Apple has released their first update to Leopard today. The 10.5.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. The final build number of Mac OS X 10.5.1 is 9B18. Grab it now from Software Update or Apple.
Details are scare at the moment, but on Tuesday afternoon Apple informed developers that there would be a new update, Mac OS X 10.4.11, coming soon. This update might be to bring support for new hardware and software released next week.
Apple has posted the Mac OS X 10.4.10 Update via Software Update and on the Web. Apple says “this update is recommended for PowerPC and Intel-based Mac computers currently running Mac OS X Tiger. This update includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes or compatibility updates for the following applications and technologies: RAW camera support; mounting and unmounting external USB devices; support for 3rd party software applications; and security updates. Now bring on Leopard!
Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz may have let the cat out of the bag on Apple’s plans for Mac OS 10.5 Leopard’s file system. While showing off the Zettabyte File System in Sun’s ‘Thumper’ hybrid storage/server platform at a company event in Washington today, Schwartz let it drop that Apple too has big plans for the open source file system.
“In fact, this week you’ll see that Apple is announcing at their Worldwide Developer Conference that ZFS has become the file system in Mac OS 10,” Schwartz said.
Apple today released the following statement regarding delaying the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard from WWDC this June to October.
iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price — we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones.
Uh oh… We here at MacShrine are skipping this update and just holding out for Leopard. Why have all Mac OS updates recently been causing crashes? Is Apple just slacking as Leopard is coming out soon?
The 10.4.9 update hung my computer, and its been hanging other people’s as well. Mine ran and reported an error, then failed to fully restart the computer - it just sat there on my wallpaper with no finder or menu bar for ages. I powered the system down and then up again and it just hung on the gray Apple boot screen with the swirling circle. After 15 minutes I tried again, no love. Disk Repair from the install DVD made some minor repairs but never solved the problem. In the end I made a disk image of my drive onto an external and did a reinstall, which seems to have gotten me back on track, all my apps, files, settings, etc, are all in tact, apart from a couple of stray System Preference add-ons I had, and my Account photo is AWOL. Not bad, all things considered.
I back up, I’ve got DVD-Rs with loads of stuff squirreled away, but clearly a regular disk image routine is also in order for times like these. Lesson learned… until Time Machine comes along!
Apple today released Mac OS X 10.4.9 via its Software Update utility and on the Web. Apple says: “The 10.4.9 Update is recommended for PowerPC and Intel-based Mac computers currently running Mac OS X Tiger version 10.4.8 and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes or compatibility updates for the following applications and technologies: RAW support; handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes; image capture performance; mouse and keyboard shortcuts: font handling; playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player; USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat; Bluetooth devices; browsing AFP servers; Apple USB Modem; Windows digital certificates; Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs; time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007; and security updates.
Apple today seeded Mac OS X 10.5 build 9A321, which is around 4-5 days older than the build seeded recently only to internal Apple employees. Apparently the reason an older build was supplied is so as not to give away new features that will be previewed at Macworld in January.
Apple yesterday seeded a new version of Leopard (build 9A326) to internal Apple employees. This latest build is reported to have fixed bugs from the last build (9A303) such as Quicktime crashing, printing problems and issues with .Mac such as iDisk synching. Apple continues to gloss over the interface, refining it even more and there is an overly presence of black gloss. This build is also completely stable on Apple’s latest Core 2 Duo MacBook and MacBook Pro. Apple is trying to gear down development to get this build out to developers before the New Year. New “internal” features include improved Core technology, faster boot-up times and support for external flash memory as temporary system memory (similar to Microsoft Vistas tech). Boot Camp 1.2 is included in the build but no readme was accompanied and we cannot identify any new features, it appears the same as the current 1.1.2 beta to us. Spotlight has got new meta search abilities including the ability to search other Macs on a network. Safari 3 has improved RSS support, with ability to view videocasts and listen to podcasts in browser. iSync is not present in the build it has been replaced with a new Sync Manager. TextEdit also features support to export and open new Word 2007 documents.
Update: For those wanting screen shots, sorry we won’t post any because we really don’t want have to deal with Apple Legal for like the millionth time. Just wait until January or the proper developer release.
The 10.4.8 Update is recommended for all users and includes general system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies. Some of the changes include:
Connecting to wireless networks using the EAP-FAST protocol, Apple USB modem reliability, using OpenType fonts in Microsoft Word, compatibility with 3rd party USB hubs, scanner performance, RAW camera support, printing documents with Asian language names, performance of the Translation widget, broadband network performance and security updates.
The update weighs in at 140MB and remember that if you have an Intel machine, there’ll be a double startup.
Here’s another of Apple’s “secret” Leopard features. With the launch of the iTunes Movie Store next week, Apple is preparing to evolve iTunes beyond its current state to be the ultimate media player. Next week, there will be a “Movies” link in the iTunes store, like the current “Music Videos” link to direct users to the new Movie section. It is then expected to get its own dedicated tab on the sidebar as “Movie Store” in a future iTunes update. Other features of the new iTunes 6.0.6 (or iTunes 6.1?) will include support for the new iPod nanos. Then in Leopard, iTunes will evolve alongside Front Row 2. Both Stores should be accessible from the FrontRow menu. The “iTunes Music Store” will be renamed as the Store is now not just music… The search features in the Store are also to recieve a facelift, with predictable searches (ala Google Suggest). Do bear in mind though, that all this can change by the time of Leopard’s launch - currently scheduled for April 2007. Now did that make any sense?…
Update: Who was right, who was right! Well sort of.
Developers are reporting that Apple has seeded an update to Leopard via the Software Update panel. It weighs in at 46.4MB and is simply called “Leopard Developer Preview Update 1.0″. The update is described as:
This Software Update delivers improved reliability and compatibility for Mac OS X Leopard Developer Preview and is recommended for all users.
Mac OS X Leopard was shown off at WWDC and a preview copy has been released to developers. It is expected to be released next Spring.
Seems Steve forgot to mention like the most important new feature in Leopard, new iChat smileys! We’ll have to wait until Leopard comes out next Spring whilst those lucky developers get to use them… today…
These are the Leopard Preview discs that the developers got at WWDC. As you can see there are 2 discs, the server version and the consumer.
Development teams inside Apple have been scrambling to fix errors in Apple’s latest Mac OS X update. The 10.4.7 update which was released just a few days ago seems to have serious issues that affect a substantial number of Mac users. The most common problem appears to be with the updated USB drivers. Users are reporting that their systems cannot recognise external hard drives and in some cases the keyboard or mouse as well. Also many users have downloaded a corrupted version of the update from Apple which stalls at 7% installation. It is not clear wether Apple will wait to fix these problems with Mac OS X 10.4.8 or release a quick fix using aspects of the new code. If you are affected the USB problems we recommend you purchase a USB to Firewire adaptor, users on the official Apple forums have stated that this works.
AppleInsider reports that Apple is closing in on the release of it’s next update for Mac OS X 10.4. The update released over memorial weekend weighs in at near 80MB for the Mac build and a huge 140MB for the Intel version. The new builds are listed as Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J2115 (Intel) and Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J115 (PowerPC). There appear to be no major issues with the software and a release looks ripe for shipment sometime next month. Mac OS X 10.4.7 is expected to deliver bug fixes and enhancements to a broad range of Mac OS X components, including Mail, Safari, Synching, and iChat. We’re getting closer to Leopard!
Update: AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is winding down development on the update. It is set to be released anyday now.
Update 2: It has now been released.
IMPORTANT: THIS ARTICLE WAS POSTED IN MAY 2006, BEFORE LEOPARD’S DELAY WAS ANNOUNCED. PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT IF ALL YOU ARE GOING TO SAY IS WE ARE “LATE”. LEOPARD IS COMING OCTOBER 2007. THANK YOU.
We’ve received unconfirmed reports that Apple is to reveal launch details for it’s next-generation Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard” at WWDC. According to the source, Apple will complete it’s Intel move by WWDC with the release of the new Intel PowerMacs and so the era of Mactel will truly begin. Mac OS 10.5 will be Apple’s most advanced OS to-date, concentrating more on the techincal side than eye-candy. New features will include radically improved Spotlight technology more tightly integrated with the Finder, more official Cocoa widgets, improved filesystem, Blu-ray support, Automater 2.0, optimized support for Intel processors, iChat 4 with whiteboard and tabs, new Front Row to be included as standard and the final release of Boot Camp. The November release date was chosen to bring strong holiday sales and so at least 2 “point fixes” would be released before updated iMacs and Mac minis come in January. It is expected to retail at $129.99.
Update: Sudeep has posted an interesting list of features he wishes to see in Leopard. It’d be great to see it all in Mac OS 10.5.
Apple has released Mac OS X 10.4.6 Update via its Software Update utility and on the Web. Of the update, Apple says it is:
“recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies: login and authentication in a variety of network environments; file access and byte range locking with AFP file sharing; network access when using proxy server automatic configuration files; connecting to Cisco VPN servers using IP/Sec; using Bluetooth wireless devices; searching iWork ‘06 and Microsoft Office documents with Spotlight; saving Word documents automatically when using a network home directory; creating Automator workflows for iPhoto 6; synchronizing contacts and calendars to .Mac and mobile phones; mounting and unmounting iDisk volumes; compatibility with third party applications and devices; and previous standalone security updates.”
Note: PowerPC-based Macs will restart twice rather than once after the installation of Mac OS X 10.4.6. Anyone know why?
It appears that Apple has joined the BAPCo benchmarking consortium. BAPCo produce the industry-standard SYSmark and MobileMark benchmarking tools. The SYSmark and MobileMark benchmarks are used as performance tests by media outlets, corporations, and government agencies worldwide. Apple commonly uses SYSmark to benchmark Dells against PowerMacs. So what does this mean? Well it seems that Apple could be planning Windows support with Mac OS X 10.5. By developing drivers to run Windows accurately on their Mactels, Apple has a fair benchmark platform for the future Intel-powered PowerMacs as well as the MacBook Pro. Bare in mind this could be just for internal benchmark use, but the “Chameleon” technology mentioned briefly last week would fit in with the idea of a Mac “changing its Leopard spots” to run Windows.
Reliable sources have informed MacOSXRumors.com that Apple is developing virtualisation software that could be added to Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard. The technology will allow users to create and run virtual machines with Mac OS X, Linux or Windows on any Intel-based Mac. The software, which is said to be code-named “Chameleon”, will be made available in “Client” and “Server” versions. The Client version will have similar features to Virtual PC and will be included with Leopard Client while the Server version will act as a virtualisation server and will come with Leopard Server. Apple may also sell the solution separately just as it currently sells Apple Remote Desktop. Sources also claim that Apple is developing the technology hand in hand with partners such as Intel and Microsoft. They don’t know if Apple’s software will be compatible with Intel’s virtualisation technology announced last year but the possibility that Apple’s software becomes inter-operable with Virtual PC and VMWare has been mentioned. Also they don’t know if Apple will use Rosetta technology so as to make the creation of PowerPC based virtual machines possible. So basically “Chameleon” is Apple’s VMWare.
AppleInsider has reported that Apple have sent out Mac OS X 10.4.6 to developers. There is of course a PowerPC and Intel version. The builds, which weigh in at approximately 131MB and 166MB in Combo Updater form, already include over four dozen enhancements and bug fixes over Mac OS X 10.4.5, which Apple released just last week.
The update currently delivers about 50 documented improvements, including several OpenGL-related fixes, improvements to CoreImage and CoreGraphics, and other bug corrections for iSync, AppleScript, and other components. Known issues with the update include certain AppleScripts not running correctly and Safari hanging in some situations.
Certain milestones of Mac OS X 10.4.6 Update are believed by sources to provide software support for Apple’s upcoming consumer Macintosh offerings such as the Intel iBook and Mac mini.
MacTel-Linux has announced the achievement of a major milestone in their quest to port the open-source OS to Mactel hardware. Linux now boots on the new Intel 17″ iMac. Here’s what they had to say:
Using elilo and a modified Linux kernel, we can boot from a USB hard disk on the 17″ iMac. We are using the hacked vesafb driver to inherit the bootloader’s framebuffer, keyboard and a USB network card work. Gentoo runs and can compile the Linux kernel.
I suppose this deserves a “Congrats!”. I’d give it till the end of the year before we see full Linux compatibility on the whole MacTel line.
Security researchers have said the first virus to strike Mac OS X operating (discovered Thursday) doesn’t cause any damage, even though it can be annoying because it can potentially spread to hundreds of machines. The virus named “Leap A” or “Oompa” spreads through the iChat instant messaging systems on Apple’s Mac computers by forwarding itself as a file to contacts on the infected user’s buddy list. If the malicious file is clicked on and unzipped, the virus tries to spread to other contacts on the user’s buddy list. The virus has been categorized as a Trojan horse because of the way it disguises itself in order to infect users. What’s most surprising however is a statement by Mr. Coursen (senior technical consultant with Kaspersky Lab) he estimates “there are about 200 viruses for the Mac compared to more than 150,000 viruses for the PC”, where did he pluck that figure from? But this is only the start. Experts believe that because of Apples switch to Intel, coders will find it easier to attack Macs.
Apple today released the Mac OS X 10.4.5 update. It is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies:
iChat video conferencing, Safari rendering of web pages, Usability of Dashboard and widgets, Viewing of QuickTime streaming media behind a firewall, Printing to some Epson printer models, iDisk and Portable Home Directory syncing, Time zone and daylight savings for 2006 and 2007, VPN connections to Cisco servers when using NAT, Compatibility with third party applications and devices and all the previous standalone security updates.
Detailed information can be found at Apple Support. This update is for both PowerPC and Intel versions of Mac OS X.
