A promotion that promises to sweeten the pain of the $129 update to Apple's OS X 10.2 Jaguar release doesn't apply to Jaguar, leaving Register readers perplexed.

One reader in New York discovered the promotion on Apple's US web site after following the link from the Jaguar lead-in on Apple's front page. "Purchase an iMac, iBook, PowerBook, or Power Mac or Mac OS X system software anytime between July 1 and October 15, 2002, and get over 20 great deals," it promises. Buy a Mac or MacOS X, and a qualifying product, and you get up to a third off the price of the accompanying peripheral or software - " for each computer or copy of Mac OS X you purchase during the offer period."

But curiously, the qualifying OS X software is specifically Mac OS X 10.1.3.

After two weeks of enquiries our reader is none the wiser, although Apple retail store staff have described the qualification as plain weird, and promised that it ought to apply to Jagwyre, too. (Users buying a Mac or OS X after mid-July are already entitled to a 10.2 upgrade for $19.95, but that's a separate issue).

And the typo - if it is a typo - remains, and it's legally binding. We've made enquiries, and will let you know as soon as we hear an explanation.

And we're particularly intrigued by this delightful disclaimer in the small print:-

"Apple is not responsible for printing errors."

Then who is? ®

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