OK. Well, the counter will have changed by time anybody sees this. Apple has updated their website and is now counting down to Panther and offering preorders.

Apple.com Panther Information

Mac OS X has evolved. The fourth major release in just three years, Panther offers breakthroughs in innovation, ease of use and reliability that won’t be seen in other operating systems for years, if ever.

(via fahlman on AppleInsider)

The only question for me now is if I pre-order now, or actually go to the Apple Store and fight the throngs and feel the excitement of getting it right there on the spot at the first possible moment rather than getting it the next morning FedEx.

Hmmm…

Anyway, all the reviews of pre-release versions of Panther that I’ve seen say it is pretty damn awesome. Adds a number of new useful features, and runs faster than Jaguar on pretty much every machine… including almost 3 year old Powerbooks like mine.

I’ll need to be getting copies for both my machines at home and for my mom. I hope they offer the “Family Pack” thing again this time, and right away… looks like they do. Good. Last time I ordered the multiple copies individually at a much higher cost, then they announced the family pack a few weeks later. Grrr! Anyway, I’m leaning toward just doing the pre-order, but going to the Apple Store might be fun! It will be a madhouse!

OK, maybe that wouldn’t be so much fun.