Apple updates Snow Leopard to 10.6.3, loads of minor quirks get patched

By Darren Murph

posted March 29th 2010 12:37PM

Nearly five months after OS X 10.6.2 hit the pipes (and just seven months after 10.6.1), Apple has updated its Snow Leopard operating system to v10.6.3. Weighing in rather heavily at 757.3MB (when you upgrade from 10.6.2, anyway), this mammoth update brings along a laundry list of fixes, including improved reliability and compatibility of QuickTime X, a resolution to an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows file servers and boosted reliability of third-party USB input devices. You can check the full changelog after the break, but in all honesty, we're guessing that the unwritten change is integrated support for Intel's mobile Core i5 / Core i7 chips, both of which should become options on the MacBook Pro line as early as ~~tomorrow~~ last week. Fire up Software Update to get the download rolling, but only if you're cool with subjecting yourself to all sorts of unknown application breaks. We're installing it ourselves here at Engadget HQ, and we'll update the post if anything catastrophic happens.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Full changelog for Mac OS X 10.6.3 update:

General operating system fixes and improvements provided for:

* performance of Logic Pro 9 and Main Stage 2 when running in 64-bit mode.
* printing reliability.
* sleep and wake reliability when using Bonjour wake on demand.
* a color issue in iMovie with HD content.
* glowing, stuck, or dark pixels when viewing video from the iMac (Late 2009) built-in iSight camera.
* an issue in which the Finder reports a -36 error when copying directories to a drive formatted as FAT32.
* reliability of photo screen savers.
* compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications.
* an issue in which shadows in PDF of Aperture book are black instead of gray.
* an issue in which the microphone level in iChat may not increase the volume after reducing it to prevent a feedback event.
* the reliability of certain third-party USB devices.
* the Accounts preference pane can now limit login to members of groups hosted by a non-Apple directory service, such as Active Directory.
* DNS server ordering as specified in Network Preferences and DNS reliability. For details about how Mac OS X v10.6 handles unresponsive DNS servers, see this article.
* the reliability and compatibility of QuickTime X.
* Data Collection: Mac OS X v10.6.3 can collect diagnostic and usage information from your Mac and send it to Apple for analysis automatically. The information is only collected with your explicit consent, and is submitted anonymously to Apple. For more details, see this article.

AirPort and wireless networking fixes for:

* general reliability for wireless connections.
* improvements to 802.1X reliability, including closed network connections , and WPA2.
* sleep/wake reliability for current iMac models when connected to 2.4GHz wireless networks.

Date and Time fixes provided for:

* Daylight Saving Time rules to reflect recent changes in areas including Argentina, Fiji, Pakistan, and Antarctica.

Directory Services fixes provided for:

* an issue that could cause the system to become unstable or unresponsive when bound to an LDAP server using SSL.
* an issue in which the 802.1X Loginwindow Profile is in place, but the wireless network is not available, directory authentication over Ethernet will now succeed.

File Services fixes provided for:

* an issue that could prevent saving files from Microsoft Office 2008 to an SMB server volume.
* issues copying, renaming or deleting files on an SMB server volume.
* clear-text authentication enabling to an SMB file server.

iCal fixes provided for:

* changing the invitation list for a single instance of a recurring event will no longer "un-book" the location of the meeting.
* an issue in which new invitations on a Microsoft Exchange server might not appear in the Notification pane.
* properly showing recurring Microsoft Exchange events which have a set end date. For details, see this article.

Mail fixes and improvements provided for:

* an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail.
* signing and encrypting messages, such as when using an Entrust PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).
* synchronization of the "Sent" mailbox on a Microsoft Exchange server.
* an issue that could cause Mail to delete mailboxes on a Microsoft Exchange server that is hosted behind an Internet load balancer.

Mobile Accounts fixes and improvements provided for:

* home directory synchronization when the home directory is stored on an SMB file server.
* properly warning mobile users in an Active Directory domain about upcoming password expiration.
* creating a Mobile Account that uses smart card authentication, without using a command-line tool.
* reliability in background synchronization.

MobileMe fixes and improvements provided for:

* an issue in which movies could not be viewed in Safari when visiting www.me.com/gallery.
* reliability of iDisk Sync.
* reliability of syncing calendars.

Parental Control fixes and improvements provided for:

* restoring Safari bookmarks functionality to parental controls users.
* better handling of Safari bookmark management when using Parental Controls.
* more reliable application launch restrictions when using Parental Control.

Rosetta fixes provided for:

* an issue that prevented files with the # or & characters in their names from opening in Rosetta applications.

System Imaging fixes and improvements provided for:

* the asr command, which now accepts the "--allow fragmented catalog" option, for restoring images that have a fragmented catalog file. For details, type man asr in Terminal.
* the installer command, which can now be used to upgrade a Mac OS X v10.5 system with a QuickTime 7 Pro key installed to Mac OS X v10.6.

Time Machine fixes and improvements provided for:

* reliability from Time Machine-to-Time Capsule backups, including multiple computers.
* an issue with Time Machine in which system backups could be restored onto unsupported Mac configurations.
* an issue in which a Time Machine backup might not work using an AirPort connection.

Xsan fixes and improvements provided for:

* the reliability of Fibre channel connections to an Xserve RAID.
* an issue that could cause the size of certain Fibre channel LUNs to be mis-reported.

Additional Information

The Mac OS X v10.6.3 combo update also includes improvements provided in the Mac OS X v10.6.1 Update and Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update.