Cupertino (CA) - Apple announced today that it has set a new, firm release date for its next-generation operating system of October 26.

Mac OS X "Leopard" will carry a retail price of around $130, complete with the "Boot Camp" software that allows Mac users to run a Windows operating system alongside the proprietary Apple platform.

Apple pledges more than 300 new features have been added to the new platform, including improvements to Finder, iChat, e-mail, and "Spaces".  Another feature is called "Time Machine", which allows users to warp back to a specific date and see a snapshot of their computer from that time.  It will also let users restore files that existed that day but were since deleted.

The new OS had originally been planned for a June release, but Apple set it aside while it pushed for a more timely launch of the iPhone.  Leopard is the sixth true upgrade to the Mac OS X platform since it first appeared in 2001.