Yesterday, Apple held a press conference in which they announced their first rack-mounted server, Xserve. The machine is probably not for many enthusiasts, but is targeted rather at institutions and ISPs that want to move their servers to a G4-based solution running Mac OS X. This doesn't mean there isn't anything for the Mac gamer to get excited about though.

The Xserve features dual G4 processors running at 1 GHz, and for the first time in a Mac machine, four DIMM slots supporting up to 2 GB of 266 MHz PC2100 DDR SDRAM. This much faster RAM has been rumored in Apple towers for some time (and has become a standard on the PC side), so it's great to see it finally show up in Apple's hardware as well.

Readers can hope the Xserve is a precursor to new Power Mac architecture down the road. New rebates on G4 Power Macs running through July would seem to indicate an upgrade is on the way, but of course only Apple can tell when and where new hardware will be released.

For ISP employees lucky enough to get an Xserve, you'll be happy to know the box could probably be used as an excellent gaming rig as well. The Xserve can be upgraded with a 64 MB ATI Radeon 8500, making this one very thin (1.75 inches) and powerful gaming machine. For the complete scoop on the Xserve, check out the Apple web site now.

Apple: Xserve

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