That's the worst time for software release.
Trying to ramp up the support staff over a release period is bad enough even when they don't all want the time off over Xmas.
Escalation engineers on leave
Engineering and developers on leave
Never a good time. October is likely to be the latest you'll see a major release from a major vendor, and then lock down until mid Jan.
with iLife / iWork it'll be announced during a major Apple conference, and be available within about 30 days from announcement.