[baeksoo]

Does Panther come pre-installed on Macs bought after the official release date?

[abrody]

It should in theory. However, as has commonly been the case in prior updates Apple has lots of stock that hasn't shipped out prior to the release that still has 10.2.8 installed. That's why they issued the Mac OS X up to date program .

If though you find that you buy after October 24th and don't get Panther preloaded on the restore disk, you might convince Customer Service to send you a replacement DVD or CD with Panther on it.

[Rickster]

In the past, there's often been a couple of stages to OS releases and hardware bundling.

If you order a new Mac between the announcement of the new OS release (for 10.3, Oct 8) and sometime not long after the new OS ships (Oct 24 + maybe a few days), you'll get the new OS for "free" via the up-to-date program, with a $20 "shipping and handling" charge.

Some time after a new OS begins shipping, Apple starts preinstalling it. This tends to vary by product line, as the different product lines are often on different schedules for software bundle certification... for some products, it may be right away (like the new G4 iBooks), for others, it may be as much as a couple months.

After a new OS begins shipping but before the preinstall bundle gets updated, Apple usually sticks install CDs for the new OS in the box with new hardware. However, this only applies to custom built machines and to stock that's in Apple's hands... depending on where you order from, you may end up with a machine that sat in an Ingram Micro warehouse for a couple months. However, many third part resellers have deals with Apple that let them bundle Panther for free with their current hardware stock.

My recommendation is that if you want to avoid the $20 up-to-date deal, wait a couple of days before ordering direct from Apple, just to be safe, or to talk to people at the retail store or reseller you order from.