A mistaken offer in Apple's online store on Wednesday could signal that the company's latest Mac operating system, code-named Snow Leopard, is primed for launch as early as next week.
The company was offering to ship the as-yet-unreleased Mac OS X 10.6 - code-named Snow Leopard - within 24 hours as part of the new Mac Box Set products, which were briefly put on sale on Apple's Web site.
However, the Box Set products were pulled after a call was made to Apple online sales to check whether the new OS would ship in 24 hours as part of the single-user Box Set edition. The Box Set - which also comes in a family pack edition - offers a plethora of software upgrades to Mac users, including the OS, productivity suites and multimedia applications.
A saleswoman verified that the Box Set was for sale online after checking with technical support. But she said that it might not ship overnight as the Snow Leopard OS was not yet shipping.
The saleswoman could not be reached for comment after the products were pulled, and Apple officials did not return calls or email for comment.
The online store glitch could give credence to reports that Apple is preparing for an early launch of Snow Leopard, which is officially scheduled to go on sale in September. Observers, including analysts and blog sites, have predicted the OS would start to ship as soon as 28 August.
Retail sites like Amazon.com are already taking pre-orders for Snow Leopard and the Mac Box Set. Snow Leopard is available as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard users for $29.99, with UK pricing yet to be confirmed.
The OS includes a number of systemwide "refinements," according to Apple's Web site.The enhancements include quicker installation compared to predecessors, a new version of QuickTime multimedia software and a souped-up user interface. It also includes a number of internal enhancements to perform tasks like video encoding and decoding faster by tapping into the processing power of multiple CPU and graphics processing cores.
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Comments received
Reader said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
Can Apple really convince Tiger users to get iWork and iLife in order to get Snow Leopard? I for one don't need them, so while I'll update my MacBook from Leopard to Snow Leopard I'll stay with Tiger on my iMac until they release Snow Leopard on its own. If Snow Leopard breaks the iLife suite that came with my iMac, Apple need to sort this not me.
William said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
I think apple do this on purpose to raise the excitement levels (for some weird people)
Tamu said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
I have 4 mac's & it will only work with 1 so won't bother.
Phill said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
@William: I agree with you. They are very good at creating buzz/ market hype.
dogcow43 said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
"code-named Snow Leopard"
Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now. I wonder what the marketing name will be...
Andy Clayton said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
Nearly every time a new product or software release is on the horizon it seems to "leak out accidently" via the Apple web site. I've lost count of the number of times this has happened over the years. I'm more and more convinced that it's the Apple Marketing people who do it on purpose. But no matter, it all adds to the fun and I'm looking forward to buying SL soon.
CaptHack said on Thu, 20 Aug 2009
It has leaked - all over the torrent sites.
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