SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today previewedMac OS(R) X Snow Leopard, which builds on the incredible success of OS XLeopard and is the next major version of the world's most advanced operatingsystem. Rather than focusing primarily on new features, Snow Leopard willenhance the performance of OS X, set a new standard for quality and lay thefoundation for future OS X innovation. Snow Leopard is optimized formulti-core processors, taps into the vast computing power of graphicprocessing units (GPUs), enables breakthrough amounts of RAM and features anew, modern media platform with QuickTime(R) X. Snow Leopard includesout-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 and is scheduled to ship inabout a year.

'We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just sevenyears and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,' said BertrandSerlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. 'In ourcontinued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause buttonon new features to focus on perfecting the world's most advanced operatingsystem.'

Snow Leopard delivers unrivaled support for multi-core processors with anew technology code-named 'Grand Central,' making it easy for developers tocreate programs that take full advantage of the power of multi-core Macs. SnowLeopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open ComputingLanguage (OpenCL), which lets any application tap into the vast gigaflops ofGPU computing power previously available only to graphics applications. OpenCLis based on the C programming language and has been proposed as an openstandard. Furthering OS X's lead in 64-bit technology, Snow Leopard raises thesoftware limit on system memory up to a theoretical 16TB of RAM.

Using media technology pioneered in OS X iPhone(TM), Snow Leopardintroduces QuickTime X, which optimizes support for modern audio and videoformats resulting in extremely efficient media playback. Snow Leopard alsoincludes Safari(R) with the fastest implementation of JavaScript ever,increasing performance by 53 percent, making Web 2.0 applications feel moreresponsive.*

For the first time, OS X includes native support for Microsoft Exchange2007 in OS X applications Mail, iCal(R) and Address Book, making it eveneasier to integrate Macs into organizations of any size.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connectionand other factors. Benchmark based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performancetest on an iMac(R) 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Mac OS X SnowLeopard, with 2GB of RAM.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the AppleII and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with itsaward-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professionalapplications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with itsiPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has enteredthe mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

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SOURCE Apple