Apple Computer Inc. on Monday made it official: It will preview the next Mac OS X operating system, code named "Leopard," at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in August.

Although long-expected by Apple followers and promised by chief executive Steve Jobs in 2005, the announcement was the first formal acknowledgement by the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer and consumer electronics maker that it would actually have something to show at WWDC.

A team made up of Jobs; head of marketing Philip Schiller; the vice president of software engineering, Bertrand Serlet; and the vice president of platform experience, Scott Forstall will demo Mac OS X 10.5 at a keynote on WWDC's opening day, August 7.

Apple also said that it would include multiple conference tracks during the five-day San Francisco event which will go into more detail on Leopard.

At last year's WWDC, Jobs said Apple would release Leopard by the end of 2006. The new operating system will be the first to support both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs from the get-go.