Snow Leopard Leaps Sooner

Published: 24 Aug 2009 22:49:51 PST

Reuters--Apple said Monday its new operating system for Mac computers will go on sale this Friday, a bit earlier than expected, as the company looks to continue to expand its share of the PC market.

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Apple's ( AAPL - news - people ) new Snow Leopard software will sell as an upgrade for $29, starting Aug. 28. Apple had previously said it would ship in September.

Apple sold 2.6 million Mac computers in the June quarter, up 4% from a year ago.

The company is the No. 4 PC maker in the U.S., according to research group Gartner, with 8.7% of that market. It does not rank in the top five in global shipments.

Apple rival Microsoft's ( MSFT - news - people ) new Windows 7 operating system is due in October. Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple fell 16 cents to $169.06 in trading Monday on the Nasdaq.