Boy oh boy, if you thought Power Mac G4 sales would grind to a shuddering halt once the G5 was announced, just consider what's probably happened to the Xserves. After all, at least Apple had new G4 configurations ready to sell at insanely low prices; the G5 Xserve, on the other hand, hasn't officially been announced, which means the current G4 models are still sporting the same pre-Stevenote sticker prices, as if nothing ever happened. Because, you know, nobody would ever suspect that the Xserve would move to the G5 unless Apple explicitly said so, right? Uh, right.

However, if you're the exceptionally perspicacious sort and you've deduced that Apple's high-end server platform will eventually inherit Apple's new high-end processor, well, the question on your mind is likely no longer "if?" but "when?" Luckily, it turns out that there are other shrewd and clear-thinking individuals out there who not only arrived at the same remarkable conclusion on the former question as yourself, but also claim to have a reasonable handle on the latter issue, too. Mac OS Rumors insists that while the G5 is tricky to keep cool (gaze upon the deceptively simple yet maddeningly byzantine intricacies of the Power Mac G5's nine-fan, four-zone cooling system-- IF YOU DARE), it actually slots into the existing Xserve architecture quite nicely, which needs only minor tweaks like additional vents and "redesigned heatsinks/blowers."

But again, "when?" Calm down, Beavis, we're getting to that. MOSR claims that G5 Xserves will surface in "about two months' time," in order to give the Power Mac enough time to fill some of the pent-up demand before siphoning off some of its chips. Meanwhile, the French crystalgazers over at MacBidouille concur; assuming that Google's translation engine isn't just messing with our heads, those wacky francophones claim that the "Xserve will pass to fine G5 août/début September," which, if those savage beatings our French teachers administered on a daily basis did any good, means "August/early September." Or possibly "mountain goat/I have two red pens September"; we're not ready to commit just yet.

Either way, it says September, and that's good enough for us. So if you're in the market for one seriously fast and gorgeous 1U rack-mount Mac OS X server (and you're the foolish type who actually plans hardware purchases based upon whatever flotsam comes wafting through the rumors sites), you might only need to wait a couple more months before you can buy what is sure to be the sexiest piece of server hardware ever to grace the surface of this miserable, stinking planet. Ahhh... some things are worth living for.