Slash LanePrivate test distributions of the software update continued over the weekend for a fourth consecutive week, bearing Mac OS X 10.4.9 builds 8P125 (PowerPC) and 8P2125 (Intel). The bare-bones software updaters weighed in at 71.9 MB and 165.7 MB, respectively.
Despite a flurry of closely-strung builds in January, which sometimes signals an imminent release, those familiar with the latest seeds say Apple engineers continue to add to a mounting list bug fixes now totaling 95.
In particular, the latest builds are said to include at least eight new fixes over builds 8P122 and 8P2122, which made their way to developers last week. Those fixes reportedly target OpenGL, Sync Services, ImageIO, iSync, and memory leaks in graphics driver code.
Again, Apple asked that developers focus their testing efforts around key system components such as Audio, Bluetooth, bonjour, Disk Images, FireWire, Fonts, Graphics, iCal, iChat Video Conferencing, iSync, Rosetta, USB and .Mac Connectivity.
Mac OS X 10.4.9 is due for release sometime this month.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Mike Wuerthele
54 Comments
Nice...
I like system updates. I hope this one, being the last one on tiger will be good and problem free. It would be nice if it made tiger's performance a bit better also. This also means that Leopard is coming!
Well, we assume this is the last one. 10.4.10 is a possibility, given as much as another 4.5 months before Leopard.
Well, we assume this is the last one. 10.4.10 is a possibility, given as much as another 4.5 months before Leopard.
I agree. I expect a 10.4.10 to arrive just before or after the Leopard release to ensure compatibility between the two for people staying on Tiger for a while and people already upgraded to Leopard.
iPhone compatibility could be another reason. The iPhone is scheduled to be released months after 10.4.9. Leopard will probably have iPhone support out-of-the-box, Tiger will need 10.4.10 for that. Expect the iPhone to work with at least 10.4, 10.5, XP and Vista if Apple wants to sell more than just a few.
Ayup, good point. And maybe... *maybe* it'll finally put to rest the old wives tale that the version after X.Y.9 is X.(Y+1).0. For that reason alone, I hope they do release it.
I certainly hope that one of the bug fixes will address the problem many (not all) of us are having with iDVD. To take 10 hours just to encode the audio for a 1-hour DVD on a Quad G5 just isn't right, and this bug has been around for a long long time. C'mon Apple, gemme back my iDVD.