Good grief! I take one week off, to go to Mexico for some well-earned “R&R” (rest and relaxation for you civilian types) and all Dell breaks loose. Here’s what you (actually I) missed.

Last week, without much fanfare – wait, let me rephrase that – with a quiet-as-a-mouse, a-few-minutes-after-the-closing-bell-on-Wall-Street, maybe-no-one-will-notice approach - Apple announced that the release of the next version of their Mac OS X operating system, nicknamed “Leopard”, will be delayed until October of this year.

They blamed the delay on their much-ballyhooed iPhone, which will be released in late June. Apparently, since the iPhone runs on Leopard, Apple decided to divert some Leopard development resources to the iPhone project in order to meet the announced June release date.

Apple has a lot riding on the iPhone. In order to break into the crowded smartphone market, the iPhone’s “wow” has to be as big as its hype. Any delays in iPhone would actually become the hype, and Apple probably has some contractual deadlines with service providers to meet as well.

As you’ll remember, Apple originally promised Leopard in the “spring of 2007”. “Spring” could’ve been as late as June 20th. So, if Leopard is released the last week of October, the delay turns out to be about nineteen weeks, or 133 days, or 3,192 hours. But, who’s counting?

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs previewed Leopard last summer at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), he poked fun at Microsoft’s rather tardy Vista operating system and announced that several “Top Secret” Leopard features and capabilities were not being previewed, ostensibly so they couldn’t be copied by Microsoft. While “Redmond, start your photocopiers” is a good punchline, the massive lead times required to make major changes in operating systems (as Apple is apparently discovering), would’ve certainly prevented Microsoft from sneaking any last-minute features gleaned from Apple’s Leopard into Vista.

Many analysts saw the Leopard delay coming. Recent Leopard “builds” (preliminary versions of the operating system released to developers so they can modify their programs to not only run on the new system but also take full advantage of new system’s capabilities) did not contain any previously unreleased features – no “Top Secrets”. There would’ve been no time to announce the new features (certainly with great fanfare at an Apple “Special Event”) and get them into developer’s hands before the end of June.

Another reason Apple could wait to spring Leopard until later in the year is the lukewarm reception of Microsoft’s Vista. In fact, just this week, due to popular demand, Dell announced it would offer, as an option, PCs loaded with Windows XP instead of Vista. This is not good news for Microsoft, who had “persuaded” computer vendors to only offer new PCs loaded with Vista.

I (being the eternal optimist) view the Leopard delay as good news. In their press release from last week, Apple announced that Steve Jobs will unveil Leopard’s secrets during his keynote address at WWDC on June 11th. Developers present will receive a near-final-release copy of Leopard so they can get their applications ready for October.

June’s certainly going to be a great month for Apple. Leopard’s “Top Secret” features will be unveiled at WWDC, and likely some hints at iLife ’07 (iMovie, iDVD, etc.), sure to accompany Leopard. A couple weeks later, lines of eager iPhone early-adopters will begin to form at Apple Retail Stores and AT&T/Cingular outlets.

And here’s the really sweet part. Apple’s current iteration of Mac OS X, “Tiger” is still the best consumer computer operating system on the planet, and will be, right up to October.