It’s been one of the longest periods without a Mac OS update, but this latest version has been worth the wait. Hundreds waited in line across the country to get their hands on Leopard and possible get one of the 500 free T-Shirts per store.

Much of the anticipation for an exceptional product was created over the last week as reviewers began to get their copies. Walt Mossberg had an incredibly optimistic review that pointed to Leopard as being an “evolutionary” upgrade.

With Apple’s (AAPL) renewed consumer enthusiasm, it appears as though almost any product that has a special release date has long lines and happy customers. Very much unique to Apple products, consumers will wait hours and hours to get their hands on the first copies. With the company’s market share growing rapidly and this incredible cult of Mac fans, Apple has finally received the appreciation it deserves.

A review of the Mac OS X Leopard will be on MarketMatador.com within the next week.

Close followers of Apple’s Online Store may have just found the latest sign of an October 26th release of Leopard. The store is now delaying the shipping of Tiger (OSX 10.4) until October 26th. Coincidence? We think not.

For weeks now, rumor sites, including MarketMatador.com, have been hinting at an October 26th release of Leopard. Only two weeks from the supposed release, the Apple Store has decided to delay the shipment of OS X Tiger until October 26th.

Update: Within minutes of the story getting out, the Apple Store changed it back to: “Ships Within 24 hours.” 

AppleInsider.com has just released industry rumors about the launch date for Apple’s newest operating system, OS X Leopard. The consensus believes that the release date should be some time in late October.

In the past, Apple has traditionally chosen Fridays for the release of operating systems. Therefore, that would point to an October 26th release date. Already guaranteed is the fact that Leopard will be released some time in October.

Apple already pushed back the original release, due to the iPhone, which was the original setback. Ultimately, the iPhone was released on the last day of the month and that may point to a later release of Leopard as well.

A recent update on AppleInsider:

We are receiving additional tips from industry sources who indicate that October 26 is currently the estimated ship date for Mac OS X Leopard.

Source: AppleInsider.com

Leopard is expected to release with a price tag of $129 for the single license and $199 for the family-pack.