Software: Leopard Chases Vista

Apple’s upcoming Mac OS X operating system, code-named Leopard, could lead some consumers to switch from Windows, analysts said Tuesday.

Leopard is scheduled to debut in spring 2007, only a few months after Microsoft’s long-awaited Windows Vista operating system is supposed to finally reach consumers. The timing could pit the two companies against each other in the market.

Microsoft has said it plans to release Vista to businesses in November and make it available to consumers in January, but many analysts are betting the operating system will be further delayed.

Last week, the Gartner research firm said it stood by an earlier prediction that Vista is unlikely to ship as planned by Microsoft. If it’s late once again, Vista will have to race against Apple’s Leopard, which was announced with much fanfare on Monday at Apple’s developer conference.

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