Apple lands Xbox boss, Mac OS X 10.5.7, $999 MacBook Air deal

Xbox director quits for Apple

Microsoft's Xbox strategy boss Richard Teversham has quit the company after 15 years to assume a new role in Apple's European offices related to education.

For the past two years, Teversham has been Redmond's Director of Business, Insights and Strategy for Xbox, reporting directly to Vice President of Interactive Entertainment, Chris Lewis. Prior to that he held a director title overseeing the Xbox platform and marketing.

Microsoft confirmed to MCV that Teversham has step down to take "a new opportunity outside" of the company without identifying Apple by name. "A process is underway for recruiting his replacement," the software giant said.

Mac OS X 10.5.7

Once presumed to be racing towards the finish line with Mac OS X 10.5.7, Apple's now said to be easing into the release of the Leopard update and making sure all its ends are tied.

Rumors of the software's imminent release have swirled for about two weeks now but on Wednesday developers were reportedly asked to put their weight on yet another pre-release distribution carrying build number 9J58.

Like those that came before it, the latest build corrects just a couple of issues — one related to iChat and the other Safari — and continues to list incompatibility with the public beta of Safari 4.0 as its lone issue.

$999 MacBook Air and MacBook coupons

MacMall, one of AppleInsider's sponsors, dropped us a note earlier this week about a deal it's running on first-generation MacBook Airs. It's offering the original $1799 1.6GHz model with Intel graphics for $999 after instant discounts and a $200 mail-in-rebate. The deal may be a compelling option for anyone in the market for an ultra-portable Mac for basic email, internet and business use, and who isn't concerned with the NVIDIA graphics boost delivered by the latest models.

Also, the Apple authorized reseller let us know that its 3% off coupons on the current 13-inch MacBook line are going on hiatus until at least June, and will therefore expire tonight at 12:00 am Pacific. The coupons, when combined with MacMall's instant discounts, offer between $100 and $156 off the MacBook line (or $899.18 to $1,442.29). As always, full details are available via our Mac Price Guide.