UPDATE: Amazon now offers Leopard for $109 (or $189 for the Family Pack).

Apple has officially announced the release of its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X Leopard on October 26.

Leopard features over 300 new features and enhancements, including a new Desktop and Dock, a redesigned Finder, the Time Machine ultra modern backup feature, a new version of iChat, multiple-desktops with Spaces, advanced file preview with QuickLook among many others.

The company has refreshed the page dedicated to Mac OS X Leopard on its web site with more information, new screenshots and demo videos.

MacScoop was first to mention a quite precise release timeframe of "late October" in an exclusive report posted in June (with follow-up in September), revealing the development roadmap to the release of Mac OS X Leopard.

A server version of Leopard has also been announced today, main features include setup made easier, iCal server, Wiki-based collaborative server and Podcast Producer.

The new operating system, will be priced $129 for any category of buyers, including education. It is available for pre-order right now and will start shipping during the last week of October in Standard and Family Pack versions.