The hype begins!

As the version release of Apple's newest OS X operating system looms only a week away, the expectations around "Leopard" are beginning to build in the Apple community. With over 300 new features, Leopard is expected to be promising. Adding to the boost that Apple will receive is the expected release of an Apple iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), sometime next year.

Despite the publicity... I have found in my travels that many Apple users skeptical of becoming an early adopter of this new version of the OS. This skepticism may result in a more flat growth than expected, as users wait for bugs to be worked out. It is entirely plausible that the ruckus caused by clamoring early adopters of the iPhone took its toll, but I'll not be betting against Apple. Apple's long-term success record in the consumer market is hard to beat. Steve Jobs gets it.

But the hype does not all belong to Apple! In a daring move, Ubuntu Linux released version 7.10 of its flagship operating system yesterday. Although Ubuntu is not as full-featured an operating system for the Mac in many areas, this Debian-based open-source community was able to capitalize on headlines and bring its operating system into the view of world media. Corporate IT departments that traditionally use Fedora, may look at Ubuntu as a good alternative, as they tossed their hat into the ring. But wait! Ubuntu is truly targeted at the consumer, with the new GNOME 2.20 desktop environment and an assortment of familiar programs, including Firefox and Flash player. The growth of Linux has finished its growth in attempting to displace pure UNIX, it is looking to grow through the displacement of other competitors and Microsoft mainly.

I am very happy with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on one of the corporate web servers that I maintain in a development environment. Ubuntu is definitely worth a look and may have a place in my repertoire, especially in areas where I need a different "user-friendly" interface for a more consumer user (no negative diggs on Red Hat here, I like it!). I may test Ubuntu on my laptop to see how it "behaves" for a bit, and report back to our readers and listeners. It will be very interesting to see how much Linux contenders eat away at Microsoft Windows and how many Apple users replace their Windows partitions with full-featured Linux variants.

Hang on folks...there is more hype and counter-hype to come, as companies jockey for position trying to hang on to a piece of Apple's publicity coattails.

Marc Asturias - "Mister Marc"

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