Apple have officially announced the latest version of their operating system called Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, which is not only packed with speed and performance improvements – but quicker to market than expected, with shipping to begin in a few days on August 28.

Snow Leopard is a performance-based update and is half the size of its Leopard predecessor. It will actually free up 7GB of space when installed and roars along loading emails in Mail twice as fast, performing initial Time Machine backups 80 percent faster and equipped with a 64-bit version of Safari 4, delivers 50 percent faster Javascript performance – making for much zippier pageloads. The Finder is also more responsive, which should reduce hangs when your system is under heavy load.

Snow Leopard also includes a next generation 64-bit media player called QuickTime X, which sports a new uncluttered interface and boasts a 2.4x faster launch speed. QuickTime can now capture video and audio through your built-in webcam and microphone, trim media and easily send your creations to iTunes or upload them to YouTube for sharing.

Unfortunately, OS X 10.6 does condemn our PowerPC Macs to an untimely obsolescence, as it only supports the newer Intel-based Macs (look for “About This Mac” in the Finder if you’re unsure). If you meet this unfortunate requirement, a single user upgrade is well worth its small $29.00 ($49.00 for the family pack) price tag. For a full app upgrade, the new Snow Leopard inclusive Mac Box Sets are also available for $169 (single) and $229 (family) coupled with both iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09.

The new OS, along with the updated Mac Box Sets are available now on pre-order at Amazon.com with shipping to commence on August 28. If you’re in the UK, Amazon.co.uk are also stocking the lineup, with Snow Leopard priced at £23.99 / £39.00 and the latest Mac Box Sets for £129 / £179.

Sources:
Apple (Press Release) and Apple (Snow Leopard Overview)