Apple Pushing for October 3rd Panther Rollout?

Several week's ago AppleInsider contacts claimed that Apple's target rollout date for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was set to October 3rd (hence, 10.3). The release is said to be accompanied by a nation-wide event at all Apple Store locations in addition to other select retailers such as CompUSA and BestBuy.

Apparently the computer company is still optimistic about reaching such goals, with the possibility of the first Final Candidate of Panther arriving by week's end. The progression from Final Candidate status to Gold Master traditionally takes no more than three weeks, including the time required to burn and ship the CDs to retail outlets. Of course, software development can be unpredictable at times.

According to sources, the Panther development team at Apple is in it for the long haul, often working through the evening. Moral is said to be high with a new meaning given to 'blood sweat and code.' Over the past week bugs have literally been vanishing from builds at an impressive pace. 'One great thing at Apple is that they retain the ability to do more than one OS compile a day," one source said. Meanwhile the source joked that over at Microsoft they usually start the compile, leave for the night, or take their sons on a fishing trip rather than stick around and wait.

Last year Apple officially release Mac OS 10.2 Jaguar at '10:20' pm on August 23rd.