ktappe

So if I had done a clean install last week on a 4yo Mac, you're saying it wouldn't have installed 10.12.3, but whatever version of 10.8 or 10.9 that it originally shipped with?

Correct. That's why this news of the new function is awesome for those of us in enterprise; it's the new way we'll be wiping and updating Macs as we redeploy them to new users.

SpamSandwich said:

Large mergers should not be blocked. This myth about preventing monopolies is simply nonsense. 

Except it's really, really not. To think otherwise is to completely ignore reality. In the airline industry we now have an oligopoly and certain airfares have gone way up. I run group trips and we can no longer get group discounts because the airlines have merged to the point of being in full control of the market and having all the power in negotations; we can't go somewhere else.  Then look at the recent competition in the cellular market, with all of them now rushing to match T-Mobile's unlimited data plans. If the market constricted, all those deals would go away.  Why do you think otherwise? What *DATA* do you have other than your opinion and "the free market is always best" brainwashing?

Apple's loss. The Mini is the only iPad I will ever consider. The others are too large IMHO. I like my Mini 2 and will (apparently) keep using it for the foreseeable future.