STE WILLIAMS

Apple tears itself away from iThings to squash Mac OS X bugs

Apple may be more interested in phones and watches these days than the 20th century legacy product that is the PC, but has nonetheless issued a new update for the operating system it still offers for the antediluvian machines.

OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.3, to give the update its full name, slipped down the skids today promising, among other things, “the ability to redeem iTunes gift cards in the Mac App Store using your Mac’s built-in camera”.


That sound you just heard was sysadmins plagued by user requests for camera-enabled card redemption cheering. The two of them can make quite a lot of noise.

More serious and useful features of the upgrade include:

  • Boot Camp support for installing Windows 8
  • Boot Camp support for Macs with a 3 TB hard drive
  • A fix for an issue that could cause a File:/// URL to slay apps unexpectedly
  • A fix for an issue that may cause Logic Pro to become unresponsive when using certain plug-ins
  • A fix for an issue that may cause audio to stutter on 2011 iMacs
  • A fix for an issue in Contacts that may cause cards to print out of order
  • A fix for an issue that may cause the desktop picture to change after logging out or restarting
  • A fix for an issue in Messages that may cause messages to appear out of order after waking from sleep
  • A fix for an issue that may cause the screen to display incorrectly after waking from sleep
  • Improves compatibility with IMAP servers in the Notes app
  • Allows the Slideshow screen saver to display photos located in a subfolder
  • A fix for an issue in Contacts that may cause addresses to print in the wrong location
  • Reliability improvements when using a Microsoft Exchange account in Mail
  • Xsan reliability improvements
  • A fix for an issue that could cause Active Directory accounts to be locked out after accessing the Security

The update also addresses a number of security problems, including a Java mess, a QuickTime flaw that could see attackers terminate applications, a problem that could mean “A remote attacker may be able to cause arbitrary code execution if a Rails application is running” and a fix to stop Apple’s Software Update tool falling victim to man in the middle attacks.

All the fixes are listed here.

Your upgrade may not be swift, if the Tweet below from NetApp employee Val Bercovici is any guide.

®

Article source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/15/os_x_mountain_lion_v10_8_3/

  • 15/03/2013
  • adm
Comments are closed.