A Mac for $29. Seriously.

Obviously, I'm not talking about 29 dollar Apple branded hardware, but I'm talking about Apple branded software. Unbelievably so, Apple has set its next major OS release Snow Leopard, a month earlier than Windows 7. Not only that, Leopard users will be able to upgrade to Snow Leopard for just $29, but a family pack is also available for just a video game ($50).

For Mac users, this WWDC also means a long-awaited official public demo of the much-awaited streamlining of the Leopard OS. For Apple, Snow Leopard is the introduction of new technologies and minor features for Mac OS X.

Basically, Snow Leopard is actually more for hardware optimization- basically, Apple's converting much of the system programs of Mac OS X to 64-bit so there will be limitless utilization of RAM as well as a new open standard for graphics called OpenCL. Apple also promises 45% faster installation times which is a relief, and even 6GB freed space compared to the current Leopard.

However, tangible changes like QuickTime X which sports a new interface as well as the extermination of QuickTime Pro (probably), better Stacks, Chinese handwriting on the trackpad and Dock Expose (which I love), will probably impress buyers.

On the business side of things, Microsoft Exchange is now built into Snow Leopard and the seamless integration it has with the Mac is very good.

Expect Snow Leopard to be bought by a lot of people since, well, it's basically 30 dollars less than a video game and hell, 40 dollars less than Apple's own consumer iLife (and iWork) software!