TechCrunch is reporting that Apple will release the first Gold Master release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion sometime in the near future.
It’s an interesting rumor. Although they are classifying the release as “GM1,” Apple traditionally releases Gold Masters only a few weeks before the actual software ships. If Lion is already at Gold Master status, barring any huge problems, Apple must be fairly convinced that Lion is fully baked.
Lion is slated for a Summer release date, but if Apple does release even the initial Gold Master in the next month, it bodes well for Lion debuting very early in summer… and very possibly late spring.