Apple broadens focus of Mac OS X 10.5.8 in new beta

[AppleInsider]

While the first two beta releases of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard update signaled a focus on underlying service technologies, a third pre-release made available to developers overnight expands upon those areas to include several forward-facing apps and additional frameworks.

People familiar with the beta, labeled Mac OS X 10.5.8 build 9L16, say the Mac maker has for the time being tabled its focus on components such as Bluetooth, Automator, graphics drivers, iDisk syncing, Spotlight and Sync services.

Instead, the company is now reportedly requesting feedback on a number of alternative components, amongst them are AddressBook, AppKit, ColorSync, the CoreAUC HD video decoder, FileSync, Image IO, Mail, mass storage devices, MobileMe preferences, Safari, Security and the Mac OS X kernel.

Meanwhile, nearly a dozen new fixes have been baked into build 9L16, bringing the total number of code corrections expected as part of Mac OS X 10.5.8 Update to approximately 40.

In particular, Apple is said to have repaired an issue that prevented some third-party USB webcams from functioning properly after a Mac wakes up from sleep, as well as having addressed a problem where Bluetooth devices would inexplicably fail to function without notice.

Some of the other fixes target problems with AddressBook retaining settings for shared contacts with MobileMe, freezes in the AirPort control panel, and image-related overflow glitches within Safari.

Mac OS X 10.5.8, widely believed to be one of the final updates to the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system, is expected for a release sometime this summer or early fall. The distribution currently weighs in at roughly 260MB in barebones delta form, or 750MB as a combo update.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Graphics drivers - Yay! This could also indicate that this is the final 10.5.x update...

[ltcommander.data]

Originally Posted by T'hain Esh Kelch

Graphics drivers - Yay! This could also indicate that this is the final 10.5.x update...

I'm pretty sure graphics drivers have been a focus area of every OS X point update.

I'm still of the opinion that Leopard will get up to at least 10.5.9. There is still still 3 months before Snow Leopard is released, which makes it almost certain that 10.5.8 will be out before Snow Leopard. After Snow Leopard, if Tiger is anything to go by, they'll be 1 additional update to Leopard to tie up loose ends.

[Sabon]

Originally Posted by ltcommander.data

I'm pretty sure graphics drivers have been a focus area of every OS X point update.

I'm still of the opinion that Leopard will get up to at least 10.5.9. There is still still 3 months before Snow Leopard is released, which makes it almost certain that 10.5.8 will be out before Snow Leopard. After Snow Leopard, if Tiger is anything to go by, they'll be 1 additional update to Leopard to tie up loose ends.

Plus, for all those people that don't have Intel machines they won't be able to install Snow Leopard. For that reason I don't think this is close to being a final update. Even Mac OS X gets vulnerabilities that can't always be taken care of with app updates.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by ltcommander.data

I'm pretty sure graphics drivers have been a focus area of every OS X point update.

I'm still of the opinion that Leopard will get up to at least 10.5.9. There is still still 3 months before Snow Leopard is released, which makes it almost certain that 10.5.8 will be out before Snow Leopard. After Snow Leopard, if Tiger is anything to go by, they'll be 1 additional update to Leopard to tie up loose ends.

Since SL is Intel only, ’m still thinking that Apple will push Leopard point updates further than normal to accommodate the PPC based machines that are still close to the three year mark, namely their Xserve and Mac Pro users. Only time will tell.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Sabon

Plus, for all those people that don't have Intel machines they won't be able to install Snow Leopard. For that reason I don't think this is close to being a final update. Even Mac OS X gets vulnerabilities that can't always be taken care of with app updates.

I didn’t see your post before I posted.

[JSmith]

Any guess if they might make a final distribution DVD of 10.5.8 or 10.5.9? Last one I've seen for sale is 10.5.6.

[Chris_CA]

Originally Posted by JSmith

Any guess if they might make a final distribution DVD of 10.5.8 or 10.5.9? Last one I've seen for sale is 10.5.6.

Considering 10.5.7 was released barely a month ago...

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Originally Posted by ltcommander.data

I'm pretty sure graphics drivers have been a focus area of every OS X point update.

The last version of 1.x.x has always included major graphic driver updates. And AI is putting an emphasis on this, at least as I read it..

[ltcommander.data]

Originally Posted by T'hain Esh Kelch

The last version of 1.x.x has always included major graphic driver updates. And AI is putting an emphasis on this, at least as I read it..

http://news.worldofapple.com/archive...nt-seed-notes/

Well in that case perhaps 10.5.8 isn't the last update since graphics drivers are no longer a focus area for the latest build.

I don't think the driver overhaul in 10.4.11 could have been that major considering poor Tiger drivers was the reason that Aspyr didn't support Tiger in Quake Wars requiring instead the 10.5.1 update which was released at the same time as 10.4.11.