Apple rapidly seeding Mac OS X 10.5.3 test builds
The next security and maintenance release for Apple's Leopard operating system could arrive sooner than later if the company maintains its current cadence, which has seen two successive pre-release builds land in the hands of developers in just five days.
On the heels of the first external test build labeled Mac OS X 10.5.3 build 9D10 and released privately late last week, the Mac maker on Tuesday followed up with build 9D11, which adds nearly 20 more fixes and code corrections, bringing the new total expected with software's release to nearly 100.
Among the most recent improvements, according to people familiar with the ongoing testing process, are fixes to AirPort connection issues and problems with the MacBook Air's sleep functionality.
Other fresh fixes target Time Machine, Spaces layering and preferences, graphics corruption, display issues within Mail.app, Back to My Mac communication issues, and Automator quirks when interacting with Mail.app.
As was the case with Friday's pre-release distribution, Apple reportedly asked that its developer community focus their ongoing testing efforts on two dozen core system components. These include, but are not limited to, AirPort, AppleScript, Audio, Dashboard, Directory Services, Dock, DVD Player, Finder, Graphics, Installer, Printing, and VoiceOver.
Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update, which currently weighs in at a hefty 410+ MB in Delta form and 530+ MB in Combo form, will mark the third update to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard since the software made its official debut in late October.
While those people familiar with the ongoing testing process have been unable to provide a target release date, it's presume the update is being groomed for distribution sometime in April or May.
On the heels of the first external test build labeled Mac OS X 10.5.3 build 9D10 and released privately late last week, the Mac maker on Tuesday followed up with build 9D11, which adds nearly 20 more fixes and code corrections, bringing the new total expected with software's release to nearly 100.
Among the most recent improvements, according to people familiar with the ongoing testing process, are fixes to AirPort connection issues and problems with the MacBook Air's sleep functionality.
Other fresh fixes target Time Machine, Spaces layering and preferences, graphics corruption, display issues within Mail.app, Back to My Mac communication issues, and Automator quirks when interacting with Mail.app.
As was the case with Friday's pre-release distribution, Apple reportedly asked that its developer community focus their ongoing testing efforts on two dozen core system components. These include, but are not limited to, AirPort, AppleScript, Audio, Dashboard, Directory Services, Dock, DVD Player, Finder, Graphics, Installer, Printing, and VoiceOver.
Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update, which currently weighs in at a hefty 410+ MB in Delta form and 530+ MB in Combo form, will mark the third update to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard since the software made its official debut in late October.
While those people familiar with the ongoing testing process have been unable to provide a target release date, it's presume the update is being groomed for distribution sometime in April or May.
Comments
edit:
i got first :-o
I'm looking forward to the Airport fixes and Back-to-my-mac improvements.
It's fast becoming apparent that the broadband infrastructure needs to be beefed up. 530+ MB is getting up there. I have fiber optic to the home for fast DSL, but I'm lucky as I live in one of the few areas in WA where it's available.
I'm looking forward to the Airport fixes and Back-to-my-mac improvements.
Hey Bugs you must be in Seattle. You're blessed. I live 1 mile from Shelton and it took forever to get any broadband. I finally just upgraded to 7 mbps DSL. They SLOWLY offered DSL upgrades with small increments at a time over the past few years. I still don't even have cable offered at my place. I work in Olympia and have a T1 line so it was a painful process waiting. Now with 7 mbps I feel like I'm in Heaven with my N extreme and Apple TV.
It's fast becoming apparent that the broadband infrastructure needs to be beefed up. 530+ MB is getting up there.
I think the idea is that in the future we will be expected to head over to an Akamaized Starbucks and shop at iTunes while we sip coffee and wait for our updates to be downloaded.
Anyway, one thing to notice: Yeah, Leopard came out with a few bugs, but see how fast Apple's on the fixes? I know people get a little anxious, but think about the poor souls waiting on Vista SP1... It hasn't even been 6 months and lots of stuff fixed and updated.
Did anyone notice the "Spaces layering and preferences" being included in the list? I REALLY hope that this means they're adding a function to have a different desktop picture for a different space. I've been hoping this would be added since 10.5 came out. Apple did listen to pleas for stacks and the dock in the last update so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I do like Apples update model better, with well defined versioning, with Windows its just "you have all the most recent updates, right?".
For newbies, Apple needs to publish additional Mac OS X code every time it wants to introduce a new computer model.
Vista SP1 didn't actually fix a lot of the most annoying stuff.
I do like Apples update model better, with well defined versioning, with Windows its just "you have all the most recent updates, right?".
Yeah I realized that it didn't. I'm using Vista on my bootcamp partition (as i was one that assumed I had to get vista to run future programs) and i waited a long time to be able to use my flash drives with the system.
Extremely crippling and annoying. I just want functionality.
What is there to fix? 10.5.2 so far has been flawless for me.
many people had Reboot upon "Wake from Sleep" issues with latest MacPro's (needed a firmware fix but problem still exists for some) and I've had countless hangs on Wake from Sleep with my MacPro. 10.5 was the buggiest Mac OS I have seen in years. I suppose we should just suffer from iPhpwninterruptus in silence.
Check out the article at ComputerWorld here.
It's fast becoming apparent that the broadband infrastructure needs to be beefed up. 530+ MB is getting up there. I have fiber optic to the home for fast DSL, but I'm lucky as I live in one of the few areas in WA where it's available.
I'm looking forward to the Airport fixes and Back-to-my-mac improvements.
Agreed. I"m in Bothell and thank God for Fios because the DSL I had before wasn't cutting it. Welcome Bugsnw! I've enjoyed your commentary over at Mac360. Glad to see you pop on over.
Well I'm sure OS X still has bug affecting some people so lets move forward with constant evolution.
I really wish you wouldn't have pointed that out. It's something I've never noticed, but now it will probably bug me every time I look at the scroll bars! X( I like the matte look better too... lick-able buttons/icons are so 2001
sc_markt,
The biggest issue that I have with leopard is airport. It disconnects often, and I've had to reenter the WEP password a few times. (After tearing apart the house looking for where I wrote it down) Hopefully this gets repaired in the next update.
Did anyone notice the "Spaces layering and preferences" being included in the list? I REALLY hope that this means they're adding a function to have a different desktop picture for a different space. I've been hoping this would be added since 10.5 came out. Apple did listen to pleas for stacks and the dock in the last update so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
What Spaces really needs is to be made project oriented instead of application oriented. Windows opened in one space should stay in that space and not open in the space that the application was originally started in. The way Spaces is set up now is not very practical. Also, Apple needs to fix the bug that causes Spaces to randomly jump from one space to another when one switches applications.
I also suggest to use the password as wpa2 personal as it is much stronger form of password.
What is there to fix? 10.5.2 so far has been flawless for me.
You're joking, right?
For me, the primary areas of focus right now are the directory services that are *still* broken in Leopard. Here's what it continues to do. (Bear in mind, that this is not a matter of configuration. I have Tiger machines running with the same configs on the same network, and they do this stuff flawlessly.)
- Won't prompt users when account password is expiring. XP and Tiger do.
- Won't properly update cached password of mobile network accounts once they have been updated. XP and Tiger do.
- Can't seem to find contact lists on an LDAP server. XP and Tiger do.
Now, I can forgive this stuff in 10.5.0. I can grind my teeth and deal with it in 10.5.1. But for features that are very important in an enterprise environment to remain broken in 10.5.2 is inexcusable, especially coming from a company that is able to pay such great lip-service to those aspects of their OS.
10.5.3 damn well better fix this stuff.
What is there to fix? 10.5.2 so far has been flawless for me.
Wireless needs to be fixed. At present wireless is badly broken--to the point that Leopard will let me log on to about 50% of the wireless networks that I encounter. I can log onto these same networks using Tiger, but not using Leopard. Until Apple fixes this Leopard is fairly useless on a laptop.
X needs to be fixed too. X applications have been quite flaky under Leopard.
Spaces needs to be fixed so that windows stay in the space that they are opened in.
Safari is in need of decent cookie control.