Apple says it will release the next version of OS X, officially called Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard, in October 2007. Based on previous OS X pricing, upgrades should cost about $150. Leopard’s new features include the following:

An automatic backup tool. Called Time Machine, this backs up your entire system, then stores all the backups by date. You can review any given day and restore a particular file or the entire system.

A reorganized desktop. A feature called Spaces lets you set up a different desktop for each of your projects. You might want to make a desktop for the applications and files you need for a current work project and another for all your media applications. When you click on an icon in the Dock, it takes you to the desktop where that application is open.

More than e-mail. Create automatic greeting cards and invitations by adding stationery templates to e-mail. You can also turn e-mails into tasks on a to-do list, adding them to a built-in calendar and assigning priorities, due dates, and alarms.

Enhanced Dashboard. A tool called Dashcode lets you create your own on-screen widgets. Another tool in the new browser, Safari for Leopard, lets you make a widget out of a live Web site.

Wider searches. OS X’s Spotlight tool is now able to search servers and ­networks. You can preview your documents, photos, and other files without launching separate applications, and you can search for files by their attributes such as author or type.

Windows on your Mac. With a feature called Boot Camp, you can set up a dual boot on your Mac that lets you run any version of Windows Vista on one partition and Leopard on the other.