Novell's Net Gain: Page 3 of 4

I was pleased to see that though iManager is Web-based, Novell makes it easy to make changes to a large number of objects at once, something that was not possible with previous versions. For example, I was able to update the fax number on several eDirectory user objects at once.

NetWare 6.5 includes a DirXML Starter Pack to help manage multiple directories. It lets administrators sync user accounts and passwords between multiple eDirectory trees, Windows NT and Active Directory, without their having to manage multiple systems or purchase DirXML at additional cost.

One of the NetWare puzzles that should finally be solved in 6.5 is passwords: Users will no longer need a different password for logging into eDirectory and Native File Access (CIFS/AppleShareIP) because Novell now uses a universal password. When a password is changed via the new NetWare client, LDAP (or any other method that supports the universal password), eDirectory and simple passwords will be updated at the same time. To maintain backward compatibility, the universal password will create the one-way hash for the eDirectory password. A set parameter on the NetWare server promises that eDirectory will not allow password changes from old clients that don't support the universal password. And when used with the updated NetWare clients that ship with 6.5, user passwords will be case-sensitive.