Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.4 update

[AppleInsider]

Apple on Monday evening released Mac OS X 10.5.4, the latest significant revision to Leopard and a key part of its online strategy. Also, Security Update 2008-004 and Safari 3.1.2 for Tiger address security issues for earlier Mac OS X versions.

The update (59MB for 10.5.3 users) is considered an important precursor to Mac support for MobileMe, Apple's imminent sync and hosting service.

In addition to laying the groundwork for the future replacement for .Mac, the update is also key to fixing a number of major bugs identified since the release of Mac OS X 10.5.3, including an Adobe CS3 corruption bug with remote file saves and a chronic shutdown flaw.

Also mended with the fix are reliability with AirPort when on 5GHz 802.11a and 802.11n networks, iCal stability, access to secure websites with Safari, and a number of fixes for Exposé and Spaces.

Support for additional cameras' RAW photo formats has also been expanded, the company says.

Apple recommends the update for all Leopard users to improve the stability of their systems, and rolls in previous security updates released between Mac OS X 10.5.3 and the new update.

Additionally, the company has released Security Update 2008-004 for Mac OS X Tiger client (Intel, PowerPC) and Tiger Server (Intel, PowerPC) that bring security fixes built into Mac OS X 10.5.4 to the earlier operating systems, including protection against vulnerabilities in significant components such as CoreTypes, the Dock, SMB File Server, Ruby and Webkit.

A third update, Safari 3.1.2 for Mac OS X Tiger, fixes a specific flaw in WebKit (addressed for Leopard in 10.5.4) that would allow malicious JavaScript to either crash Safari or else allow running hostile code through the browser.

The full list of fixes in Mac OS X 10.5.4 follows below:

General

Includes recent Apple security updates.
Resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server.
Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
Addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application.
Improves L2TP VPN client reliability.
AirPort
Addresses AirPort reliability issues with 5GHz networks.
Addresses AirPort issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.
iCal
Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
Addresses an issue in which events in all calendars affect availability. A checkbox now enables information-only calendars to be transparent from free/busy lookups.
Resolves a UI issue preventing delegated calendars from showing up as a separate window.
Addresses an issue with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another.
Resolves an issue in which iCal may not delete events after a specified time interval, even when set to do so in iCal preferences.
Addresses an issue in which To Dos cannot be marked private.
Safari
Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages.
Resolves issues that may be encountered when accessing secure web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card.
Spaces and Exposé
Addresses an issue in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
Fixes an issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.
Resolves an Exposé issue that may result in only a subset of windows being shown.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[wwwluckyro]

I was expecting this update to have changed all .Mac references to MobileMe. I wonder how will Apple do this later in July. A small update maybe?

[solipsism]

FYI: This is build 9E17. The same as the developer build released last Tuesday.

Originally Posted by wwwluckyro

I was expecting this update to have changed all .Mac references to MobileMe. I wonder how will Apple do this later in July. A small update maybe?

They can always roll it into the iTunes 7.7 update.

[mcarling]

10.5.5 might be another smaller release and include support for Montevina systems.

[Jimzip]

Mmmexcellent!
I loves me a little OS update...

Jimzip

[bloggerblog]

Does anyone know if this update resolves any of the following issues:
1- InDesign not hiding properly.
2- Remembering share-point log-ins after sign-in.
3- Wireless authentication delays after waking-up from sleep.

Any new bugs?

[MartiNZ]

Doesn't fix any of the bugs I was hoping it would, but no new ones yet either, so neutral status from my point of view.

[DoughBoy]

FYI, the combo updater is located here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloa...mboupdate.html

[.mac]

just updated and found no change !

[irnchriz]

I have an iMac 3.06Ghz and the update from 10.5.3 to 10.5.4 was an 87mb download.

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

I have an iMac 3.06Ghz and the update from 10.5.3 to 10.5.4 was an 87mb download.

It was 59MB for my MacBook Air.

[lostkiwi]

Does anyone know if this Security Update addresses the Applescript THT Trojan that has been floating around?

I haven't heard that much about it actually, anyone have any views on it?

[mariofreak85]

Originally Posted by wwwluckyro

I was expecting this update to have changed all .Mac references to MobileMe. I wonder how will Apple do this later in July. A small update maybe?

maybe it will be a "magic update" like web galleries for the iPhone

[Wiggin]

Anybody know when was the last time Apple added any new phones to the iSync compatibility list? Even though the banner at the top of the page says "Mac OS X Leopard" I think that just got slapped on all of the OS X pages when Leopard came out. The notes at the bottom say the page lists phones compatible iSync version 2.4, yet we are now on version 3.0.2.

Does Apple expect everyone to run out and buy an iPhone? Ain't gonna happen. iSync (the application) is practically useless. Yet another one of Apple's cool ideas ignored into oblivion.

[barstep]

I used Software Update and when I was asked to allow a restart it wrote all the files and then my MacBook Pro stalled.

I had a bootable backup but first I held down the power button and forced a restart. It booted up apparently OK so I downloaded the Update .dmg and ran the install from that. It went through the process again, restarted and now seems fine.

I've no idea what went wrong but no tears in the end.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by wwwluckyro

I was expecting this update to have changed all .Mac references to MobileMe. I wonder how will Apple do this later in July. A small update maybe?

I would expect a UNIX Operating system infrastructure to manage their ln -s at the adminstrative levels, application level, framework levels and configuration levels.

[Mr. H]

Originally Posted by lostkiwi

Does anyone know if this Security Update addresses the Applescript THT Trojan that has been floating around?

By doing what? Telling users not to install applications that they know nothing about and were sent to them by someone they don't know via email?

Trojan Horses do not exploit OS security vulnerabilities and there is therefore nothing for Apple to do in this instance.

[MacTel]

Looks like no UI changes at all. Apple seems to be saving those for Snow Leopard. As well as any previews of coming technology like they did with Boot Camp.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by MacTel

Looks like no UI changes at all. Apple seems to be saving those for Snow Leopard. As well as any previews of coming technology like they did with Boot Camp.

There are generally not any UI changes in a point update..

[kt0157]

The update includes firmware for Time Capsule and the Extreme. I had problems with Time Capsule with the new firmware: it refused to find the DHCP server, and lots of other stubborn networking problems. I had to do a factory reset to get it to work again (it's fine now).

[steviet02]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

By doing what? Telling users not to install applications that they know nothing about and were sent to them by someone they don't know via email?

Trojan Horses do not exploit OS security vulnerabilities and there is therefore nothing for Apple to do in this instance.

No, actually if I understood the way the trojan horse took advantage was to exploit an issue with ARD allowing root access when it was inactive. That surely seems like a security issue.

[Wonderkid]

Like thousands of others, my Macbook WiFi has steadily died such that it no longer works at all. So I greeted 10.5.4 with enthusiasm. After re-starting, not only have Apple failed to fix the WiFi problem (I am typing this using my emergency 3G USB dongle from Vodafone here in the UK), but I cannot sync with my Nokia N95 8G anymore and the iSync application will not run! It just sits there in the dock, and when clicked in the apps folder, won't run either.

Now my machine is almost a brick!

What the F*** Apple?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solsun

There are generally not any UI changes in a point update..

On the point updates, I don't remember any UI changes, ever. Maybe there was one or two when the UI had a bug in it somewhere, then fixing it might be a UI change.

[8CoreWhore]

It prompted an update on the Airport Base Station Extreme to 7.3.2. EDIT: I meant to add that it upgraded the FIRMWARE to the base station itself.

[fjpoblam]

I just now downloaded 10.5.4.

This here's a purdy new MBP. Safari went from a two-bounce startup to 8. I tried a shutdown, and reboot, just in case. Same stuff. (Boot's much slower too.)

Firefox3 is much slower. Everything.

Anyone else run into this?

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

Like thousands of others, my Macbook WiFi has steadily died such that it no longer works at all. So I greeted 10.5.4 with enthusiasm. After re-starting, not only have Apple failed to fix the WiFi problem (I am typing this using my emergency 3G USB dongle from Vodafone here in the UK), but I cannot sync with my Nokia N95 8G anymore and the iSync application will not run! It just sits there in the dock, and when clicked in the apps folder, won't run either.

Now my machine is almost a brick!

What the F*** Apple?

Looking through you previous 7 posts, I really have to wonder about the sincerity of your posts.

I am still trying to figure what you meant when you stated, "Ah, my regular MacBook Black does this too!" and asked, if "Anyone else have their non MacBook Air MacBook freeze for a few seconds when running hot?"

[hypoluxa]

Finally my iCal issue is fixed!

[DCJ001]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

Does Apple expect everyone to run out and buy an iPhone?

I'm expecting half of everyone to run out and buy an iPhone!

[gregzilm]

I'm so tired of hearing about wi-fi problems, with Leopard... Try updating your router firmware, I had problems after upgrading to Leopard. My connection would last as little as five minutes before cutting out... It was very frustrating and the odd part was both my iMac and my Macbook would cut out at the same time. I tried every solution I could find posted on various forums, turning this on, turning that off, sacrificing goats, etc... finally in I tried installing a firmware update for my D-Link N wireless router, since then I have not had a single dropped signal... I talking about going from constant problem to 8 months without a problems. Maybe the problem is your routers firmware not playing nicely with Leopard, and not something on Apples side.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by DCJ001

I'm expecting half of everyone to run out and buy an iPhone!

Not even close. That stat is half of everyone whose planning on buying a smartphone. That's still a pretty small percentage of total number of cell phones purchased every year. Believe it or not, some people just want a phone. And the few times I might find it useful to have iPhone functionality don't make up for having to carry around something as big as an iPhone when all I want it a phone.

Is it really too much to ask to be able to sync my address book to my phone? They started out really well supporting lots of phone models, but have pretty much ignored updating it the last few years.

[Wonderkid]

Our router, one of the best and most popular in the world (a Netgear) has the latest firmware and works fine on all the PCs in our house, my EEE PC Linux edition and Nokia N95 8G. This is a massive bug in Apple's software - else why did all these problems only start with 10.5.2 as well documented across the net?

Apple are shooting themselves in the foot big time here - I for one am losing masses of time which is money having to use a much slower (and more pricy) method to get online.

I smell class action lawsuit.

Originally Posted by gregzilm

I'm so tired of hearing about wi-fi problems, with Leopard... Try updating your router firmware, I had problems after upgrading to Leopard. My connection would last as little as five minutes before cutting out... It was very frustrating and the odd part was both my iMac and my Macbook would cut out at the same time. I tried every solution I could find posted on various forums, turning this on, turning that off, sacrificing goats, etc... finally in I tried installing a firmware update for my D-Link N wireless router, since then I have not had a single dropped signal... I talking about going from constant problem to 8 months without a problems. Maybe the problem is your routers firmware not playing nicely with Leopard, and not something on Apples side.

[hypoluxa]

Originally Posted by solsun

There are generally not any UI changes in a point update..

Plus I highly doubt there will be any major UI overhauls in 10.6 either. From the looks of the dev build.

[Wonderkid]

i suggest you go through the forums on apple's OWN website and you will see that this WiFi problem is VERY common and effecting more and more people - including some friends and family I know. And if I state that iSync no longer runs, I mean it no longer runs. And yes, like many others, the machine freezes sometimes if the machine gets hot. (Although it is possible that problem was fixed with a prior upgrade as it has stopped happening.)

You have no right to contest a posting!

If you propose a solution - which Apple have failed to do apparently, then that will be welcome.

Originally Posted by Abster2core

Looking through you previous 7 posts, I really have to wonder about the sincerity of your posts.

I am still trying to figure what you meant when you stated, "Ah, my regular MacBook Black does this too!" and asked, if "Anyone else have their non MacBook Air MacBook freeze for a few seconds when running hot?"

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

Our router, one of the best and most popular in the world (a Netgear) has the latest firmware and works fine on all the PCs in our house, my EEE PC Linux edition and Nokia N95 8G. This is a massive bug in Apple's software - else why did all these problems only start with 10.5.2 as well documented across the net?

Apple are shooting themselves in the foot big time here - I for one am losing masses of time which is money having to use a much slower (and more pricy) method to get online.

I smell class action lawsuit.

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

i suggest you go through the forums on apple's OWN website and you will see that this WiFi problem is VERY common and effecting more and more people - including some friends and family I know. And if I state that iSync no longer runs, I mean it no longer runs. And yes, like many others, the machine freezes sometimes if the machine gets hot. (Although it is possible that problem was fixed with a prior upgrade as it has stopped happening.)

You have no right to contest a posting!

If you propose a solution - which Apple have failed to do apparently, then that will be welcome.

This is a general discussion forum. Not a forum for specifically helping people with problems so Abster2core is well within the rules of this forum to contest anything written here, so long as he doesn't personally attack anyone. Just as you are well within your right to contest his post.

As for your WIFi problems, the few times I've encountered anything that resembled dropout using iStumbler to see if your router's channel is conflicting with other routers in the area has been the answer. If there are routers on the same channel and you have access to alter the channel then change it and see if it's better.

Beyond that, a complete reinstall is often the answer when you have many little issues and no clear cut reason.

[gdog]

i just did update and firmware update on airport. everything seems fine on imac 2.33 ghz.. no speed changes that i can see and i am pretty picky. after i update i always restart twice and use xslimmer to cut down on non intel stuff. the first reboot is always slow. anyway this is in response to those that found safari and firefox slower. everything is fine on mine no network issues here.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

Our router, one of the best and most popular in the world (a Netgear) has the latest firmware and works fine on all the PCs in our house, my EEE PC Linux edition and Nokia N95 8G. This is a massive bug in Apple's software - else why did all these problems only start with 10.5.2 as well documented across the net?

Apple are shooting themselves in the foot big time here - I for one am losing masses of time which is money having to use a much slower (and more pricy) method to get online.

I smell class action lawsuit.

What the hell do your networking log files report? Research on how to configure the verosity level of them.

[Neil Anderson]

Originally Posted by DCJ001

I'm expecting half of everyone to run out and buy an iPhone!

Wow! That is a beautiful pie chart! Numbers?

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

i suggest you go through the forums on apple's OWN website and you will see that this WiFi problem is VERY common and effecting more and more people - including some friends and family I know. And if I state that iSync no longer runs, I mean it no longer runs. And yes, like many others, the machine freezes sometimes if the machine gets hot. (Although it is possible that problem was fixed with a prior upgrade as it has stopped happening.)

You have no right to contest a posting!

If you propose a solution - which Apple have failed to do apparently, then that will be welcome.

While I have no doubt you are experiencing these problems, the severity of them (apps not launching, overheating, etc) really does suggest something other than problems caused by an OS update. There is a chance that you are suffering from some hardware failure (motherboard issue, bad RAM, etc), file corruption, or some 3rd party software issue. For example, if you have Flip4Mac Safari plug-in installed, as soon is it loads it will start sucking up cycles and your laptop will get damn hot. Perhaps you have a bad fan and the excessive heat is locking up your machine. Or maybe your hard drive is failing prematurely.

My point is that the problems you are having could very well have nothing to do with the OS. And if you are sitting waiting for an update from Apple to fix it, you may well be digging yourself an even deeper hole by ignoring other potential causes. I suggest running Apple's hardware test (on your system DVD that came with your computer) and reinstall the OS to see if that resolves some or all of the issues you are experiencing. Until you do that, it's more or less speculation that it's an OS issue.

[8CoreWhore]

If I were having really bad connection issues, and everything I tried failed to fix it - I'd be tempted to test the hypothesis that it is Leopard by booting to an external drive with Tiger and see how that goes.

If Tiger worked fine, then I'd know it wasn't hardware. I'd then revert leopard back to 10.5.0 followed by 10.5.1 etc, to see the results there. Process of elimination. I'd also borrow another router to see if that made a difference.

[penchanted]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

If I were having really bad connection issues, and everything I tried failed to fix it - I'd be tempted to test the hypothesis that it is Leopard by booting to an external drive with Tiger and see how that goes.

If Tiger worked fine, then I'd know it wasn't hardware. I'd then revert leopard back to 10.5.0 followed by 10.5.1 etc, to see the results there. Process of elimination. I'd also borrow another router to see if that made a difference.

Stop being so logical and methodical. It takes all the fun out of just bitching endlessly.