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How Cheap It Is (3/10/99)
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Well, whaddaya know-- given the sheer volume of Mac news outlets reporting the fact, we just have to believe the fact that Mac OS X Server has indeed finally reached "golden master" status. That means it's done and ready for duplication, so we figure it'll actually be available for sale within a couple of weeks on the outside. We're anxiously awaiting what happens when it becomes available to people who can use it.
Meanwhile, MacCentral reports that Mac OS X Server has started to appear in mail order catalogs-- at least, one catalog. CDW reportedly includes X Server in their latest catalog; we don't have the catalog ourselves, so we can't confirm that, though we're rather intrigued by MacCentral's description of the ad. Specifically, the fact that the ad "features a box significantly differing from the one currently displayed on Apple's web site" makes us a little suspicious. According to MacCentral, the box "says 'MacX' instead of 'Mac OS X Server'" and "features a large 3D 'X' and a pull-down menu in the background." We think that MacCentral must be unaware that "MacX" is Apple's Macintosh X server software, which allows the running of remote X-based Unix applications on a Mac; Apple announced version 2.0 back in 1997, and the product is still on the current finished goods price list for educational purchasers. (The Mac X graphic pretty much matches the description of the box featured in CDW's ad.) Either someone screwed up at CDW and used the wrong graphic, or the ad is actually for Mac X and not Mac OS X Server.
There's no indication of how much CDW is charging for Mac OS X Server in its catalog, but do ya wanna hear something else interesting? This is definitely just a rumor right now, but an anonymous Apple employee contacted us with some info about Mac OS X Server's pricing. Since the product isn't out yet, Apple hasn't officially announced its price, but it's been widely reported that a copy of X Server would cost just a hair under $1000, bundled with WebObjects and a QuickTime 4 Streaming server. But this anonymous Apple source claims that when the price is officially made public, we'll be pleasantly surprised-- at least one configuration of the OS will cost well under $500, which, we suppose, puts it more in the same price range as Windows NT. And just like with NT, X Server's support won't be free; in fact, it wouldn't surprise us at all if Apple expects to make more money off of X Server technical support than from the sale of the OS itself. Hmmm...
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SceneLink (1393)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 3/10/99 episode: March 10, 1999: Is the controversy over, now that Freeplay confirms that they are in talks with Apple to include wind-up power sources in future portable Macs? Meanwhile, Mac OS X Server is indeed golden, and it may not cost nearly as much as people expect, and Microsoft buddies up to the Department of Justice in an ironic attempt to bust the airlines for antitrust violations...
Other scenes from that episode: 1392: To Crank or Not To Crank (3/10/99) So here we are, in 1999, looking at an Apple that's the healthiest its been in a decade: we've got these killer consumer-level iMacs that have captured the hearts and minds of the press and the wallets of the public; we've got new translucent professional systems that truly raise the bar for both performance and ease of use; Mac OS X Server is due to ship any day now, as a viable enterprise-quality server platform; QuickTime 4 is nearing completion and is poised to revolutionize the way media is served via the Internet with its new streaming capabilities and open-source approach to server development; and FireWire is heating up and positioning Apple as quite possibly one of the industry leaders as the whole computer landscape morphs and blurs the line between computers and more "pedestrian" consumer electronics... 1394: Strange Bedfellows (3/10/99) We don't know how many of you are aware of this, but it's an established fact that 83% of the world's Internet-enabled population doesn't get its recommended daily allowance of irony. We consider this to be a shocking situation, given how simple it is to get the vital irony one needs to remain a well-balanced and critical member of the online community...
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