Apple's latest version of Leopard a release candidate?

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Apple's iPhone has been the source of most of the buzz on tech sites over the past several months, but let's not forget Apple is more than just a sweet touch-screen mobile phone company--Apple made its name with stylish hardware and intuitive software meant to take the complexity out of personal computing.

As a reminder to the iPhone maniacs (myself included), last Friday, Apple released its latest build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Early reports say it is a complete version that may be considered release candidate status. Oddly, Friday's release came on the heels of two minor updates to the previous build that fixed issues with the Automatic Software Update features. Just hours after the two minor updates, Apple Developer Connection members were given the release candidate build of Leopard as a 6.5GB download.

Early Leopard adopters shouldn't start draining their savings accounts yet however; those familiar with the new release say this will probably be the first of many release candidates before Apple settles on a final version.

Apple previously announced Leopard would be available in October, so expect to see more release candidates and news about features in coming weeks. If you want to refresh your enthusiasm or acquaint yourself with Apple's new OS, take a look at some of the exciting new features and enhancements at Apple's Web site.