More on Updates

Snow Leopard 10.6.3 Update

The reports are coming in: There are glitches with 10.6.3 but it seems to NOT be a disaster. Some are just silly, like this one:

"Have noticed that the snow leopard background picture has changed. Under 10.6.2 as you looked at the picture there was 'red blood' on the right side of his mouth - now under 10.6.3 there is not the blood :)"

My own update has worked just fine. The Magic Mouse seems a little more touch-sensitive, with the cursor jumping as I first touch it. Not a problem with the trackpad. Others reported similar sensitivity before the 10.6.3 update.

One user reported that it broke FileMaker Pro 9 for him. If you use this, I recommend cloning your drive so you can revert to 10.6.2 if this happens. I always recommend having cloned backups in addition to TimeMachine backups for this very reason. TimeMachine is a great backup program but it won't do this. On the other hand, I installed 10.6.3 on a Mac running FM Pro version 8 and it worked fine.

Logitech mice seem to become hard to control under 10.6.3, but those have always been oddball and hard to control. The best all-around non-Apple mice I find to be those made by MacAlly.

Photoshop CS3 had been having issues in Snow Leopard before, but it gets worse for some people under the update. If you are at 10.6.2 and Photoshop CS3 is working for you, I suggest you hold off on this. CS5 is coming out this month and includes some amazing new features. You'll be glad you skipped the CS4 upgrade. CS4 works fine under 10.6.3. Strangely, CS2 also works fine under the update.

I highly recommend reading the Reader Reports on Macintouch about the 10.6.3 updates if you plan to tackle this update yourself.

Other Updates

iTunes 9.1 is out and some users have reported glitches. There is no reason to get this unless you are buying an iPad. Give Apple some time to fix iTunes.

The QuickTime update to 7.6.6 has caused some Leopard users playback problems, such as no video but sound plays in some movies. I am running QuickTime 10 now, which comes with Snow Leopard. It offers an optional installer to downgrade to QT 7 on the DVD, but I did not do that. If you are using QT7 under 10.6.2, you get this update automatically.

The Security Update for 10.5.8 has not produced much negative reaction yet. It may be safe to go ahead.

AirPort Base Station Updater

Update 2010-001 for the Airport Base Station fixes a security glitch where someone may be able to access a secured network, if the user has extended it with an AirPort Express. People do this to make their network cover a larger area, even though it causes a drop in connection speed. If you have not done this the update is probably not necessary. No trouble reports yet. Available through Software Update.

Safari 4.0.5

Installed on mine and several client Macs so far. No reported problems with it. I recommend getting Click2Flash to manage the excessive and intrusive Flash ads you find on most sites. Doesn't block all ads, just the Flash ones.

iPhoto 8.1.2

No reported problems with this update.

That's it. More news when I get it. As always, contact me if you need assistance with these updates.