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When Windows XP came out, Mac OS X was already on the scene. OS X was truly a real next generation operating system. A revolutionary system. It was a revolution at the core for Apple because it designed Mac OS X from the ground up. With each revision since 10.0, Apple has updated features and tweaked things here and there to make it even better.

With Leopard, Apple has yet again redesigned (tweaked, really... made something great even greater as they always like to do) its already established operating system from the ground up in a sense. As the Wall Street Journal's renowned tech columnist, Walt Mossberg wrote yesterday, Leopard is not a revolution, but an evolution.

"...I've been testing Leopard, and while it is an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, release, I believe it builds on Apple's quality advantage over Windows. In my view, Leopard is better and faster than Vista...," says Mossberg.

Vista was released in January this year, just about the same time as Macworld Expo 2007. Talk about bad timing. And to literally talk about bad timing, Microsoft was already late in releasing their next generation OS, with a previously announced roll out in late 2006. (It was in limited release in late 2006, but not released to customers until January 2007).

To add insult to injury--and we're not talking about the numerous reviews comparing it to Mac OS X Tiger during Vista's public release--consumers had been asking Microsoft to re-release or at least, make Windows XP available for installation/purchase because Vista wasn't doing too well or being received as well as Microsoft had thought.

Vista was to be the default operating system just as Mac OS X became the default operating system on all Apple computers a year after its initial release, relegating the old Mac OS 9 operating system to history. (Though you could still use it in "Classic" mode under OS X-only machines, or use it natively in supported dual-boot machines).

How's that again? Customers prefer the previous generation of Microsoft's OS? "Wow."

The irony in all of this, as if it isn't more proof of the new OS wars between rivals Apple and Microsoft--a genuine battle comparing apples to apples (really, oranges) since at the core, it's OS vs. OS, not "Mac vs. PC" anymore--is that Apple is also behind schedule with its release of Leopard, with Cupertino seemingly tweaking things at the last minute.

The last thing Apple needs is for Leopard to look like Vista, or, not much different from Tiger.

Leopard was originally scheduled to be released in spring of this year. (Some thought it would come out at Macworld). Spring came and nothing sprung up, and eventually, Apple made an announcement about the delay, blaming it on the iPhone's release. With Leopard's official release happening today, some even thought that that wouldn't happen either.

But it is happening, and if you're still reading this, better hurry up and get in line at your local Apple Store.

So how will today's release of the next generation of Apple's already next generation operating system play out? We'll have to wait and see. Everyone knows that Mac fans line up in droves for Apple's new products, be it iPods, iPhones, or Leopards.

The burning question is how big those lines will be, now that Windows converts and many people new to the Mac are a part of that equation. When Panther rolled out, lines were big. When Tiger rolled out, lines were even bigger. (When Vista rolled out, there weren't very many lines, at least, not comparable to those of Mac OS X rollouts since Panther).

With the OS wars between Apple and Microsoft in full swing, today's release of Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard will have Apple pouncing on its competition. The cat's out of the bag folks! (See you in line tonight at the Apple Store!).

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