Apple Unveils Max OS X Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard is Apple's upgrade for Max OS X which could drop support for the Power PC.

Apple is expected to release details of its new 3G iPhone as well as Mac OS X 10.6 at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which opens Monday and runs through next Friday in San Francisco.

Mac OS X 10.6 will run on Intel-based hardware only and will mark the ditching of support for the older PowerPC processor-equipped Macs. Apple announced it would shift to Intel processors three years ago, and unveiled the first systems in January 2006; most analysts have said that move is largely behind the reason for Apple's renewed success selling personal computers.

One analyst said that next week's WWDC would be the right time for Apple to talk up or release an early build of Mac OS 10.6. "It's always important to remember the venue Apple uses," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch LLC and a Computerworld columnist.

Apple will often send information over time as it did in June 2005 when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company will adopt Intel processors.

Actually, Apple delayed its WWDC event in 2006 until August so Apple CEO Steve Jobs could unveil Leopard to the developers in attendance. The OS was not released to the public for another 14 months.

Steve Jobs will kick off WWDC next Monday with a keynote address, where most analysts expect he will spend the bulk of his time talking up a new 3G-capable iPhone.