14 DAY TRIAL // Judging by the looks of this particular cat, it looks like we're in for some serious changes. Still, sources imply that "Snow Leopard," the code name for Mac OS X 10.6, rumored for a January next year release, is going to deliver more performance optimization and security tweaks. Also, the OS may be aimed at newer devices.
"People familiar with the situation have confirmed to us that... Snow Leopard is currently on track to come out during next January's Macworld," an Ars Technica piece reads, "and it will not contain major OS changes... the release is heavily focused on performance and nailing down speed and stability."
The tech-based website claims that Apple's portables (the MacBook Air, the iPhone and the iPod touch), as well as "other mysterious devices that have yet to be announced" need performance improvements as far as better battery life is concerned. It is believed that these particular aspects are something Apple definitely wants to "excel at in the years to come," hence its current focus on the smaller / thinner / more mobile, the better.
It's also rumored that Mac OS X 10.6 will be entirely written in Apple's Cocoa application programming interface (API) set, which (needless to mention at this point) paints a pretty good picture of Apple slowly leaving PowerPC behind.
Even though pretty much every rumored detail about 10.6 seems to have checked out, Ars' sources have failed to confirm whether Apple plans to discuss Snow Leopard at its World Wide Developers Conference this year.
But, given that the company is already on track for unveiling the new iPhone, its new software (iPhone firmware 2.0), the AppStore, the new maintenance update for the current version of Leopard, and God knows what else Steve is going to pull out of his pocket, we can rely on Apple to make it a historical event.
More as the events unfold.