Alright, so... first of all, at no point in time has Microsoft EVER suggested that Windows Phone updates of any kind would be in any way independent of carriers. They didn't promise faster. They didn't promise more frequent. What they DID promise was to have updates be made available to ALL devices for 18 months. They also promised that there would be a voluntary enthusiast program (that they haven't launched yet). You can't call it lying, because they never said when it was taking place. You CAN be upset that it hasn't happened yet, but at least be honest and admit that it's impatience and not a matter of lying.
So what does this mean to us?
Well, it means OEMs and carriers are STILL in the process flow of release. Odds are this means carriers can still stall and delay release. I imagine this is why the enthusiast program will exist as a way of letting people bypass those factors... at our own risk.
In my opinion, I think a bigger release of Portico will come before Christmas. I think there's strong incentive to push it out. But it's also obvious that with random reboots and battery issues that there's also a strong desire to "get it right" since clearly WP8 was definitely rushed (my earlier belief to the contrary was wrong).
I'm definitely anxious to get this update. While I don't have any battery issues, I have had random reboots a few times, and I desperately want the constant Wi-Fi connection. I do want it now, and I'd download and manually push the cab right this minute if I could, but I'm also OK with waiting, because well, I don't have a choice. I'm only going to be angry if AT&T stalls the update while everyone else gets it.
PS-- F*** Apple. They own the devices AND the software. F*** Google too. They're a mess of hodge-podge updates. I don't care what they do or don't do with their updates, and you can't really compare the methods fairly. Microsoft's approach is conceptually right... work with carriers and OEMs. In practice, it needs work, because I don't want them to hold the process hostage, but I don't want them doing their own thing either. With Windows Updates, you get a bad hotfix... you uninstall and move on. With a bad firmware, you brick the device.