Snow Leopard to Pounce on Friday

After months and months of hype and speculation (and some decent reviews), Apple is finally ready to ship its latest version of the Mac OS X — version 10.6 — dubbed Snow Leopard. Since the Mac faithful had been expecting a September release, and operating system shipments are notoriously late (particularly Windows), the somewhat earlier release (just a few days, really) comes as a pleasant surprise.

Among the standout improvements are support for Microsoft's Exchange Server, a much-welcomed nod to the business world, and the promise of a speedier interface. Also, according to Apple, the new OS is lighter and frees up 6 GB of hard drive space upon installation.

And if you already have the previous version of the OS, also known as "Leopard," then you only have to pay $29. But if you're upgrading from an even earlier version, say "Tiger," then it will cost you dearly — $169. Ouch!

Each new release of Mac OS X comes with a corresponding wildcat name, each one more exotic than the last, but what will come after Snow Leopard? I'll cast my vote for "Liger," a mythical lion/tiger hybrid, which should give geeks everywhere something to snicker about.

Image courtesy of Apple, from a press release.