In this time of minimal Apple news — hurry along now , Apple TV — you ’re bound to see a great deal of speculation about what the company has in the whole kit . Even when the companydoeshave some newsworthiness to announce .

OK , so a maintenance update for OS X 10.4 does n’t precisely load down the same wallop as a set - top boxful that streams movies from your computer to your TV or an Apple - branded cell phone , but it ’s still a touchable ware that masses can download and install and put through its paces . But alongside the talk about OS X 10.4.9’ss improved peeled camera file sustenance , enhanced .Mac sync functioning , iCal reminder pickle , andwhatever else the update delivers , some Mac users are opting to focalise on another element of the update — namely , the “ .9 ” component part of the update .

The way the numerologists see it , Tiger hit its ninth update since the 2005 release of OS X 10.4 must mean that Leopard is just around the turning point . And if you search at the timing around the last couple of OS X 10.4 updates — 10.4.6 came out last April , 10.4.7 followed in June , and 10.4.8 seem in September — you get … well , no discernible normal , really . A fairly steady rataplan of about three calendar month between incremental updates followed by the six - month reaching between 10.4.8 and 10.4.9 . Most people seem to believe that put O X 10.5 in the May / June timeframe which would certainly be within the Spring 2007 window Apple mentioned when previewing Leopard last summer .

That , of course , assumes , two things—1 ) that Apple is n’t dead capable of slapping on a.10or a.9bor even a. May2007at the end of any additional OS X 10.4 update ; and 2 ) that Apple ’s function to hit its ego - enforce Spring 2007 deadline for Leopard . I do n’t think there ’s anything precluding Apple from doing No . 1 . As for No . 2 , all public signs seem to evoke that OS X 10.5 is on docket ; indeed , this very vane website ran a level last week in which Apple chief fiscal officer Peter Oppenheimer on the face of it confirm the Spring ship date for Leopard .

I certainly do n’t intend to raise any crimson flags , but someone couldlisten to the Webcast of that presentation — the relevant part is around the 19 , 20 minute stigma — and come to the conclusion that was n’t what he said at all . Here ’s my transcript of the input , with some non - germane stuff about Leopard ’s impact on Apple ’s sale excised from the interrogation and response .

A : Our next release of Mac OS X is called Leopard , and we ’ve antecedently announce that it will ship this spring .

Someone who likes to parse reply — and really , is n’t that why the Internet exists?—might point that Oppenheimer merely repeated a previously announce ship date , and that any ratification of a spring press release is inferred rather than inculpate . But that ’s a minor spot . The issue before us today : Does the reaching of OS X 10.4.9 mean that Leopard is lurking just over the horizon ? And if it does , when will Leopard bound ?

I ’ll say that yes — this is the last update of Tiger that we ’ll see prior to OS X 10.5 ’s release . As to when that will happen , I ’m already on the record as pick June , so I ’ll stick with that . I have no data to support that guess other than the belief that if I reverse out to be wrong at least I can argue that I was coherent .

I welcome your guesses — consistent or otherwise — in the meeting place thread below .