Mac OS X Tiger to ship in late-March?

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Has an online retailer accidently divulged information pertaining to the release of Apple's next generation operating system?



A recently added Amazon.com product pre-order page for Apple Computer's forthcoming Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" operating system surprisingly indicates that the product will ship in late March.



"This item will be released on March 31, 2005. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives," the web page reads. Like previous releases, the software is priced at (US) $129.95, but no further product details are provided.



Apple--a company synonymous with secrecy--has traditionally shyed away from the temerarious practice of pinpointing precise release dates for software products still under development.



Although the web-based retailer is a large mover of Apple goods and sometimes privy to advanced information, it's unlikely that Amazon could provide specific release dates in advance of Apple. The published release date is likely an approximation based on information passed on by the computer company.



Apple announced Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" at its World Wide Developers Conference in June and said that it would be released in the first half of 2005.



Update: As of 7:00 pm EST Amazon.com has removed the March 31st release date. The product page now reads, "This item is not stocked or has been discontinued."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    Timing sounds good, but I'll wait for an official Apple announcement before I place my order.
  • Reply 2 of 31
    I think they are showing off. Microsoft couldn't manage to do this to save their lives. Ha ha!
  • Reply 3 of 31
    Apple announced at WWDC that it would ship in the 1st Q of 2005.



    31st March happens to be the end of the 1st Q, so amazon are just covering themselves by syaing it will be out by that date and probably before, nothing to do with them knowing something we don't!



    i would expect it to be announced at SF, with shipping date start of feb
  • Reply 4 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally posted by gazza

    Apple announced at WWDC that it would ship in the 1st Q of 2005.



    31st March happens to be the end of the 1st Q, so amazon are just covering themselves by syaing it will be out by that date and probably before, nothing to do with them knowing something we don't!



    i would expect it to be announced at paris expo, with shipping date start of feb




    No, Steve said first half, ie, June
  • Reply 5 of 31
    March 31?



    Why not April 1, as that is the day when Apple became a corporation.

    It would be a lovely way to mark another anniversary.
  • Reply 6 of 31
    adamraoadamrao Posts: 175member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JimDreamworx

    March 31?



    Why not April 1, as that is the day when Apple became a corporation.

    It would be a lovely way to mark another anniversary.




    Because April 1st is also April Fools' Day and they don't want people to think it's a hoax.
  • Reply 7 of 31
    Weird thing happened today at work. An Apple representative demoed Xsan and told us Tiger would become available in January 2005! I was totally surprised by that statement.
  • Reply 8 of 31
    The same thing happend when i bought motion. The date said July 31 but it didn't come out for several more weeks.
  • Reply 9 of 31
    It's pretty common for Amazon to make up release dates. They've listed various publication dates for George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows all year long, even though he hasn't even finished writing it yet. So I wouldn't put much stock in their "release" date.
  • Reply 10 of 31
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    that doesn't make sense



    they release OSes on Saturdaies.
  • Reply 11 of 31
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    I believe I once read something along the lines that Amazon is required by law to provide a release date if it takes pre-orders, but the law says nothing about how often that release date can change. Thus, they make it up. Sorry, I don't have a source on that, though.



    In any case, no vendor will ever stand by their release dates, and universally list caveats concerning them.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    macslutmacslut Posts: 514member
    This rumor should be killed.



    Amazon usually does enter made-up dates for coming products. It could be before or after their made-up date (personally I'm guessing before).



    The other *huge* red flag is that they're predicting a *ship* date that's like half a year from now. That just doesn't happen with software like this. You can *estimate* that the OS will ship in some point in time (like 1Q or 1H), but you won't really know it's Gold Master until you've thoroughly built and tested a Release Candidate. Once the RC achieves GM status, you end up with 2-4 weeks before shipping starts.



    In other words, guestimates turn into estimates going 6 months to 3 months, and turn into announcements at about the 1 month mark before release.
  • Reply 13 of 31
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    It's a placeholder.
  • Reply 14 of 31
    I would be surprised if anyone, even Amazon would know this far ahead of time about an apple product release. My guess is that Apple has internal goals for the release, but would never publicize them until a few months in advance. Software release dates seem to slip frequently.



    Mark



    [Edited by Jambo - No "Free" iPod links - thanks]
  • Reply 15 of 31
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dewaynec

    It's pretty common for Amazon to make up release dates. They've listed various publication dates for George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows all year long, even though he hasn't even finished writing it yet. So I wouldn't put much stock in their "release" date.



    Who?
  • Reply 16 of 31
    I wouldn't put too much stock in that. A few weeks ago, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 for Mac was available for pre-order with a releasedate of Nov. 1. A few days ago, Adobe released it so I ordered it right away and Amazon still thinks it's a Nov. 1 release and promised delivery on Nov. 4-5.



    I'll see whether it arrives any sooner. The point is that Amazon's release dates aren't highly reliable so you shouldn't go planning your life around them. (I would say "get a life" if you are planning your life around Tiger, but then I realized I stood in a VERY long line to get Jaguar!)
  • Reply 17 of 31
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    If that was the release date, it isnt now, Steve NEVER gets scooped like this, I would bet that the daye was changed and amazon was "taken to the wood shed" so to speak
  • Reply 18 of 31
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mdeshur

    Earn a free ipod by clicking here!!!



    DROP DEAD SH*THEAD
  • Reply 19 of 31
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    a_greer, chill. I'm on it.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    One word... 24th.



    You get the idea
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