Apple today announced that its newest version of Mac OS X – 10.6 Snow Leopard will start appearing on doorsteps and in stores this Friday, August 28. This beats Apple’s original ship date of “sometime in September.”

More of a refinement of 10.5 Leopard than a re-do, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard touts much tighter code, more 64-bit processing capabilities, improved multi-processor support, and improved graphics processing. The refinements result in a much smaller footprint on your hard drive, according to Apple, up to 6-7 gigabytes of less space.

The new operating system also brings a new version of QuickTime plus support for Microsoft Exchange 2007.

QuickTime X boasts a new streamlined player with “a clean, uncluttered interface with controls that fade out when they’re not needed.” It professes smoother playback. QuickTime Player can now capture audio or video using a Mac’s built-in camera and microphone. Basic editing tools allow you to cut video to a desired length, and send it to iTunes for syncing to an iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV. It also has enhanced streaming capabilities.

For Mac users in the corporate world, you can now sync Apple Mail, Address Book, and iCal with Exchange services such as email, calendar invitations, and Global Addresses – if your company is running Microsoft Exchange 2007. While it doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles of full Outlook environment – e.g., public folders, this greatly streamlines getting Macs on the corporate grid.

The best news of Snow Leopard is its price for previous Leopard owners – $29.00 – $10.00 if you purchased your Mac after June 8 via Apple’s Up-to-Date program. Users of 10.4 Tiger can buy the Mac Box Set for $169.00 which not only includes Snow Leopard, but the latest iLife ’09 and iWork ’09.

The one downside, Snow Leopard is Intel Mac only. So 10.5 Leopard was the end of the line for owners of PowerPC (PPC) Macs.