Catalina was released today (Oct 7, 2019) as Bob pointed out above.
Please make sure you have a good backup strategy in place that you can recover to if Catalina is not to your liking.
Also be aware of the 32 bit application restriction that Catalina implements. 32 bit applications and even some 64 bit applications with 32 bit dependencies will not work. Also be sure to check with the
RoaringApps site to see if your apps are compatible.
Have fun.
Definitely pertinent information. Also, four other things to consider:
1. The initial release will most likely contain bugs. The .1 release will most likely come out within the next 4 weeks, so it might be best to wait until then.
2. As someone already pointed out, make sure all your peripherals will work with Catalina. It may be necessary to downloaded updated drivers for some/all of one's peripherals.
3. As I have said many times already, same with 64 bit software. This site is a useful source of such compatibility information:
Application Compatibility Table — RoaringApps
4. After downloading the installer file,
DO NOT let it continue with the installation process. Quit that when the download completes, and make a copy of that installation file in another location on your Mac.
Hope folks don't mind me posting this here (I will try and find the other thread), but this post on macworld is perfect timing:
How to create a bootable macOS Catalina installer drive | Macworld
Interesting that it does not mention the excellent program DiskMaker X. However, there is currently not a version compatible with Catalina. I suspect it will be released soon.
And of course, as chscag mentions, 32 bit applications will no longer work with Catalina. Myself, I have 2 of them: Quicken 2007, and a calculator program entitled Magic Number Machine. I also have Quicken 2017, so that issue is resolved. But can anyone recommend a 64 bit free calculator that is similar to Magic Number Machine?