SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc.'s next-generation operating system, Mac OS X "Leopard," will be available from October 26 for $129, and Apple's online store is taking pre-orders, the company said.

Leopard was originally due in June, but Apple said in April that it needed to divert resources so it could launch the much-anticipated iPhone on time. Such product delays are rare for the Cupertino-based company.

Leopard, which the company says will offer more than 300 new features, is the sixth major upgrade Apple has made to Mac OS X since the desktop operating system debuted in 2001.

One of the new features is "Boot Camp," which lets users install Microsoft Windows on Intel-based Macs, though both operating systems can't run at the same time. The feature, in a test version released last year, already has helped attract new customers to the Macintosh platform.

Mac revenues have hit record highs for the past year, and Apple's share of the PC market has grown. Analysts expect Apple's strategy of introducing products that work with Microsoft's Windows software to further boost computer sales.

Market researcher Gartner said Apple surpassed Gateway in the second quarter to become the third-largest computer vendor in the US with a 6.4 percent slice of the market, up from five percent in the same year period a year ago.