I have seen many threads on many sites all decrying the delay of Leopard, some even proposing the death of Apple. While the extremists strap-on logic bombs and head-off to Redmond, I thought a calmer overview might be in order.

While some may have been waiting to buy a Mac to get the "free" upgrade to Leopard, there is nothing announced today that should affect your buying decision. OSX 10.4.9 is the best OS available today. If the upgrade prices are in the range that I have seen discussed--between $129 and $199 US--that is approximately $1.16 - $1.79 per day. You should be able to skip your potato chips with lunch and save that much.

And really, hardware should factor more into your decision anyway. Apple has done a great job of making their OSes run on older platforms so upgrading isn't expected to be an issue. But newer hardware platforms do affect the longevity of your investment. Intel's Santa Rosa is next up and is expected in May. Santa Rosa affects iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros. If these are your preferred platforms, then Santa Rosa should be your trigger, not Leopard.

Penryn for the Mac Pro users is probably coming out after Leopard anyway, if it ships in October. The articles I have found show Penryn Xeons shipping in Q4 2007, according to Intel. So if you're waiting for the new Mac Pros, Leopard should be available by then.

So buy what you need. Save up for Leopard. And enjoy Tiger for a few more months.