News: Apple has announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale this Friday.

Apple has announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale this Friday.

“Snow Leopard builds on our most successful operating system ever, and we’re happy to get it to users earlier than expected,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

Snow Leopard boasts hundreds of refinements and new core technologies. Improvements include 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 Expose integration; QuickTime X with a redesigned player that allows users to easily view, record, trim and share video; and a 64-bit version of Safari 4 that is up to 50 percent faster and resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins.

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard retails for $59, and is available from www.apple.com/nz