Mac OS X 10.5, iLife '07, iWork '07 as early as March
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Development of Mac OS X 10.5 is wrapping up faster than many at Apple even anticipated, and at present, a release can be expected as early as late March, sources say.
Alongside the release of Version 10.5, code-named Leopard, will be new versions of Apple's consumer software suites, iLife '07 and iWork '07, which saw their release date pushed back due to expanded feature sets in both the applications. In addition, sources confirm that iLife '07 and iWork '07 will both contain numerous features dependent on Mac OS X 10.5, but whether Apple has made the unlikely and drastic move of completely axing support for earlier operating systems is less certain.
As late as mid-2006, Apple had planned to release iLife '07 and iWork '07 in January at Macworld Expo, as the company has done in previous years. But discontent over the quality of some of the new additions to the software, including Apple's first standalone spreadsheet application, saw the release pushed back. At the same time, according to sources, Apple made the decision to wrap Leopard-specific features into the new iLife and iWork suites, originally planned for future releases of the software, possibly to further encourage sales of all three products.
One such feature: The new iLife and iWork suites are reported to take advantage of Leopard's Core Animation, which simplifies the development of animation-rich software, according to another source.
To date, Apple has made no official mention of iLife '07 and iWork '07 and has only gone so far as to say Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be released in the Spring. The new operating system went without mention at Macworld Expo/San Francisco, but during Apple's recent first-quarter financial earnings conference call, executives reiterated the Spring release date.
