Apple's iPhone might be getting all the headlines, but that hasn't stopped the Cupertino-based giant from taking the time to preview the next major release of its Mac OS X operating system.
The forthcoming release, v10.6, has been dubbed Snow Leopard and takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on the addition of new features, it'll provide "a new generation of core software technologies that will streamline Mac OS X, enhance its performance, and set new standards for quality", says Apple.
Though Apple has already began to tout Snow Leopard as the best thing since...well, Leopard, details on the OS are still few and far between. Here's what we know, so far:
- Snow Leopard will feature out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 via Mail, Address Book, and iCal. Apple is continuing its push for business users, and with Exchange now coming to the Mac and iPhone, it'll certainly be a big contendor.
- There'll be support for "breakthrough amounts" of RAM, up a theoretical 16TiB, says Apple.
- Mac OS X v10.6 will be optimised for multi-core processors, thanks to a new set of technologies code-named "Grand Central". It promises to make all of Mac OS X multicore aware.
- Snow Leopard will introduce QuickTime X, a streamlined platform that optimises support for modern audio and video formats. On the media front, Apple also claims that Snow Leopard's Safari browser runs JavaScript up to 53 per cent faster.
- The OS provides further support for the OpenCL (Open Computing Language), which allows any application to utilise the GPU power previously only available to graphical applications.
It's enough of a sneak-peak to catch our attention, but there's no doubt that Apple has a lot more in store. With Windows 7 scheduled to land approximately 6-7 months after Snow Leopard, Apple will be wanting to make a statement. Mind you, it already states that Snow Leopard "is the next major version of the world’s most advanced operating system" - that's a statement in itself.
Official press release: Apple Previews Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Developers
Official product page: apple.com/macosx/snowleopard
