By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 12:00 PM EST

Apple on Monday released Mac OS X 10.5.6, a recommended update for all Mac OS X 10.5.x Leopard users that includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of Macs. Mac OS X 10.5.6 Server was also released in addition to Security Updates for client and server Macs still running Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger.

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update (client)

The Mac OS X 10.5.6 client software is available as a 373MB download for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5.5 and a 668MB download for Macs running earlier versions of the Leopard operating system. A list of specific enhancements included in the release follows:

Address Book

• Improves reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices and applications.

AirPort

• Improves the reliability of AirPort connections, including improvements when roaming in large wireless networks with an Intel-based Mac.

Client management

• Improves reliability of synchronizing files on a portable home directory.


• Fixes an issue in Mac OS X 10.5.4 and 10.5.5 in which managed users may not see printers that use the Generic PPD.


• Client computers that use UUID-based ByHost preferences now respect managed Screen Saver settings.

iChat

• Addresses an issue that could cause an encryption alert to appear in the chat window.


• Setting your iChat status to "invisible" via AppleScript no longer logs you out of iChat.


• Resolves an issue in which pasting text from a Microsoft Office document could insert an image rather than text.

Graphics

• Includes general improvements to gaming performance.


• Includes graphics improvements for iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture, and iTunes.


• Includes fixes for possible graphics distortion issues with certain ATI graphics cards.

Mail

• Includes overall performance and reliability fixes.


• Improves Connection Doctor accuracy.


• Fixes an issue that could cause messages identified as junk to remain in the inbox.


• Fixes an issue that could cause Mail to append a character to the file extension of an attachment.


• Addresses an issue that could prevent Mail from quitting.


• Improves reliability when printing PDF attachments.

MobileMe

• Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.

Networking

• Improves Apple File Service performance, especially when using a home directory hosted on an AFP server. Important: If you are using Mac OS X 10.5.6 (client) to connect to a Mac OS X Server 10.4-based server, it is strongly recommended that you update the server to Mac OS X Server version 10.4.11.


• Improves the performance and reliability of TCP connections.


• Improves reliability and performance for AT&T 3G cards.


• Updates the ssh Terminal command for compatibility with more ssh servers.

Printing

• Improves printing for the Adobe CS3 application suite.


• Improves printing for USB-based Brother and Canon printers.

Parental Controls

• Addresses an issue in which a parentally-controlled account could be unable to access the iTunes Store.


• Includes general fixes for time limits.


• Resolves an issue that prevented adding allowed websites from Safari via drag and drop.

Time Machine

• Fixes issues that could cause Time Machine to state the backup volume could not be found.


• Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.

Safari

• Improves compatibility with web proxy servers.

General

• Includes Mac OS X security improvements. See this website for more information.


• Addresses inaccuracies with Calculator when the Mac OS X language is set to German or Swiss German.


• Improves the performance and reliability of Chess.


• Improves DVD Player performance and reliability.


• Performance improvements for iCal are included.


• Fixes an issue when running the New iCal Events Automator action as an applet.


• Adds a Trackpad System Preference pane for portable Macs.


• Improves compatibility with smart cards such as the U.S. Department of Defense Common Access Card.


• Updates time zone data and Daylight Saving Time rules for several countries.

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Server

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Server is available as a 469MB download for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5.5 Server and as a 883MB download for Macs running earlier versions of Leopard Server. Enhancements in the new version include:

File Services

• Improves performance and reliability of Apple File Service.


• Spotlight provides more reliable results when remote users search a server volume with Spotlight searching enabled. Important: This change takes effect when you enable Spotlight searching on a sharepoint. In order to take advantage of this improvement on a sharepoint where you have already enabled Spotlight searching, disable Spotlight searching, save, re-enable Spotlight searching, and save again. The sharepoint will remain online during this process, but Spotlight searching will be unavailable for a short time while the index is rebuilt.


• Fixes an issue that could make NFS exports unavailable at server startup.


Podcast Producer

• Podcast Producer now supports Digest-MD5 authentication, for improved compatibility with Active Directory users, and Kerberos authentication for single sign-on.

Note: In order to use Single-Sign On in Podcast Capture, you must explicitly select that Authentication Type option in Preferences. For more information about enabling Single-Sign On for the Podcast service in an Open Directory environment, click here. For more information about enabling and disabling authentication methods on the server, see this article.

• Improves reliability of camera connections.


Password Server

• Improves performance of Password Server replication.


System Imaging

• When deploying a system image created from a volume, the target computers will no longer have identical local KDC files. For more information, see this article.


• Added NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for recent MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air computers.


Server Admin

• Fixes an issue that could cause Server Admin to stop responding when propagating permissions on a folder which is on a volume other than the boot volume.


System Performance and Reliability

• Improves overall system reliability.


• Improves performance and reliability of TCP connections.


• Fixes an issue that could occur when ejecting a volume on a Promise VTrak RAID.


• Improves reliability of RAID Utility.

Addtional improvements

• Improves Mac OS X Server Security. For more information about the security content of Mac OS X Server 10.5.6 see this article.


• Mac OS X Server 10.5.6 also includes all other improvements delivered in the Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update (client) mentioned above.

Security Updates for Mac OS X 10.4.11 Client and Server

Apple also released Security Update 2008-008 for Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.11 . The patch is available as a 71.6MB download for PowerPC Macs running 10.4.11, or as a 163.2MB download for Intel Macs running 10.4.11.

The same update is available as a 133MB download for PowerPC Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server and a 133MB download for Intel Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server.