With the news of the new MacIntel iMacs and MacBooks grabbing all the headlines, Apple’s latest update to its operating system has gotten little press. However, the new OS X 10.4.4 includes some important upgrades and fixes. It is recommended for all users of OS X 10.4 (“Tiger”). Software Update, located in System Preferences, can automatically download the latest software. There are two versions: The Delta Installer updates Mac OS X 10.4.3 to 10.4.4. The Combo Update installer updates Mac OS X 10.4, 10.4.1, 10.4.2, or 10.4.3 to 10.4.4. Here’s a partial list of fixes and enhancements:
- AppleScript, iChat, DVD Player, and Safari applications all have significant improvements
- Compatibility with USB and FireWire devices and third party applications has been enhanced
- Dashboard: Calendar, Address Book, PhoneBook and Stocks are updated with new features and new widgets are installed
- SMB/CIFS and NFS network file services fixed
- Bluetooth wireless access has been improved
- Core Graphics, Core Audio, Core Image, RAW camera support, including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers are now more reliable
- Spotlight indexing and searching improved
- Software Update and Sync Services upgraded
- Fixes issues with previous standalone security updates
