Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6.8 update plus security patches for 10.5

Stephen Withers
Friday, 24 June 2011 09:20

Business IT - Technology

With Lion set to debut next month, Apple has released updates for Snow Leopard and Leopard. Mac OS X 10.6.8 could be a prerequisite for Lion.

After a couple of false alarms triggered by mentions in other Apple software releases, the Mac OS X 10.6.8 update has arrived.

What does Apple say about the 10.6.8 update? There's the obligatory reference to enhancing stability, compatibility and security, but several specific items are called out by the company.

The Mac App Store is updated "to get your Mac ready to upgrade to Mac OS X Lion". Apple doesn't explicitly state what's changed or whether 10.6.8 is a prerequisite for Lion, but that seems a reasonable assumption. One possibility is that the application can now better handle massive downloads such as the approximately 4GB.

IPv6 support has been improved (the new protocol is getting increasing attention as the remaining pool of IPv4 addresses is exhausted), and there are VPN reliability improvements. Support for Kerberos authentication to web proxy servers has been added.

Less esoteric is a fix for an that may cause Preview to unexpectedly quit, and updated protection against the Mac Defender malware. Other changes include support for additional RAW image formats, and corrected time zone data for Lisbon-Portugal. 10.6.8 also includes the Snow Leopard Font Update.

What about security patches? See page 2.