Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple's roadmap for the final stretch of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard development currently calls for the release of three 'key' builds through the company's high-membership Apple Developer Connection.
Each of the builds will carry a significance in its own right, the first of which is scheduled to appear between now and the start of WWDC 2009 during the second week of June. This build will reportedly include «big updates» to system components and functionality.
The next build is said to arrive alongside the start of WWDC on June 8th. It's expected to be the first build of the next-gen OS that will be «feature complete,» bundling significant changes to the Mac OS X interface, assuming those changes are not approved for inclusion in the aforementioned build.
A third and final build is tentatively scheduled to make its way to developers in the weeks between WWDC and the software's formal release. This build is expected to serve as a lead-in to the final candidate stage that precedes the declaration of a Gold Master build suited for duplication on optical media.
People familiar with the matter have previously estimate that it will take Apple upwards of two-months from the time it shows off a feature complete Snow Leopard at WWDC to deliver the software to market, suggesting a release date around August.
Apple may also choose to seed more marginal builds intermittently between these key builds if it runs into unexpected issues and requires additional feedback from developers.
Mac OS X 10.5.7 Juno
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