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Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.6.6 ahead of 10.6.5, announces demise of Xserve

Ahead of the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.6.6 to developers. Apple has also announced that Xserve will no longer be available after January 31, 2011.

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Joe Aimonetti
2 min read

Ahead of the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.6.6 to developers. The update for 10.6.6 notes that developers will have support for fetching and renewing receipts in the forthcoming Mac App Store.

Apple has also announced that Xserve will no longer be available after January 31, 2011. Apple will continue to support existing Xserve units but will no longer produce new ones, leaving the MacPro with Mac OS X Server as the lone high-powered server solution.

Mac OS X 10.6.6
Of course, most of us are still waiting for the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, but 10.6.6 will most likely contain several upgrades and enhancements for the Mac App Store, which Steve Jobs announced would be available for Macs within the next three months. With Mac OS X 10.6.6 being seeded to developers, it is likely that 10.6.5 will be made available very soon.

Xserve shut down
One could argue that the demise of the Xserve was not much of a surprise when it was announced on Apple's Xserve site. Transition guides on the site note that the 12-core MacPro with Snow Leopard Server installed will match up well to the power offered by the last-model Xserve.

Apple's most popular server choice since late 2009 has actually been the Mac Mini, despite its considerably diminished power potential as compared with an Xserve. Apple has assured everyone that they will continue to support existing Xserve systems, and you can still order one until the deadline at the end of January.


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