Thursday, January 29, 2004, 08:20 pm

Mac OS X 10.3.3: sources add details

By Kasper Jade

New details on Mac OS X 10.3.3 "Panther" are emerging following the first seed of the system update, which began making its way to developers earlier this morning.

Along with a new version of Safari, Mac OS X 10.3.3 will yield updated versions of Apple's Mail, Font Book, Disk Utility, Address Book and Terminal applications, sources tell AppleInsider. Incremental revisions to the System Profiler, Print Center, Print Setup Utility, Directory and Keychain access components are also among the many changes that amount to this 75.5MB OS update.


The Mac OS X Bluetooth implementation will sport some of the heftiest updates, sources said, including alterations that span all three of the Panther's Bluetooth applications: Bluetooth File Exchange, Bluetooth Serial Utility, and Bluetooth Setup Assistant.


Below the flesh, Mac OS X 10.3.3 will boast many system level enhancements, including component updates to AppleScript, CoreAudio, SCIM, and Ink services. Meanwhile, updates to Panther's Core System Services are numerous. AppleFileServer, DiskImageMounter, HelpViewer, LanguageChooser, MirrorAgent, SecurityAgent and Software Update will also see improvements in the update.


This first private release of Mac OS X 10.3.3 is also shipping with a revised Mach Kernel, sources said.

Additional details will be published as they become available.