Lion release date: Apple Mac OS X 10.7 shipping this week

By Richi Jennings (@richi ) - July 19, 2011.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is said to be readying the shipment of Lion, a/k/a Mac OS X 10.7. The release date looks to be tomorrow or Thursday, synchronized with the expected appearance of the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers read the runes.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Rube Goldberg, eh?..

Neil Hughes reports his deep-throated sources' sayings:

According to people with proven track records who would be in a position to know, the new product launches are set to occur later this week. Specifically...Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. ... Apple has not offered a specific launch date...only promising that it will become available...for $29.99 at some point in July.
...
...[T]here have been rumors of last-minute holdups associated with...Apple's switch to a digital distribution method. ... The Golden Master...was seeded to developers on July 1. ...[T]he software is viewed as a final build...identical to the software released to the general public.   

   
Arnold Kim has corroboration:

We've now been able to confirm that Apple Retail stores have begun receiving final copies of OS X Lion. ... The installations have come on hard drive and are meant for the...demo computers on the store floor. This...doesn't guarantee a specific launch date, but brings Apple one step closer to launch.
...
Apple is also widely expected to refresh the MacBook Air and Mac Mini computers around the same time as Lion's launch.   

And so does Seth Weintraub:

[A]ll AppleCare reps are now receiving Lion training as well as getting their workstations upgraded to Lion.  The process began over the weekend and looks to be completing today. ... We’ve also heard numerous reports that...Store display materials have been arriving over the past week as well.
 
All signs point to an upcoming Lion release..   

But strangely, Steven Sande sounds skeptical:

Frankly...we're bored to death by the same rumors that have been coming out day after day after day. Not to say that we're not wondering ourselves about Lion...but let's face it: is it really necessary to post rumors every day?
...
That being said, there are some indications that Wednesday may finally be the day. ... We received an anonymous email from an Apple Store employee who told us about new marketing materials. ... Will it happen? I guess we'll have to wait until Wednesday morning to be sure.   

And Kelly Hodgkins remembers that people said it was going to be last week:

Anyone believe these rumors this time or is this just another wild goose chase?   

And Finally...
Rube Goldberg, eh?
[hat tip: Jemima Kiss]
  
         
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards on behalf of Computerworld. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.