Snow Leopard

You've had sound reasons for postponing the purchase of a new computer for much of 2009. The economy is in shambles. You wanted to make sure any kinks were addressed before taking the plunge on machines with new operating systems from Microsoft and Apple.

But months after their arrival, there've been no major blowups with Windows 7 or OS X Snow Leopard. And while your budget isn't exactly overflowing, you're finally thinking about replacing your Vista clunker or aging Mac.

Users of Apple's Snow Leopard operating system have experienced some glitches. So Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.2 on Monday to eliminate several operating-system issues, problems with MobileMe, and issues affecting the quality and security of the OS.

The update, available on Apple's support site, addresses three times the glitches that version 10.6.1 covered.

Businesses, schools and individuals are gearing up for the Oct. 22 launch of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7. While Microsoft prepares for the rollout and users prepare for changes, Apple is preparing to cash in.

Apple has been mocking Microsoft's Vista operating system in marketing campaigns for more than a year in its Mac-versus-PC advertisements. Now with the anticipated rollout of Windows 7, Apple is planning to boost marketing to slam its rival's new operating system while pushing Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Good news for Sidekick users -- Microsoft is restoring lost data. But the high-profile data loss and another involving Mac OS X Snow Leopard may leave Microsoft and Apple customers with a bad taste for some time.

Microsoft reports it has recovered most, if not all, data for Sidekick customers whose personal information was affected by a weekend outage. Microsoft plans to begin restoring users' data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after the company validates the data and its restoration plan.

Microsoft is hoping to make a big splash with the release of its Windows 7 operating system, but the features and functionality may not be enough to outdo rival Apple. In fact, a report says new Windows releases by Microsoft mean a boost in Apple's sales.

VMware has made aggressive moves toward the cloud, but the virtualization solutions provider hasn't abandoned its quest to optimize the Microsoft Windows experience for Apple Macintosh users. VMware is rolling out VMware Fusion 3 on Oct. 27 and aims to make it easier for users to run Windows applications, including graphics-intensive games, alongside Mac applications. In total, VMware Fusion 3 offers more than 50 new features and enhancements.

Ever since Apple unveiled its latest operating system in August, Mac users worldwide have been asking themselves if the upgrade is worth it.

The answer is no, you don't need Snow Leopard, otherwise known as Mac OS X version 10.6, if you're only looking for new features. But it's an unqualified yes if you're looking for extra speed.

"Our engineers further developed more than 90 per cent of the more than 1,000 applications in Mac OS X," says Georg Albrecht, a spokesman for Apple's Germany operations.

Apple has angered thousands of Mac users with the release of Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.6 because the new operating system has caused some computers to fail. After a startup failure, users are greeted with a continuous icon described as the "spinning ball of death."

In most cases, a spinning color wheel or beach ball indicates that a system is engaged in a processor-intensive activity. The ball usually disappears after a few seconds. However, when the ball spins for a much longer period, as users of Snow Leopard have reported, it is referred to as the "spinning beach ball of death."

While Microsoft Corp. prepares to release the next incarnation of Windows on Oct. 22, Apple Inc. is cutting ahead, launching a new version of its operating system for Mac computers on Friday.

Apple's new Snow Leopard software isn't as big of a step forward from its predecessor as Windows 7 will be from Windows Vista. The most important changes in the Apple operating system are under the hood, allowing software developers to rewrite their programs to run much faster.