Panther (Mac OS X 10.3) to be Released in Last Week of October

Mac Rumors has received reliable confirmation that Panther will be launched during the last week of October with a corresponding in-store Apple event (similar to the Jaguar launch).

Previous hints had noted that Apple was organizing an Apple Store event for October 24th, 2003. Our most recent information, however, fails to provide the specific date for the launch and only pinpoints the last week of October.

Meanwhile, Apple continues work on Mac OS X and has reportedly shifted build numbers (7B86->7C) with the most recent known internal builds up to 7C02. (The shift from 7B to 7C likely reflects the completion of 10.3 and 7C builds would presumably be rolled into the next interim update - 10.3.1?)

Last week, there were several reports that Mac OS X 10.3 had gone Gold Master with build 7B85. 'Gold Master' indicating that the software is in a finished/final form for distribution.