Snow Leopard, which Apple is touting as a refinement to its predecessor, named "Leopard," was originally scheduled to be released in September.
Could the launch date have been moved up following a survey suggesting students prefer netbooks and Windows laptops to Macs?
At its World Wide Developers Conference, held in San Francisco in June, Apple announced that Snow Leopard would be released in September. However, rumors that Apple would release Snow Leopard in late August persisted.
On Aug. 11, the MacRumors blog quoted French blog Mac4Ever as saying Snow Leopard had achieved "Golden Master" status, meaning an operating system has been finalized and is ready to be released to manufacturing, which is when it is cut onto CDs, labeled and packed ready for shipping.
On Aug. 12, the blog Daring Fireball blog pegged Snow Leopard's release date as Aug. 28, while AppleInsider said rumors were the upgrade would hit the shelves Aug. 24.
Snow Leopard Specs
Snow Leopard consists of enhancements to Mac OS X 10.5 to make it run more quickly and support Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) 
Apple has rewritten the Finder in Cocoa to take advantage of the modern technologies in Mac OS X, including 64-bit support. Expose, which lays out overlapping windows into an organized thumbnail view, has a new look and is integrated into the Dock.
The Dock gives users quick access to their most frequently used applications, files and folders. It is pre-loaded with icons for many Mac apps, including Dashboard, Mail, iCal and iPhoto.
Snow Leopard offers out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, so users can access Exchange services such as e-mail, calendars and Global Address Lists directly from their Macs instead of having to go through Microsoft Outlook.
Cupertino's Fifth Column
"Every day is 'bring your Mac to work' day," reads a message on Apple's Web page for Snow Leopard. Cupertino also points out that out-of-the-box support for Exchange Server 2007 is "something even Windows PCs don't have."
These statements fit right into Cupertino's indirect attacks on the enterprise market.
"Apple has traditionally let its rabid base of consumer enthusiasts evangelize and proselytize for it in the enterprise," said Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC. "That strategy has worked particular well in the past three years with the debut of the ... iPhone."
By offering support for Exchange Server 2007 and charging only $29 for upgrading to Snow Leopard, Apple is further removing the barriers to IT approving Macs for use in the enterprise, DiDio told MacNewsWorld.
School Kids Switch Sides So Easily
Despite having worked the education market for years, Apple has seen demand fall in the education market this year. During its second quarter earnings call, COO Tim Cook blamed the recession for this and expressed doubt that things would turn around in the third quarter.
He may be right: A survey of more than 300 visitors to consumers electronics marketplace Retrevo's Web site indicated that students are opting for Windows-based computers instead of the more expensive Macs.
The survey found that 34 percent of students buying laptops plan to get netbooks, and another 49 percent plan to purchase full-sized PCs. "At a time when many people are experiencing economic hardship, having a new Apple laptop isn't a necessity," Retrevo CEO Vipin Jain said in a statement.
The study, results of which were released earlier this month, was conducted by Gadgetology on a random sampling of more than 300 of Retrevo's 4 million monthly visitors throughout the United States. The visitors were distributed across age gender, income and location.
Trying to Upstage Windows 7?
Could Apple have pushed up the release date for Snow Leopard to try and offset this?
That's possible, Gartner (NYSE: IT) analyst Charles Smulders told MacNewsWorld. "I think Apple would like as much of its installed base to upgrade before Windows 7 is released to ensure the most favorable comparisons," he explained.
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