Apple"s CFO says he doesn"t view Microsoft"s rival Vista operating system as a threat to the forthcoming Leopard version of the Mac OS, and said the company could receive a financial boost when Apple"s next operating system ships later this year. Peter Oppenheimer, speaking to investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, which was webcast, also said the forthcoming Apple TV will ship by mid-month, after the Cupertino, Calif.-based company took extra time "to finish" the multimedia device. He said Apple continues to be price-competitive where it seeks to be in the PC space, and has seen strong growth in strategic segments.
During a question-and-answer session at the conference, the chief financial officer voiced a note of confidence when talking about the forthcoming version of the Macintosh OS. He drew a distinction between difficulties the market has had in rolling out Microsoft"s Vista -- including driver compatibility and increased hardware requirements -- and Leopard.