Apple putting finishing touches on Mac OS X 10.4.11

[AppleInsider]

With less than 48 hours to go before Apple unleashes its next-generation Leopard operating system, the company is also putting the finishing touches on another update of significance: Mac OS X 10.4.11 -- a final once-over for its soon to be yesteryear Tiger OS.

The Cupertino-based company on Wednesday evening provided its vast developer community with two new pre-release builds of the Tiger maintenance and security update, people familiar with the matter tell AppleInsider.

Labeled Mac OS X Update 10.4.11 (Intel) build 8S2165 and Mac OS X Update 10.4.11 (PowerPC) build 8S165, both builds are said to be void of any known issues. Still, Apple is reportedly asking its developers for a final round of feedback on critical components such as Safari, Automator, Dashboard widgets and Disk Images.

Since issuing pre-release builds 8S161 and 8S2161 nearly two weeks ago, the Mac maker has patched a few widget and Automator anomalies that were common across both the PowerPC and Intel versions. It also corrected an issue that was preventing some popular gaming titles from launching on the PowerPC side.

With the latest builds, the number of bug fixes and code corrections bundled with the impending Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update has risen to six dozen. Pending an unforeseen issues going forward, the release will be the final tidy-up for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, which made its inaugural debut back in April of 2005.

Those people familiar with the ongoing development of Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update say a release is expected within close proximity to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard -- due Friday.

Readers: don't forget to check out AppleInsider's ongoing Road to Leopard Series: System Preferences, Parental Controls and Directory Services, What's new in Mac OS X Leopard Server, Dashboard, Spotlight and the Desktop, Safari 3.0, iCal 3.0, iChat 4.0, Mail 3.0, Time Machine; Spaces, Dock 1.6, Finder 10.5, Dictionary 2.0, and Preview 4.0.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[DeaPeaJay]

Interesting, the only 10.4 update I'll never get =/

[trevorlsciact]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Readers: don't forget to out AppleInsider's ongoing Road to Leopard Series: System Preferences, Parental Controls and Directory Services, What's new in Mac OS X Leopard Server, Dashboard, Spotlight and the Desktop, Safari 3.0, iCal 3.0, iChat 4.0, Mail 3.0, Time Machine; Spaces, Dock 1.6, Finder 10.5, Dictionary 2.0, and Preview 4.0.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

I didn't know they were in the closet!

[hillstones]

My external drive will run OS X Tiger 10.4.11 for those times when I need to run a Classic OS 9 app.

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally Posted by hillstones

My external drive will run OS X Tiger 10.4.11 for those times when I need to run a Classic OS 9 app.

Or you could use SheepShaver - http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/

[JimUrban]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

Or you could use SheepShaver - http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/

Or the skinflint could pry open his dust covered wallet and buy some software that was developed in the 21st century.

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally Posted by JimUrban

Or the skinflint could pry open his dust covered wallet and buy some software that was developed in the 21st century.

While nothing comes to mind, I'm sure there's not OS X replacements for everything that was ever developed for OS 9.

Actually, something comes to mind now. I've got a friend who has some sort of weird sewing machine software that talks to her sewing machine, and they never made an OS X version of it.

Oh, and Marathon! I mean, hello!

[Eluard]

For my main working machine, I upgrade it from one stable release to the next. So it is now on 10.3.9 and I will upgrade it to 10.4.11 when that comes out. I'm prepared to upgrade a machine that is not critical to Leopard but not one that I rely on every day. Does no one else do this? All I see on this forum is a lot of negativity towards Apple (when this issue has come up in the past) for bothering to get Tiger sorted out when Leopard is just around the corner. For me this is one area where Apple shows its responsibility towards its users. Kudos to them!

[davebarnes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d54UU-fPIsY

[aplnub]

Originally Posted by Eluard

For my main working machine, I upgrade it from one stable release to the next. So it is now on 10.3.9 and I will upgrade it to 10.4.11 when that comes out. I'm prepared to upgrade a machine that is not critical to Leopard but not one that I rely on every day. Does no one else do this? All I see on this forum is a lot of negativity towards Apple (when this issue has come up in the past) for bothering to get Tiger sorted out when Leopard is just around the corner. For me this is one area where Apple shows its responsibility towards its users. Kudos to them!

When you said move from one stable release to the other, you were not kidding.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

Interesting, the only 10.4 update I'll never get =/

I forget the figures, but with so many people waiting for Apple's next OS to get a new Mac and the high percentage of Mac users who upgrade to the latest OS I suspect 10.4.11 will be used by less people than 10.5.0 within the first few weeks.

Originally Posted by Eluard

For my main working machine, I upgrade it from one stable release to the next. So it is now on 10.3.9 and I will upgrade it to 10.4.11 when that comes out. I'm prepared to upgrade a machine that is not critical to Leopard but not one that I rely on every day. Does no one else do this? All I see on this forum is a lot of negativity towards Apple (when this issue has come up in the past) for bothering to get Tiger sorted out when Leopard is just around the corner. For me this is one area where Apple shows its responsibility towards its users. Kudos to them!

I think that is very extreme. I can understand not wanting to to jump on a x.x.0 or even a x.x.1 release but this isn't Windows weren't talking about. We're talking about a Mac OS X, a Unix based OS. You are basically getting an OS that in the 2.5 years old. But to each their own.

[JakeTheRock]

I wonder if 10.4.11 will even hit DVD, though I doubt it...

[Eluard]

Originally Posted by aplnub

When you said move from one stable release to the other, you were not kidding.

That's right — I'm very much looking forward to Friday. Bring on…Tiger!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by JakeTheRock

I wonder if 10.4.11 will even hit DVD, though I doubt it...

It will be released though Software Update like all the others.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

Or you could use SheepShaver - http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/

Yeah, but then you would have to run it from ugh! BE or Linux.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

While nothing comes to mind, I'm sure there's not OS X replacements for everything that was ever developed for OS 9.

Actually, something comes to mind now. I've got a friend who has some sort of weird sewing machine software that talks to her sewing machine, and they never made an OS X version of it.

Oh, and Marathon! I mean, hello!

You know, I've got dozens of programs, and I thought that there would always be some need for some of my System 9 versio0ns.

But, you know what? I haven't found that need for almost five years.

While I don't remember the name, there is sewing software for OS X as well.

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by Eluard

For my main working machine, I upgrade it from one stable release to the next. So it is now on 10.3.9 and I will upgrade it to 10.4.11 when that comes out. I'm prepared to upgrade a machine that is not critical to Leopard but not one that I rely on every day. Does no one else do this? All I see on this forum is a lot of negativity towards Apple (when this issue has come up in the past) for bothering to get Tiger sorted out when Leopard is just around the corner. For me this is one area where Apple shows its responsibility towards its users. Kudos to them!

Many of the bugs fixed between 10.4.0 and 10.4.10 are also present in 10.3.9. I suspect that 10.4 became more stable than 10.3.9 somewhere between 10.4.5 and 10.4.8.

[pressmeister]

Originally Posted by hillstones

My external drive will run OS X Tiger 10.4.11 for those times when I need to run a Classic OS 9 app.

Bear in mind that you wont be able to run time machine on the external HDD unless it is connected to a Leopard machine. You're better off just not living in 2001 anymore, get over it, its done, move on.

[Eluard]

Originally Posted by aplnub

When you said move from one stable release to the other, you were not kidding.

Originally Posted by mcarling

Many of the bugs fixed between 10.4.0 and 10.4.10 are also present in 10.3.9. I suspect that 10.4 became more stable than 10.3.9 somewhere between 10.4.5 and 10.4.8.

It's good to hear this — there is very little comment on the progress in stability from one major release to the next, only between the incremental upgrades. I'll be very glad if 10.4.11 is a significant improvement over 10.3.9. And I hope that Leopard continues the trend.

[mcarling]

There are two reasons why 10.4.11 should be more stable than 10.3.9. One is, as I noted above, many bugs were fixed between 10.4.0 and 10.4.11 that are still present in 10.3.9. The other reason is that 10.4.x has had two and a half years of bug fixes applied while 10.3.x had about one and half years of bug fixing.

I'm relatively risk-averse and I upgraded from 10.3.9 to 10.4.2. I probably should have waited for 10.4.3 as I found (subjectively) that 10.4.2 seemed to be a bit less stable. Unless Resolution Independence is available sooner or I buy the rumored ultraportable, I'll upgrade to Leopard somewhere between 10.5.3 and 10.5.5.

[Kolchak]

Originally Posted by ShawnJ

Oh well! Leopard awaits!

Let me know how it goes. My systems are too important for me to play guinea pig. Apple or Microsoft, a major OS revision is too dangerous to play with. I'll wait until 10.5.1 when most of the major bugs have been quashed and all my apps are known to work without issues. February or March should be about right.

[chris v]

10.4 has been rock-solid since about 10.4.6. None of the bug fixes since then seem to have really affected general stability. Of course, we still suffer through some general OS X bugs, like Finder beachballs, that are finally supposed to go away with 10.5, but I'm in no rush.

I figure on maybe asking for 10.5 as an xmas present, or something. By then, it should be at 10.5.2 or so. Still, it looks like I've got a couple machines that'll stay on 10.4 forever -- my Cube & my kid's 800 mz iMac G4.

I've got 5 machines (at least -- I lose count sometimes) that I'll need to upgrade, & I've still gotta decide which one will be the test-bed that I work the kinks out of. My Powerbook would make the most sense, but it runs so damn well under 10.4 that I'm reluctant to change anything. Decisions, decisions....

[troberts]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

Oh, and Marathon! I mean, hello!

I never played Marathon, but Rubicon X claims to continue the Marathon trilogy. Best of all, it is cross platform.

[Eluard]

Originally Posted by mcarling

There are two reasons why 10.4.11 should be more stable than 10.3.9. One is, as I noted above, many bugs were fixed between 10.4.0 and 10.4.11 that are still present in 10.3.9. The other reason is that 10.4.x has had two and a half years of bug fixes applied while 10.3.x had about one and half years of bug fixing.

I'm relatively risk-averse and I upgraded from 10.3.9 to 10.4.2. I probably should have waited for 10.4.3 as I found (subjectively) that 10.4.2 seemed to be a bit less stable. Unless Resolution Independence is available sooner or I buy the rumored ultraportable, I'll upgrade to Leopard somewhere between 10.5.3 and 10.5.5.

Thanks for this. Apple themselves may well have thought that 10.4.6 represented a good stable release as they pressed it on DVD. It's the last version in the shops.

Still, I am looking forward to leopard as much as anyone, and purchasing it is about 7hrs away as i write.

[STEPHEN RAY SNELL]

I Guess That "apple Inc." Must Of Canseled The Mac Os X (10.4.11) Update Since That "leopard's" Already Released-out.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN RAY SNELL

I Guess That "apple Inc." Must Of Canseled The Mac Os X (10.4.11) Update Since That "leopard's" Already Released-out.

No, I don't think so myself, but you can never tell with this fruity company.