We already caught a glimpse of the next version of OS X, OSX Mountain Lion (10.8) at $19.99 upgrade from the Mac AppStore. Mountain Lion brings new features like Power Nap, Messages, Notification Center, Dictation, and many more.

Apple has only said that OS X Mountain Lion will launch in July, but 9to5Mac speculates that Apple may be launching it on July 25th.

This conclusion comes from reports that Apple Retail stores will be performing overnight updates to the stores on July 24th, and those updates could include OS X Mountain Lion.

We’ve heard a few whispers (3 and counting) that Apple Stores both in the United States and overseas have planned overnights for Tuesday, July 24th. With OS X Mountain Lion launching “in July”, according to Apple, we believe that it is sensible to speculate that this overnight may point to a public launch the following day

On the other hand, Apple often holds Tuesday overnights, so this July 24th overnight may simply be a coincidence, and Apple may not launch OS X Mountain Lion on the 25th. But, there is already under two weeks left in July, and with last year’s launch pattern prime for repetition (launch announcement during the upcoming earnings call), we’d say a July 25th launch is increasingly likely.

Developers already have access to the GM (golden master build) through the developer portal and can download it already if they wish.

[via MacRumors]