Apple ’s Thursday release of a developer trailer of Mac OS X Lion included a identification number of new features , but few were more surprising than the caller ’s plans for OS Server . OnApple ’s Lion preview page , the caller sound out :
Lion Server is now part of Mac OS X Lion . It ’s easy to set up your Mac as a server and take advantage of the many service Lion Server has to offer .
Currently , Mac OS ecstasy Server costs $ 499 , or is bundled with a Mac Mini server that cost $ 999 . But with Lion , Mac OS X Server will be provided at the same cost as Mac OS X guest , most probable around $ 129 if Apple stick with its traditional operating system pricing . To establish Lion Server , you would simply choose the Customize choice when you guide the installer . So every Mac user scarper Lion will be able-bodied to start the server software . And that leads to some interesting speculation about what server features Apple may bid to home user .
Traditionally , waiter are used by concern . Mac OS X Server is relatively easy to fructify up and expend , and many home user work with it , if they have a lot of media files to partake in or require to run a post server or Web server . But it ’s still not the horizon of the middling Mac user ; the concepts involved in setting up a waiter can be a number hard to grasp .
I ’ve pointed out that our expanding collections of media files could makea server version of iTunes useful , and perhaps Apple ’s goal with Lion Server is a step in this direction .
Imagine one of two scenario . First , you’re able to use any Mac as a dwelling waiter , as long as you have the waiter software . With Lion , everyone will have that — you wo n’t need to grease one’s palms a Mac mini host or grease one’s palms Mac OS X Server software program on its own . Lion Server will be able-bodied to handle all of the tasks that you take to run a simple-minded server for medium data file , accompaniment , shared calendars , file sharing , and more . If Apple can simplify the shape a routine , this could bring these server features to those who want to endue in an surplus Mac , or even use an old Mac ( as long as it can run Lion ) as a digital nerve center in their family .
The second scenario is more interesting . A future variation of Mac OS X — say 10.8 — could be a loanblend of a guest and a host , with a simple predilection to change state on the server feature you need to practice . In that case , home exploiter could dedicate one of their Macs to be used as a sever , but also keep on using it as a customer at the same time . It could , for exemplar , menage medium file , backups , share files , and more on an external severe disk , but at the same meter work as a standard Mac for WWW browsing , e - ring armour and games . ( you’re able to currently do some of this with Mac OS ex client , but it take a fair amount of tweaking . )
It ’s clear that Apple ’s decision to unite the client and server versions of Mac OS X into a single installer is a strong instruction that the company wants more people to use the server software . At a metre when Apple has stopped selling its high - end Xserve and focus only on the Mac mini host , combining the two versions of Mac OS 10 shows that the waiter package is intended to work on any Mac .
Our use of computers has evolved , and any family that has multiple Macs could profit from concentrate file cabinet and backups , share calendar , and offer a repository for shared Indian file . Lion Server is a prominent step forward ; the next step may be bringing simplified waiter feature to all Mac users . Your next Mac may be a waiter , and you might not even notice .
