all the trouble of reverse-engineering their software would be counter-productive. And in comparison to the number of people that use PPtP (notice I am not advocating that as good VPN... just a widely used one) it is a small product... and VPN itself is not a very common thing (but where used it is important).

Cisco is responsible for getting it to work for their customers, not Apple. Apple should (and does) spend their engineering dollars on other projects.

[Big Mac]

Reportedly, Apple has been struggling with Cisco to provide Tiger compatibility, and they are presumably still working earnestly on it. Others know the story better than I.

[analogika]

Yes, well, the story Big Mac refers to is that Cisco's VPN Tiger update was released last week.

[wadesworld]

Cisco's VPN solution is a proprietary solution..

Almost every VPN hardware vendor provides proprietary extensions. And almost every VPN hardware vendor allows you to configure their concentrator to work with standart PPTP if you wish, including Cisco. However, most network administrators use the vendor's proprietary extensions because it's either more secure or makes their life easier.

And in comparison to the number of people that use PPtP (notice I am not advocating that as good VPN... just a widely used one) it is a small product

I would disagree. Hardware VPN concentrators by Cisco, Nortel and others are far more common in the corporate world.

Cisco is responsible for getting it to work for their customers, not Apple.

And it is working.

As for why Apple doesn't integrate it into the system, the reason is because Cisco would have to give Apple their IPSec code, which they're not going to do.

Besides, you'd then be in a situation where Cisco would release an update to their VPN concentrator, and you'd have to wait for an Apple OS release for the "integrated client" to be upgraded to be compatible again.

Wade