As part of its push to grab a bigger share of the business computing market, Apple is touting the fact that its forthcoming Mac OS X Leopard operating system is fully Unix compliant -- meaning the software will run many of the applications typically used in large corporations.

Because it's Unix-based, Leopard offers a number of features that could appeal to business IT managers. Among other things, Leopard is compliant with POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface), a standard designed to ensure that code authored for one POSIX system will work on another.

Leopard also provides a Terminal application that advanced users can employ to access the operating system's underlying Unix interface. The software will also natively run 64-bit or 32-bit applications.

Beyond its Unix credentials, Leopard comes with a preinstalled version of Bootcamp -- software that allows users to run Windows applications on a Macintosh. That could help Apple overcome the dearth of business applications currently available for the Mac OS.

Still, Apple has a long way to go if it's to make a splash in the business computing market. Various estimates put the company's overall share of the PC market at between 5% and 6%, but the number drops considerably in corporate environments -- where Macs are usually confined to art and graphics departments. Microsoft aside, Leopard also has to compete with Linux for a larger share of the corporate market. Linux commands more than 12% of the server market, according to researchers at IDC, though it controls only a miniscule portion the desktop market.

Apple plans to release Leopard on October 26th. To run the OS, users will need a Mac with at least a 867-MHz PowerPC G4 processor, 512 Mbytes of memory and 9 Gbytes of available disk space. Leopard will also run on Intel-based Macs. A server version of Leopard will also be available at the same time. The license includes common Web hosting, app server, and directory service applications. The back-end OS also includes collaboration and distributed computing features such as Xgrid 2, Wiki Server, and Podcast Producer.

Apple has begun taking preorders for the software. A single-user upgrade pack is priced at $129, while a Family Pack good for five installations costs $199. Leopard also will ship pre-installed on the full range of high-end Macs. The server version costs $499 for 10-client packs and upgrades and $999 for an unlimited-client license.