Apple this week told the media that they will be holding a press event this Thursday, April 8th at 10AM PDT, to offer a "sneak peek of the next generation iPhone OS software." Is there reason to be excited?

Perhaps. AppleInsider has been claiming for some time now that they have it on good authority iPhone OS 4 will feature widespread multitasking support, including for third party apps. This is something that’s sorely lacking on the current iPhone OS, giving Android a major leg up in the mobile world. Lack of true multitasking support could also end up haunting Apple in the tablet space as HP, Asus, Lenovo, and everyone else preps handheld pads of their own.

"Those familiar with the design of iPhone 4.0 said that the user interface will resemble Apple’s desktop Expose feature, in that a key combination — reportedly hitting the Home button twice — will trigger an expose-like interface that brings up a series of icons representing the currently running apps, allowing users to quickly select the one they want to switch to directly. When a selection is made, the iPhone OS zooms out of the Expose task manager and transitions to that app," AppleInsider reported at the end of March.

With or without multitasking (and we’d be shocked if it wasn’t included), you can probably expect a lot more changes in iPhone OS 4, some big and some a little more subtle. By comparison, iPhone OS 3.0 introduced more than 100 new features, including cut and paste, the ability to send MMS, and a bunch more.

Other rumored features that might appear in version 4.0 include a cleaned up UI that’s easier to navigate, multi-touch gestures OS-wide, and some graphical and UI changes.

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