Apple has posted the gold master version of the iOS 4.2 firmware to the Apple developers website.
With this release, the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch will all be unified under one code base and have more feature parity. However the most important part of this release is that the iPad will gain the much coveted mutlitasking abilities that have been present in the iOS firmware since version 4.0 on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
if you’ve got a friend with an iPhone Developer Program subscription, now would be a greattime to get cozy
Indeed. Typically the gold master will run on any device, not just ones which are registered to a developer account. Also, the gold master is typically released to the public within a week or so of hitting developers, so expect this to be finalized very soon. Apple promised 4.2 would be out in November and they seem on track to deliver.
And just in time for me to buy an iPad this week.