Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s next-generation operating system, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, is due for release Friday.

The company on Monday issued a press release detailing the operating system’s new features and improvements, which include the following:

• A more responsive Finder
• Mail that loads messages up to twice as fast
• Time Machine with an up to 80 percent faster initial backup
• a Dock with Exposé integration
• QuickTime X with a redesigned player that allows users to easily view, record, trim and share video
• a 64-bit version of Safari 4 that is up to 50 percent faster and resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins.

Also, Snow Leopard will free up to 7GB of hard drive space for upgrading Mac users once installed, according to Apple.

Available for pre-order, the Snow Leopard upgrade costs $30 for current Mac OS X Leopard users, $10 for customers who purchased a Mac after June 8, and $170 for those using older versions of Mac OS X (i.e. Tiger, OS X 10.4).

See our previous coverage of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference for more tidbits on Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

See Also:

• 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7
• 7 Good Reasons to Switch to Windows 7
• First Look: Windows 7 Shapes Up as Microsoft’s Best OS Yet …
• Snow Leopard
• Apple’s Snow Leopard Will Triangulate a Mac’s Location
• Onion Peels Back Covers, Compares Snow Leopard and Windows 7 …

Press Release [Apple]