AppleInsider reports on a Wall Street analysts approach to the mass consensus that Apple is behind schedule on its next operating system, Mac OS X 10.5.
American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has gone on the offensive against a DigiTimes report that Apple is behind schedule of Leopard, speculating that the delay was caused by Apple attempting to incorporate dual booting with Microsoft Windows Vista.
"From our analysis, we believe these concerns are overdone and believe that Mac OS X Leopard will ship on time in the 'Spring' timeframe, or Apple's June quarter," Wu wrote in a report distributed to select clients.
"Our sources indicate that Apple's latest beta build has made noticeable improvements in stability and functionality from previous builds and that Apple is likely one or two upcoming builds away from reaching 'final candidate' stage to be released for manufacturing."
Wu also acknowledged concern from developers that they feel left in the dark concerning Leopard's "top secret" features.
"At some point, we believe Apple needs to 'publish' or enable these so-far undocumented features for wider beta testing,"
"Many are hoping, including us, that it is virtual machine technology similar to that offered by Parallels, Inc. that allows seamless operation of Mac OS and Windows simultaneously. If so, we believe this would serve as a major catalyst for Mac sales."
These comments regarding a virtual machine come after Apple publicly stated that it had no interest in introducing its own embedded virtualisation technologies.
Towards the end of the report Wu noted on the future prospects for Apple.
"We see several catalysts in the quarters ahead, including Mac OS X Leopard, new Macs, new iPods, new movie and carrier partners, and lower cost cell phones,"
The analyst maintained a "Buy" rating on shares of Apple Inc.