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Mac OS X Lion Server to Require Separate Paid Download From Mac App Store?

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Apr 12, 2001
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When Apple released the initial developer preview for Mac OS X Lion back in late February, some observers were surprised to hear that Apple had moved to bundle the Mac OS X Server components in with the standard release, potentially lowering the price of deploying server capabilities on the Mac by a significant margin. Apple details the inclusion on its Lion features page:
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 services Lion Server has to offer.
Click to expand...
But with the second developer preview of Lion released a month later, Apple split the server components out into a separate download, leading to questions about whether the company still intended to bundle client and server content together for the public release.

lion_server_help_file.jpg



Now, as noted by Hardmac, a discovery in a help file for a Mac OS X Lion developer build suggests that users will be required to download a paid app from the Mac App Store in order to activate the server components of Lion.

Snow Leopard Server currently ships at a price point of $499 for an unlimited client license, but it is unclear how much Apple intends to charge for the "Server" app associated with Lion. Apple has in the past charged nominal fees for certain software downloads due to accounting requirements relating to unlocking new capabilities, so it is possible that the fee for activating Mac OS X Lion features could simply be a very minor one.

Article Link: Mac OS X Lion Server to Require Separate Paid Download From Mac App Store?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/03/mac-os-x-lion-server-to-require-separate-paid-download-from-mac-app-store/
I'm reserving judgement for Monday. Still excited to see all the functionality Lion brings to the server arena.
 
Makes sense, its a feature not everyone is going to use. I couldn't see both an entire OS and the server software being sold together for around 100-130 bucks.

Wasn't Snow Leopard server sold for around $500?
 
It seemed too good to be true, but I'm hopeful for a reasonable price.
 
Hellhammer said:
I expected this right from the beginning.



Yes, 499$.
Click to expand...

Same here, but the rumours that Server will be pre-installed with Lion took put to a different world.
I don't know, but this seems to be more like it.

I think they are going to sell it for $99 with a download from the Mac App Store which would seam reasonable for the most part.

EDIT: I was mistaken again(as in the lion forum). Apple's page itself details that the Server is include in OS X Lion. This looks weird.
 
I am running the Server Version now. Had to get it so that I could get the Mac Mini Server Hardware. However, I really do not need the Server Components. Do you think I would be able to get upgrade my Server to a NON-Server Lion when it comes out?
 
d21mike said:
I am running the Server Version now. Had to get it so that I could get the Mac Mini Server Hardware. However, I really do not need the Server Components. Do you think I would be able to get upgrade my Server to a NON-Server Lion when it comes out?
Click to expand...

I can't see why not. A clean install would definitely work.
 
Hellhammer said:
I can't see why not. A clean install would definitely work.
Click to expand...

I assumed a clean install would work but did not want to re-install and re-setup everything. Was hoping just a upgrade type install (this is my first Mac). Been with MS DOS and Windows (desktop and servers) since the beginning so pretty technical but would prefer not having to go thru a full install if not required.
 
Waiting for Judgment NOT Allowed

jayhawk11 said:
I'm reserving judgement for Monday. Still excited to see all the functionality Lion brings to the server arena.
Click to expand...

These forums are intended for snap judgments only, I'm afraid. ;)

This move makes sense if only to lower the deployment size of the client version. Allowing any 10.7 install to at some point to add server functionality would be enough to satisfy the spirit of Lion Server being part of Mac OS X Lion. It'll be the pride of the jungle.
 
Dumb Question - Be Gentle

Could some patient and understanding person tell me what a server would actually do on on my MBP (2011 model)

What could I do with it in practical terms.

I have the feeling that if I am so dumb I have to ask this question, I probably am too dumb to utilize whatever the server would do - but I'll ask anyway as I will be getting Lion when it comes out.

Thanks in advance...
 
Torrijos said:
This seems photoshopped.
Click to expand...

Why is everything in French but the person searching in English and pulling up an English help file? I realize documentation is usually the last thing to be localized, but I agree that this help file does seem non-Apple-like.
 
seems like dirty pool after Apple advertised the server feature as included. I wonder if Apple is opening itself up to legal challenges (false advertising? Bait-and-switch?), if this item is indeed legit and not photoshopped as some users have speculated.
 
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cms2 said:
seems like dirty pool after Apple advertised the server feature as included. I wonder if Apple is opening itself up to legal challenges (false advertising? Bait-and-switch?), if this item is indeed legit and not photoshopped as some users have speculated.
Click to expand...

No. It specifically states on the Lion page that all features are subject to change. Features have been posted on the site in the past that were later pulled from the final release.
 
d21mike said:
I assumed a clean install would work but did not want to re-install and re-setup everything. Was hoping just a upgrade type install (this is my first Mac). Been with MS DOS and Windows (desktop and servers) since the beginning so pretty technical but would prefer not having to go thru a full install if not required.
Click to expand...

Seeing how it looks like you'll have to go through the App Store to get the Server the only option is to upgrade to Lion and then buy the Server components.
 
Cougarcat said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)



No. It specifically states on the Lion page that all features are subject to change. Features have been posted on the site in the past that were later pulled from the final release.
Click to expand...

Ah. I suspected something like that would be in the legal language somewhere; Apple's legal team covers their bases. I was just too lazy to look. Thank you for clarifying. :)
 
Shrink said:
Could some patient and understanding person tell me what a server would actually do on on my MBP (2011 model)

What could I do with it in practical terms.

I have the feeling that if I am so dumb I have to ask this question, I probably am too dumb to utilize whatever the server would do - but I'll ask anyway as I will be getting Lion when it comes out.

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...

Unless you're running a small business with multiple Macs, you can pretty much ignore it. I wouldn't even suggest if your whole family had Macs and you had several in your house.

You can have a look at http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/ to get an idea of what it's for, but essentially it's for tightly managing a collection of Macs. You can have shared iCal calendars and Address Book but you'd be better of using MobileMe. You can also use it to run your own mail, iChat, wiki and web server.

It's designed to be running 24/7 on dedicated hardware (typically a Mac Pro now that Xserve has been discontinued) so you're probably not going to want it on your laptop.

Basically, as you say, if you needed it you'd probably know what it was. It's not going to give your MBP any day-to-day benefits.

One of its more mainstream features is the Software Update Server. If you have multiple Macs in your home/work then it can save time by downloading software updates once, and applying them to all your Macs in one go. If that is something that you think might be useful, I would suggest instead downloading the Combo update, putting it in a public folder on one Mac and installing it on all others from there.

Hope that helps.
 
d21mike said:
I assumed a clean install would work but did not want to re-install and re-setup everything. Was hoping just a upgrade type install (this is my first Mac). Been with MS DOS and Windows (desktop and servers) since the beginning so pretty technical but would prefer not having to go thru a full install if not required.
Click to expand...

No you can't "upgrade" a server to a desktop OS
 
cms2 said:
seems like dirty pool after Apple advertised the server feature as included. I wonder if Apple is opening itself up to legal challenges (false advertising? Bait-and-switch?), if this item is indeed legit and not photoshopped as some users have speculated.
Click to expand...

Maybe wait until they actually make the announcement before calling the lawyers.
 
cms2 said:
seems like dirty pool after Apple advertised the server feature as included. I wonder if Apple is opening itself up to legal challenges (false advertising? Bait-and-switch?), if this item is indeed legit and not photoshopped as some users have speculated.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly certain that at the Developer Preview stage, Apple can add and remove features without any legal implications. It is not a product that is currently for sale, no one can have been 'baited' into anything yet.
 
Lion Server

Now if they bring a Mac Pro tower 2 U refresh, THW WORLD WILL BE RIGHT !
 
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