By Kasper Jade and Prince McLean
Published: 10:00 AM EST
A forthcoming update to Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" operating system will reportedly plug a hole in the company's new Dashboard application that allows potentially malicious widgets to auto-install on a user's system.
The fix is believed to be one of over three dozen expected in Apple's Mac OS X 10.4.1 Update. According to rumors, the update, code-named "Atlanta," could see a release as early as the end of the week.
After installing the update, sources say users of the Tiger operating system will be prompted before a widget is downloaded to their hard drive. Currently, Tiger possess a vulnerability where potentially dangerous or annoying widgets can be downloaded onto a hard drive and installed without the user's knowledge or consent.
It has also been rumored that Mac OS X 10.4.1 will correct minor issues with at least four of the default widgets included with the retail version of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger."
Based on reports already present on several internet Web sites, it's believed that Apple on Wednesday evening provided thousands of its developers and corporate partners with a third pre-release build of the Mac OS X 10.4.1 Update.
Said to be build 8B15, this latest seed comes less than 2 days after the company was reported to have seeded build 8B13, a tell-tale sign that development is winding down. Like the previous build, online reports indicated that build 8B15 lists just a single known issue pertaining to synching of Tiger's Address Book over Apple's .Mac internet services.
Rumor has it that Mac OS X 10.4.1 will also include fixes to Tiger's iCal, Font Book, Mail, and Preview applications. Meanwhile, previously published tidbits suggest the update will also pack improvements to DHCP over wireless networks, file sharing over AFP and SMB/CIFS network file services, and disk image creation and burning via Disk Utility.
As previously noted, Mac OS X 10.4.1 is also rumored to include an update to Tiger's Core Graphics subsystem, which should provide updated graphics card drivers to Mac users with an ATI or Nvidia graphics card.
