Mac OS X 10.4.9: Apple's last twist in Tiger's tail

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 14 March 2007 08:00

Business IT - Technology

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.4.9, a major update to the operating system with significant improvements and security fixes. This is expected to be the last update to Tiger, with the arrival of Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' due in the next few months.

Some of the important changes include faster application launching, updated ATI and Nvidia drivers, and improved audio playback in various applications such as iTunes.

Improved playback of QuickTime streaming content from behind a firewall, mouse scrolling and keyboard shortcut improvements, and better Spotlight searching of iWork '06 and Microsoft Office documents will also be welcomed by a wide audience.

Apart from the "general operating system fixes", many of the other changes are very specific and therefore only relevant to those who actually use the feature concerned.

For instance, several improvements relate to .Mac syncing, especially where a large number of changes are involved, while iSync now supports more devices.

On the peripherals side, 10.4.9 is said to fix wake-from-sleep issues involving Bluetooth devices (especially the Kensington PilotMouse Mini when used on a MacBook). USB webcams are now supported by iChat without the use of third-party software (a welcome move, especially as Apple's external iSight camera is no longer available). Modem support is improved for certain countries.

What else has been improved?