Apple surprised many today when it announced it would be previewing the next version of the operating system that runs on its Mac line of desktops and notebooks, Mac OS X 10.6, aka “Snow Leopard”. Despite questionable name choice, in its early stages it shows a lot of potential as an even more stable operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, featuring better 64-bit computing (a theoretical 16 TB, yes terabyte, of RAM is to be supported), full Microsoft Exchange support in its Address Book and Mail applications, improved multicore support through what Apple calls “Grand Central”, and a technology called OpenCL that puts more processing to the graphics processing unit. Apple also promises an improved media experience through QuickTime X.

“We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “In our continued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on perfecting the world’s most advanced operating system.” More details available at official Snow Leopard promo website.

Source: Neowin