By the end of October, Apple will match Microsoft's Windows Vista with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Initially planned for earlier this year, the Cupertino-based company postponed Leopard for October 2007, trading off the operating system for the iPhone. But the waiting time is nearly over as Apple has announced the official availability date of Leopard for October 26 and already began taking orders for the operating system. When it comes down to Apple, Windows Vista has had little competition so far mainly due to the fact that Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger dates all the way back to 2005, just one year after the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 2004.

And Apple's target is clearly aimed at Windows Vista. The company's Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs came out gunning after Vista even if Leopard is still to hit the shelves. "Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we've ever released," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "And everyone gets the 'Ultimate' version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129."

All Mac OS X users will get the Ultimate edition of Leopard is a clear swing at Windows Vista. Microsoft's latest operating systems comes in a range of editions including Windows Vista Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. The high-end SKU of Vista will cost users no less than $399 for a full license. And in this context, Apple has already won the price tag war with its $129 for every Leopard copy. This means that Leopard is less expensive than all Windows Vista editions, including the $199 Home Basic, $239 Home Premium and $299 Business.

"Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac," reads a fragment of the press release announcing Leopard.