By Kasper Jade
Published: 11:00 AM EST (08:00 AM PST)
Apple is currently evaluating a handful of upcoming Mac software updates with the help of an elite group of testers, including Safari 4.0.5, QuickTime 7.66, and significant maintenance release for its pro applications.
Safari 4.0.5
People familiar with the seedings say one of the primary focuses of Safari 4.0.5 is to fix a regression in the browser's JavaScript engine that manifested with the release of Safari 4.0.4. The maintenance release will also reportedly see certain code blocks, like Move Code, transitioned from the Safari codebase to that of Webkit in order to improve cross platform support.
A short list of other enhancements planned for the Safari 4.0.5 include improved HTML5 Video Playback, quicker loading of the Top Sites panels, faster JavaScript performance, better performance loading YouTube, and an overall reduced memory footprint.
Additionally, the release should also sport a much improved Plug-in manager aimed at reducing the number of crashes caused by plug-ins, including Adobe Flash plug-in, people familiar with the current betas say. These advances will reportedly also improve load times for plug-ins.
Safari 4.0.5 is currently undergoing tests in four distinct distributions: a build for Windows, one for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, one for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and another for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Each are members of the 405Axx build train and weigh between 26 and 38 megabytes.
QuickTime 7.66
Meanwhile, Apple is also evaluating a maintenance, security and performance release for QuickTime 7 labeled QuickTime 7.66. It's expected to be one of the final updates to QuickTime 7 and is currently undergoing evaluation for Mac OS X Leopard and Windows. The current build is said to be build 23.
Pro Applications Update
Finally, the Mac maker is also wrapping up QA testing on a significant maintenance release to its Final Cut Studio and Pro applications labeled "Pro Applications Update." Those familiar with this release, code named "Iron Man," say it was originally scheduled to go live last week but has been pushed back a week or so for further evaluation.
AppleInsider correspondent Kyla helped contribute to this report.
