Apple ahead of schedule with OS update

Mac fans set for an August bonus...

Apple has announced it is ahead of schedule with the development of the latest update to Mac OS X. The latest version, codenamed Jaguar, and officially know as Mac OS X 10.2, is expected to ship in August. Earlier predictions had the product pegged for a September/October release. Changes for Mac users to start excited about include those made to the Quartz rendering engine, which controls the rendering of fonts. The desktop is reportedly far crisper than with any earlier OS. However, with improvements come greater demands on the system and users running a machine with an older graphics card might find they struggle. Recommendations are that an Nvidia Geforce2MX is the bare minimum, or any 32Mb ATI Radeon graphics card. You have been warned. Jaguar also offers greater functionality for Apple's core user base, those with a creative bent. According to US newswire reports Jaguar provides new access controls for burning CDs and DVDs as well as changing settings for music and photography software.