The Mac OS X Leopard is on the Prowl!

The Mac OS X Leopard is expected to be the largest operating system upgrade ever produced. It boasts over three hundred features and sells for $129. Leopard is set to attack retail shelves on October 26. (Source: usatoday.com)

The Leopard has risen to the top of the pack, replacing the Mac OS X Tiger and arriving amidst a record year for Apple. The company is currently experiencing doubled stock figures compared to January 2008.

While Apple has dedicated most of 2007 to non-computer innovations, Leopard carries an arduous, but highly manageable goal: Sell More Mac Computers!

The new upgrades are mostly aesthetic and stylistic, with two notable features:

• A "Time Machine" feature that automatically backs up your files without requiring your presence and comes with a "turn back time" feature to retrieve lost files. Apple differentiates this new option from other backup utilities by stating that the user simply enables the feature and the program takes over from there.
   
• A "Boot Camp" feature that allows users to basically run Windows on a Mac. All the user has to do is purchase a copy of Windows software and both platforms will run on the same machine. (Source: news.yahoo.com)

The latter feature was already introduced in early 2006 as beta software that could be accessed directly from the Apple web site. Apple brags that the software has been downloaded over two million times since first appearing on their site.

When the feature is released as part of a bundle of options, Boot Camp will no longer be offered as a free download. Ironically, some analysts are predicting that this could actually work to Apple's favor, because users will generally pay closer attention to an operating system feature instead of a basic download. (Source: usatoday.com)

Apple is hoping that once users see that Windows can run on a Mac, most of them will be willing to make the switch.