The next version of the OS X operating system, code-named Snow Leopard, will become available on August 28.
Apple announced the forthcoming release of OS X 10.6 on Monday, four days ahead of its availability. According to the company, the operating system will be sold through Apple's retail and online stores, and via authorized resellers. Pre-orders for the package are now open.
Those customers using Snow Leopard's immediate predecessor, Leopard, will be able to upgrade for US$41.20, with a five-user Family Pack license costing US$64.30. Users of the earlier Tiger version will be able to upgrade for US$212.60--a price that includes iLife '09 and iWork '09--or get a Family Pack for US$295.
"Snow Leopard builds on our most successful operating system ever, and we're happy to get it to users earlier than expected," Apple software engineering chief Bertrand Serlet said in a statement on Monday. The release was initially slated for September.
Snow Leopard is half the size of Leopard, and Apple predicts an upgrade from the earlier to later OS will free up to 7GB of hard disk space. Enhancements in the new version include a revamped QuickTime media player and faster Time Machine backup, but the main changes lie in Snow Leopard's support for 64-bit processors.
The Snow Leopard version of Mac OS X Server, with new features including Podcast Producer 2 and Mobile Access Server, will also go on sale later this week, at a cost of US$657.60.
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