Apple postpones developer conference

Apple has postponed its annual developers conference, scheduled for May, preferring instead to move the event back to June so as to coincide with the release of a preview version of the next update to its operating system, called Panther.

The five-day Apple Worldwide Developers Conference was originally slated to take place from 19 May to 23 May in San Jose. However, the company has now announced new dates from 23 June to 27 June in San Francisco's Moscone Center.

The change occurred so that Apple could give attendees an early version of Panther, a forthcoming update to its Mac OS X operating system, according to the company. Other than the name, not much is known about the software, sources said. The code name goes along with the 'jungle' theme applied to other Apple products. The current version of the Mac OS, Mac OS X version 10.2, is sold under the name Jaguar, and an Apple-developed browser goes by the name of Safari.

Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of worldwide developer relations, said: "Our annual Worldwide Developers Conference provides our developers an in-depth look at the future of the Mac platform, and giving everyone a preview release of Panther is the best way to do that. Moving to June ensures that every developer will leave the event with a copy of Panther in their hands."

It has been a busy week for Apple. On Tuesday, the company stopped selling the original iMac to the general public. Released in 1998, the all-in-one computer is widely credited for keeping the company alive during a tumultuous period. On the same day, Apple released a server geared for clustering.

The next day, the company named former US vice president Al Gore to its board of directors. Another new director will also be named in the relatively near future.