rob53

jbishop1039 said:

I can definitely see why. It's pretty easy to understand and write in. And I'm noticing more and more job postings for development positions that require only Swift & iOS experience. Not the usual multiple language experience. Which is nice since I'm currently learning Swift and don't particularly feel like developing for Android haha. 

How many Windows and linux computers are in service? How many iOS and (to a lesser extent, macOS) devices are in service? Swift addresses a different marketplace, the mobile market, which is growing faster than the desktop and server market. There's also money to be made by developers using iOS while all the other mobile OSes make chump change. Android is difficult to develop for because there's a million different versions, most of which never get updated or patched. If I had any input into what students should be developing with and for, especially in the US, I'd strongly suggest Swift and iOS (macOS has the benefit of being closely related). Animation is a huge business and Apple products and operating systems are addressed by the primary software developers. I would never suggest someone bore themselves to death writing business software for Windows or linux. 

d_2 said:

This is rubbish - I don’t want or need to repair my iPhone - and are they pushing every other mfg to do the same with every other piece of tech?

and - good luck “repairing” any (super thin) OLED TV at home - I feel damn lucky I didn’t crack the glass just mounting it 

This has to do with more than just Apple products but Apple always gets the negative comments because they're the largest and most obvious company to go after. I've been replacing a few iPhone batteries lately but I won't touch anything other than batteries if they have TouchID. The newer iPhones have a sealing gasket that is very small but needs to be put back in properly. Anything else on the newer iPhones risks major injury without lots of experience by the repair person and spare parts when you mess up.

I do very little on my 2013 truck since you need a computer degree and $100K worth of test equipment to do anything. I just replaced my radio with an Alpine iLX-107 with wireless CarPlay and I couldn't believe the number of wires I had to locate and splice (even with Crutchfield's harnesses) much less the trouble I had cramming everything back in. I (think I) got everything connected properly but I hope I never have to pull anything out again. Service manuals (legally obtained) can easily cost more than $100, which is something this legislation will require greater availability of. I doubt car manufacturers will want to expand on these along with legitimate parts that don't cost as much as a new vehicle to comply.

Is there an admin logon and password for Windows 10 S?

This article seems to imply that enough services are operational after startup without any kind of logon to allow either a bluetooth, internet (ethernet or WiFi), or (maybe) NFC connection between the PC and an iPhone app. The streamlined Bluetooth pairing process worries me because if this is how it connects, it needs to have very robust security.

How is the initial configuration made on the PC without being able to create an account with any kind of authentication (password, PIN, etc.)? 

What kind of traffic, both encrypted and unencrypted, happens between the Windows app, the iPhone, internet, and the PC? I use this capability all the time when accessing web sites as well as Apple's two-factor authentication but I don't see it passing any government security requirements since it's only a single factor authentication. Where is the PIN created and how is it passed to and from the iPhone and PC? How many systems are involved that could be monitored and hacked?

We're talking about Microsoft, a company that is totally in bed with the FBI and other government agencies. Will the FBI/NSA force Microsoft to include some kind of back door into their iPhone app that allows access to other iOS apps?

soundvision said:

rob53 said:

soundvision said:

The only people using these features anyways are hobbyists in my opinion. Any company who was relying on most of these services that are being discontinued is playing with fire. Good riddance and glad Apple is focusing on the more useful services of the Server app, even it it is becoming a non server app.

...
These are definitely my own opinions, but my opinions come from a place of experience, certifications, and actually supporting users who use to use OS X Server and or were sold it by Apple retail staff as a be all end all to all their problems.

So did I until they were forced out by an IT manager who knew nothing about supporting Macs in a publishing environment (not a small one either) throwing in a bunch of used Windows servers that messed everything up. Of course my multiple Xserve installation was installed years ago and it provided everything my Mac users needed. Times change but lack of Mac-centric support is still a common problem in government installations. This was one of the reasons I changed departments after 25 years.

nycvelo said:

I depend on Server.app to sync calendars and contacts between 5 users and about 15 devices. Currently these are all Apple devices. If Apple does lobotomize Server, what alternatives should I consider? Ability to host the calendar/contact server myself is a must. Support for all devices, Apple or not, is a plus. Thanks!

Check out the link in the article, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312 This provides both third-party and Apple open-source versions including:

https://www.calendarserver.org Apple page detailing calendar and contacts server source

Of course they require some programming skills, mainly the ability to configure and compile. I downloaded the Calendar-9.1 source (May 2017) from https://github.com/apple/ccs-calendarserver/releases and it looks complete, at least for development purposes. You'll need to read more to figure out how to incorporate it into your existing operations.