I was already thinking sometime in December, so anything before that is better than expected for me.

I understand & share in the frustration, but I think people need to remind themselves that each pre-release is helping to prevent 7.x.x versions in the future. That is a very good thing.

The stronger the script upon release, the better off everyone will be, and I think it will still be worth the wait.

A little more patience now will save a lot of trouble later. At least that's my take see more on the current state of D7.