Will We See Leopard Sooner Than October?

When Apple announced that Leopard was going to get delayed, there was a loud roar, which was shortly followed mostly by silence. While there are still arguments being thrown back and forth about why it happened, and how it could have been avoided, the fact remains. However, if you’re not going to be too picky about details, you could very well find that Apple will launch Leopard in June.

I’m not referring to the Mac version of OS X, although Apple could still pull a fast one and actually deliver Leopard at the WWDC despite saying that it will be delayed, but rather a slimed down version. Much like the Apple TV, the iPhone is going to be operating a thinner version of OS X. However, unlike the Apple TV box, which only really needs to run Front Row and be able to speak wirelessly to iTunes, the iPhone version of OS X is going to be very flexible, being able to run iTunes, Safari, Mail and a host of other applications and widgets. That being the case, it makes a lot of sense that, unlike the Apple TV where an older version of OS X was fine, the iPhone will be running a lite version of Leopard.

While Apple has not gone into details about the iPhone OS X, looking at the device presentation shows various improvements to applications such as iTunes. Furthermore, applications such as Safari seem to have been integrated with fluid, widget-like controls, that you simply don’t see in pre-Leopard programs. Overall, the entire iPhone application suite that is presented by Apple looks like a cross between Widgets and normal applications. We’ve already seen that Widgets will be getting an upgrade, and that the line between application and widget is blurring in the demo that placed a slice of Safari inside a widget. If that is the case, there is nothing preventing the Leopard version of Dashboard to also let you do things in reverse, and have applications incorporate various widgets.

Furthermore, since looking at the iPhone it is obvious that this is the direction that iPods are headed, it would be logical for Apple to make the iPhone OS X with the new iPods in mind so that it will also work on them with minimal modifications. And since this new incarnation of iPod will be around for quite a while, there is no reason to use an old version of OS X when they can use Leopard and take full advantage of all the new technologies.

All in all, your Mac might not be running Leopard this summer, but it looks like your iPhone will.

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