Rumor on the web has it that Apple will release Mac OS X 10.5.6 today, which is great news, especially if the rumors turn out to be true, just as with the release of the iPhone OS 2.2. With this update Apple addresses more than 100 issues within its Mac operating system, thus making it a more attractive option to Windows. As you may know, Vista was not exactly a roaring success and consequently numerous people have decided to stick with XP . Some XP punters are scouting for second hand PCs just to get their hands on the XP OS, while others are exercising their downgrade rights, which turns out to be more expensive that getting a brand new Leopard.

According to MacRumors, Apple’s developers have been issued one more Mac OS X 10.5.6 (9G55) build. The same version has been distributed by Apple internally and not in the usual developer circles. “This would indicate that this is the final version of Mac OS X 10.5.6 before public release. We had also heard unconfirmed whispers that the new version would be made available to the public on Friday, and this new information certainly makes that plausible,” says Arnold Kim from MacRumors. According to leaked evaluation notes on the Mac OS X 10.5.6, a total of 103 bugs have been uncovered and will be fixed by the time Apple releases the final version of this Mac OS X update.

Moving on to the Microsoft camp, it is now practically impossible to purchase Windows XP . There are a few options, but I guarantee you are not going to like them. The first one is to go out and find a second hand PC for sale that already has the XP installed on it. Since you are already out shopping, you could go for option number two: purchase a Dell computer system and downgrade to XP – but getting Mac OS X Leopard is some $20 bucks cheaper.

UPDATE: Apple has released Mac OS X 10.5.6 on Monday, the 14th of December.