Last week’s big news was that Apple pushed up its Snow Leopard release by a month to provide a 60-day buffer between it and Microsoft’s biggest launch of the decade. Apple can’t match either Microsoft’s resources or price, but the feat of snagging an unchallenged 60 days during the back-to-school and early holiday shopping season points to Apple’s greatest advantage: Its marketing leader is also its CEO. Microsoft is fielding its best marketing team ever for the Windows 7 launch, led by Kathleen Hall — but she isn’t the CEO.
