NEW YORK - Apple Computer sharpened its focus on the personal computer market Friday with the release of a new operating system called "Tiger" that aims to take a bigger bite out of the market dominated by Microsoft.
Apple on Friday was starting to sell version 10.4 of its operating system for Macintosh computers, adding the name Tiger in an effort to show a more aggressive stand, replacing the 10.3 version dubbed Panther.
The new system "will change the way millions of people use their computers," said Philip Schiller, Apple`s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. "Our competitors will be trying to copy Tiger`s more than 200 new features and innovations for years to come."
Apple remains a small player in the personal computer business, and Microsoft`s Windows remains the operating system on more than 90 percent of the world`s PCs.
But Apple, while still a far cry from the 1980s when it was a market leader, recently has picked up momentum, boosting its market share to 3.7 percent from 2.6 percent a year earlier, according to research firm Gartner Inc.
And analysts have been upbeat on Apple, which has created a buzz with its iPod music players that is generating more interest in the Apple Macintosh system.
CSFB analyst Rob Semple said of Tiger: "We expect it to be Apple`s most popular (operating system) iteration to date. Apple has broken records with each of its two previous updates (Jaguar and Panther), with Panther recording revenue of 60-plus million dollars in its first quarter, which we expect Tiger to easily surpass."
Semple said the iPod`s success is spilling over the PC area.
"While iPod has been enormously successful and will continue to grow as a percentage of the total business, we believe the next leg of Apple`s share price ascension will be driven by success in the PC market, where the Mac has just completed its second consecutive quarter of share gain," he said.
Tiger, released just as Microsoft is still working on its new operating system dubbed "Longhorn," aims to improve computing with a new "dashboard" and improved desktop search function, called Spotlight.
"Tiger delivers more than 200 new features and innovations including Spotlight, a revolutionary desktop search technology that lets users instantly find anything stored on their Mac, including documents, e-mails, contacts and images; and Dashboard, a new way to instantly access important information like weather forecasts and stock quotes, using a dazzling new class of applications called widgets," Apple said in a statement.
Consumers will be able to purchase the software in the United States for 129 dollars and in Europe for 129 euros.
Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox said Tiger puts Apple ahead of Microsoft in technology for PC operating systems.
"Microsoft is months away from issuing a next-generation Windows beta, which will put Tiger well in front of most, early Longhorn hype," he said.
"Apple also is in a position to exploit Microsoft missteps," said Wilcox, adding that the new search capacity is a major selling point for Tiger, helping users locate files without what he called "the archaic file folder metaphor."
"Do people think about where to file their memories in their brains? Robust search is much closer than file folders to how most people think. Apple can claim leadership, while Microsoft appears to fall behind."
"I think we`re leading the operating system race, and others are following our tail lights," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said recently.
Still, analysts said Tiger itself is not about to turn the computer world upside down.
Piper Jaffrey analyst Eugene Munster said he doubts Tiger alone will produce more converts to Apple.
"It definitely adds the cool factor, which is all part of the Apple mystique," Munster said. "But it`s not going to be the same level as a more secure operating system or better applications."
04/29/2005 17:13 GMT