TECH: Mac OS X "Leopard"

WHAT: The countdown is nearly over for Apple's new operating system, OS X "Leopard," touted as the biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever. It arrives on October 26, and developers and other VIPs who have seen the software are raving about it's beauty, both in design and engineering.

WHY: A long time ago, I was fascinated by Apple computers. Then suddenly one day, I wasn't. For more than 10 years, I scoffed at the fledgling company and it's poor business model - any really significant piece of software was available for the IBM-PC market, but not for Macs. All you had to do was walk into a software retailer, and you'd need a map to find the 10 or 2o software titles available for Apple computers. However, all that changed. Early last year, I returned to the Apple family, and it's been a very good relationship so far.

So what's the urge to upgrade? Honestly, I don't really know. I suppose it's the idea of buying something, partially, but also to know that you've got the latest, greatest software running at the fastest speed possible.

More than that, the new OS offers a fresh, new look - apparently, it's designed from the user down, instead of from the operating system up - so it should do more of what you expect a computer to do. From a human point-of-view, that is. New features that allow you to preview files before launching the application aren't new, but haven't really worked successfully in the PC world in the past. It took just as much time to "preview" a file in the past as to launch the application, so hopefully Apple has got this part right. There's also a "time machine" backup feature, which allows you to go "back in time" to see the state your computer was in, as well as retrieve old files. Again, not new - but the implementation is vital: does it work? If so, the new OS may be one of the must-haves of the holiday season.

With iPods and iPhones and everything else that's been going Apple's way, the new OS is hopefully icing on the cake.

www.apple.com/macosx/

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