I'm going to hold off on this one for a little while, myself. Let others find the bugs and jump in after they're fixed - that's my philosophy. I did my time as an early adopter. I'm relaxing now.

You're right that Spotlight looks pretty cool, but I'd say the same about QuickSilver, which is good (and free!) on Panther.

Ack! digging out that URL I see that the next release of QuickSilver will require 10.4! And they don't let you use an 'expired' version for very long...

Maybe I'll early-adopt one more time. Just not on release day - maybe a few weeks later, after keeping an eye on the forums...

Nice choice for the headline, by the way...

So if I go buy my boy an iBook or Mini-Me for his birthday as I planned to do, I'm going to need to shell out another $130 for an upgrade two weeks later? Crikey...

Brian, a lot of the new stuff in Tiger is now available via third party. Apple has a bad habit (depending on how you view it) of incorporating other people's ideas into the OS. I guess it's one of the hazards of writing software for a company that actually listens to its customers.

Nice choice for the headline, by the way...

I wasn't sure anyone would catch that. I don't think I've got many pre-teen girls in my audience. ;-)

So if I go buy my boy an iBook or Mini-Me for his birthday as I planned to do, I'm going to need to shell out another $130 for an upgrade two weeks later?

I seriously doubt it. Apple's pretty good about giving free upgrades if you bought a computer within a month or two of the OS release. But, as they say, YMMV.

I just ordered mine. I got the educator discount. $69.00.

While looking at the site I am pretty sure that it said that if you buy a Mac after the 12th of April you will get a free upgrade.

I just looked to double check:

If you purchased a new Mac on or after April 12 that didn’t include Tiger, you can upgrade for just the cost of the media. Learn more.

I don't think I've got many pre-teen girls in my audience. ;-)
For the record, I am not now and never have been a pre-teen girl.

I was disappointed that I couldn't find a Tiger Beat cover featuring Scott Baio - the guy all the girls in my junior high school had plastered inside their locker doors.

I was disappointed that I couldn't find a Tiger Beat cover featuring Scott Baio...

I'm trying to remember who was the heartthrob when I was that age...I think David Cassidy of "Partridge Family" fame filled that role, which freed me up for other things. ;-)

I saw an apple rep demonstrate the new OS in New York recently. While all of the 200 features are neat, they're hardly enough to justify upgrading if you're satisfied with OS 10.3. I suspect Apple will slow the new releases down because it's getting harder to find 200 new things to add to the OS as much as it's about listening to customers complain.