Mac OS X 10.5.3 moving along, on course with iPhone 2.0?
Apple continues to plug away at the next maintenance and service update to Mac OS X Leopard, which may be on track for a release around the same time as the company's iPhone software v2.0, according to one tipster.
Among those improvements are tweaks to the performance of certain graphics drivers and fixes to parental controls, wireless certificates, and screen sharing, those people say. The latest additions bring the running total of fixes expected as part of the release to a staggering 220.
For the second time in as many weeks, Apple is also reported to have slightly expanded the focus area for developers by asking that they aggressively test Leopard's Spotlight search feature in addition to the 14 other core components listed alongside build 9D29 last Wednesday.
Again, the Mac maker lists no known issues with the 416MB update, as has been the case for several weeks.
While previous expectations would have software nearing a formal release by next week, a rumor sent to AppleInsider and other Apple news sites suggests that Apple may have placed Mac OS X 10.5.3 on a development course similar to iPhone Software v2.0, which is due at the end of June.
The unconfirmed tip goes on assert that the two pieces of software would be released within a week of each other and also include some contingencies on .Mac, which would reportedly be offered at a discount early adopters of the company's upcoming 3G iPhone. Again, the tip is unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, Apple is simultaneously working on Mac OS X 10.5.3 Server, which upon last check had reach build 9D28. The release currently bundles just over four dozen fixes and maintains a core focus area of 20 components.
47 Comments
In so many ways, Leopard is just a big mess. Talking with a senior support person at Apple, I gather that some folks have few or no problems at all and some systems are simply plagued by bugs. My computer falls into the latter category.
What I wonder is, with problems at this level, can't some of these fixes be delivered ahead of the major release? Or can't 10.5.3 be broken into two releases so those of us who have not experienced this kind of buggy behavior with our Macs since the dawn of OSX can have a little relief?
I'd say they could do so but there are complications. Each OS upgrade would need to be tested separately, delaying when the full build could come out. This is because they have to create 10.5.3 (the first installment you suggested), and then test it separately, and then build the 10.5.4 on top of that build instead of building them together and testing them together.
That, and as it is being written as an update, they are easier to integrate all known bugs together, to avoid coding errors (the changes can both be applied to 10.5.2 instead of changing 10.5.2 to 10.5.3 and then 10.5.4 changing that code again)Basically, change the code as rarely as possible that way each bug fix and change can work off the same platform and cutdown production time.
I think I'd very much prefer that they tested everything properly before rolling out the updates - there have been some nasty updates leading to data loss, Airport problems etc. After one updater irreversibly hosed Airport on my older Mac, I'm still hesitant to install any of the recent Airport updates.
Piecemeal updates can also intimidating and annoying - e.g. Windows XP fresh install seeing 89+ updates (before the service packs), Office 2004 requiring 11+ individual updaters. (Not picking on Microsoft; these are just issues that come to mind)Also, I was thinking - what if the new .Mac service was offered free with every iPhone?
I think I'd very much prefer that they tested everything properly before rolling out the updates - there have been some nasty updates leading to data loss, Airport problems etc. After one updater irreversibly hosed Airport on my older Mac, I'm still hesitant to install any of the recent Airport updates.
Piecemeal updates can also intimidating and annoying - e.g. Windows XP fresh install seeing 89+ updates (before the service packs), Office 2004 requiring 11+ individual updaters. (Not picking on Microsoft; these are just issues that come to mind)Also, I was thinking - what if the new .Mac service was offered free with every iPhone?
I doubt they would do it for free, but a major subsidy, yeah. More integration with .mac offered free would be a tempting idea for apple. Get people onto iPhone, and then offer them a good feature really subsidized, and then that feature works best on macs. Makes sense to do it, tempt people to macs
Piecemeal updating realy doesn't work. The less updates the better.
Its like slowly renovating a house and adding on levels, and building out, until the top is bigger than the bottom. It gets structurally unsound. Some bugs are hidden by other bugs, and so if they wipe out a bug, it may expose 10 more bugs. Better to deal with them all together than doing it separately.
Apple seems to plan one update to the OS per quarter or so, for the first year and then slightly slower from then on. They stick to a plan!
That and people have winged so much about 10.5.2 so much it seems 10.5.3 is being tested far more completely. We barely got word of 10.5.2 before its release, as it was so close to 10.5.1.
Leopard has become a bit of a juggernaut as Apple tries to encompass its entire business model into its OS. There are a lot of balls in the air...let's hope they stay there.