The Waiting Is Not the Hardest Part

So, the next version of Mac OS X, (10.5, or Leopard, for those following Apple's Big Cat Scorecard) won't be arriving in June after all, according to a statement Apple released on its Web site yesterday. Because the company had to pull programmers off the OS X team to help muscle the iPhone to its June release date, Leopard won't prowl until October. Oh, well.

While part of me is bummed about not having a shiny new operating system to play around with this summer, that also means I won't have to spend those inevitable hours trying to get all my gadgets, hardware and software to work with it. Operating system upgrades can cause all sorts of upheaval, with hardware drivers and certain programs not working the same way in the new system as they did on the old. Windows Vista early adopters with iPods got to experience this first-hand when a problem between iTunes and Vista reared its ugly head right after Vista's January release. Luckily, most of the major problems were resolved with the release of iTunes 7.1.1, but there are still a few lingering issues; Apple describes them here, Vista adventurers.

So Leopard is put off until fall. While I'm half disappointed and half relieved, I think there's one thing Mac users probably won't have to worry about when they upgrade: since Apple is calling the software shots, iTunes and Leopard (at least) will get along just fine.