Originally I'd planned to get it at my local Apple Authorised Reseller but they said that they can't guarantee when their stocks will arrive. I even phoned the local Apple Retail Store (which would be a 46 mile round trip) who (unbelievably) said that they're not taking pre-orders but perhaps I could phone back next week to see if they've changed their minds.
Do what?! So I've now thought s*d it and pre-ordered from the on-line Apple Store instead.
I bought Tiger when it had been out for a while so this is my first experience of getting a new Apple OS on release, however I've read on other threads on this site that the deliveries arrive pretty swiftly - but this may be related to the US I've no idea how fast the delivery is here in the UK. I called the Apple Store's freephone number and the woman I spoke to didn't even know that the 26th was a Friday (we ALL know it's a Friday, eh lads?) and she said it would take "a few days" to arrive. Yeah, right, thanks for that...
Hey - who knows. It'll get here when it gets here and if it's not by that first weekend at least it'll give others more time to report any bugs (only joking if you're planning on flaming that comment!!)