By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 04:00 PM EST (01:00 PM PST)

Apple's Leopard operating system is taking aim at rival offerings from Microsoft. Meanwhile, Mac OS X developers get their hands on Leopard beginning Monday. And the announcements coming out of WWDC will reportedly spur display changes inside Apple retail store windows.

Apple rips Vista

We've been telling readers that Apple has had its sights on Redmond and Vista, and judging by the latest banner photos (below) coming out of San Francisco, the company isn't keeping it a secret.

A banner on the second floor of the Moscone West -- the host venue for this week's World Wide Developers Conference -- reads, "Mac OS X Leopard -- Introducing Vista 2.0." Similarly, one on the opposite end of the floor says, "Mac OS X Leopard -- Hasta la Vista, Vista."

Each banner features a partial shot of a black and grey Mac OS X optical disc, presumably Apple's Leopard retail CD design. The same disc was featured in photos of an earlier WWDC banner.

Developers to receive Leopard

On a similar subject, Mac OS X developers on Monday will begin to receive the first pre-release builds of Leopard, AppleInsider been able to verify.

WWDC attendees will be the first to receive their copy of Leopard. It will come in the form of a "Leopard Preview" disc. Soon thereafter, Apple will begin seeding the same build of the operating system to other developers through its online distribution system.

Apple partners and major software companies will be first in line for online distribution of Leopard. Apple Developer Connection availability is expected to follow, likely with first priority going to higher-tier members.

New retail window displays

Within the two weeks following WWDC and its associated product announcements, Apple will be updating its retail store windows with new promotional items, tipsters have also told AppleInsider.