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Apple To Discontinue Xserve
Toe, The writes "Apple has announced that they are discontinuing their line of 1u rack-mount servers. With their usual understated style, the announcement comes in the form of a box on their website and a transition guide (PDF) to their low-end Mac mini server or their now-more-powerful-than-Xserve Mac Pro server. Attitudes about the Xserve have ranged from considering it a token nod to enterprise to an underpowered wimp to a tremendous value. Apparently, the migration to Intel processors removed some of the value of clustering Xserves, leaving them somewhat overpriced compared to other, more traditional offerings. The odd thing is that Apple clearly has shown they have the capacity for enterprise, but rarely the will to take it on. So, does the discontinuation of their rack-mount mean they have abandoned enterprise for their post-PC offerings, or are they simply acknowledging that their products aren't gaining traction in the data center? Or do they have something else up their sleeve for next year?"
...it's Apple. Who cares? Since when did Apple mean anything but 'cute'? Hello Kitty stopped making servers. The world is feeling a tremendous loss.
A small comparison of interest:
Windows: Public School. Mac: Private School. Linux: Homeschool. Assembly: Unschool.
Really? They have just got to the point that they realise they can't fool smart people in to buying their over-expensive hardware when other companies probably offer the same specs at less than half the price.
Nobody wants to pay for stupidly expensive and overly-pretty server hardware. They want something that works and can be thrown in a backroom somewhere, probably never to be seen unless there is a serious error. Even if it looked like fecal matter, if it was cheaper, i would go for it.
Apple can't compete with other companies at those levels unless they Think Differently. But selling something that was just bare-frame and board? Steve Jobs would have 10 heart attacks at the thought. And by that, i mean all 10 of his hearts.
I will probably get modded as a troll, but it doesn't negate that statement.
Or does anyone even give a shit?
FUD.
No, installing software on your Mac does not void your warranty.
Apple's support is some of the best I've ever dealt with. Do you honestly believe installing -software- would void their support? Of course they're not going to help you with getting some random code to compile, but they're not going to ask "Do you have macports installed? Yes? Sorry, I have to end this call."