OS X 10.2 likely to ship early

Thanks to Borg77 for posting this on the forum.

The new version, code-named Jaguar and officially known as Mac OS X 10.2, is now expected to ship in early August, barring unforeseen difficulties, said sources familiar with Apple's product strategy. In May, Apple indicated the OS would ship by the end of summer, which many analysts took to mean the end of September or even October.

"It sort of seems like the same situation as the first release of OS X, which came at a time when Apple needed to generate some high-margin revenue," said Technology Business Research analyst Tim Deal. "It's quite possible we'll see (the new version) released ahead of schedule--again, at a time when Apple needs to maintain its margins and profitability."

In typical fashion, Apple would not comment on the pending announcement--due at the upcoming MacWorld Expo, which starts in two weeks--or whether Jaguar will appear early.

"We have stated publicly that Jaguar will be available in late summer," was all company spokesman Bill Evans would offer.

But in a sign that testing is winding down, Apple last week began closing the spigot on Jaguar beta releases, which before then had been rolling out, on average, about twice a week, said tester sources.

News source: ZDNet