Apple Accelerates Mac OS X 10.5.5 Seeding (9F17)

[MacRumors]

Apple has accelerated the Mac OS X 10.5.5 seeding with build 9F17 delivered to developers last night. The latest build still lists no known issues and provides fixes for iCal, Mail Sync, Back to My Mac and Core Animation.

While difficult to predict when Apple will release this version to the public, accelerated releases with "no known issues" tend to be signs of an impending release.

Apple last updated Mac OS X with version 10.5.4 on June 30th, 2008. The next release will be a free update and is expected to incorporate over a hundred bug fixes.

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[thejadedmonkey]

Awesome, hopefully this fixes my issue with iCal where sometimes I can't use the buttons on the toolbar in the top.

[dual64bit]

This is good, I think there are still some minor bugs lingering that most will be pleased when resolved. Looking forward to 10.5.5!

[amac4me]

Once 10.5.5 is released, we may get insight into upcoming Mac models!

It's not uncommon for Apple to include references to unreleased Mac models in new builds of the operating system.

[olliebraves20]

I'm hoping that this will finally alleviate most of the new OS bugs....it seems to have taken Leopard a longer period of time to get to the completely stable state....I guess that is why the next one is Snow Leopard....just going to fix up and polish the OS...

[Deerhunter04]

Does anybody know what they fixed in Mail? Mail is always crashing on me from Gmail's IMAP.

[dolphin842]

Originally Posted by thejadedmonkey

Awesome, hopefully this fixes my issue with iCal where sometimes I can't use the buttons on the toolbar in the top.

I have a friend who has that issue as well, though I've not seen it myself. Let's hope that these types of 'glitchy' interface bugs get squashed sooner rather than later.

[MojoWill]

im sure this will fix some bugs but vreate a fair few aswell! At least its not Vista!

[ayeying]

wasnt 10.5.5 the version where apple said its not recommended to install on a intel graphics card? has that been fixed btw?

[BWhaler]

I was saying this morning that I hope Apple takes the next 12-18 months and really focuses on quality. With Vista and the momentum they have in the market right now, they don't need crazy new products to keep growing. What Apple needs is quality.

The opposite is sadly true. If Apple keeps putting out innovative hardware that have the quality problems--heat, screens, build, batteries, etc.--and keeps shipping early beta software and pretends it is ready for customers, Apple's growth will stagnate and ultimately Apple will become niche again.

I would love to see Apple put the hold on "newness" and make OS X, iPhone OS, itunes, iWork, and iLife top quality again. There was once a time when "it just worked" was part of the secret formula. Now that the world and the media are finally paying attention to Apple with an open mind about buying their products, it would be epically tragic for Apple to blow it because of their shoddy manufacturing and the apparent policy of knowingly shipping products that are not ready for the market just to hit deadlines. (Yes, I am saying there is no way people at Apple did not know of these issues.)

The truth of the matter is this: Apple has been shipping beta products for the past two years and then fixing the issues in the market. Whether it is the massive bug fixes in Leopard or the rapid iteration of motherboards in the MacBooks to stop the computers from doing sudden safety shut downs due to the heat, Apple has been knowingly shipping products that are not commercial quality.

The good news is Apple got humiliated pulling these stunts with Steve's hot project, the iPhone. If this had been FileMaker or the Xserve, these games would have gone on forever.

But now Apple has a huge black eye in the major press about the iPhone's hardware and software and mobileme, and the blood in the water is quickly pointing the mainstream media to the other problems with their computer hardware and software.

And the bad news is Apple can't react fast enough. These aren't quick fixes. These are serious bug patches, re-designs, and working with Chinese factory owners to get the quality up.

Most importantly, this is a culture fix. Like the US car companies which let shoddy quality become a cultural norm, Apple must now change its culture so that its teams do not allow beta products to ship just because of a management deadline. Once a culture of quality is lost in an organization, it is almost impossible to get back--just ask Ford, GM, et al.

I love Apple's products, but these are dangerous times for the company. The decisions Steve and his team make now will dramatically impact Apple's future over the next decade or two.

I just hope Apple's leadership is not dumb enough to believe the "only 2% of users were effected" BS from middle management. That type of big company thinking will be the end of Apple.

[WalrusCP]

Originally Posted by ayeying

wasnt 10.5.5 the version where apple said its not recommended to install on a intel graphics card? has that been fixed btw?

The original release to testers was, yes. That is no longer an issue with the latest builds.

[rockinrocker]

at last maybe my custom dock icons will work right...

[commander.data]

Originally Posted by ayeying

wasnt 10.5.5 the version where apple said its not recommended to install on a intel graphics card? has that been fixed btw?

That was only for the first seed. It's no longer a problem.

Hopefully the delay in releasing 10.5.5 Intel graphics drivers means they have seen significant work.

http://developer.apple.com/graphicsi.../capabilities/

It's kind of disappointing that with Intel IGPs already being underpowered, Apple's drivers seen to cripple them further by not supporting all their features. The GMA 950 is capable of OpenGL 1.4 and the GMA X3100 is capable of OpenGL 1.5, while Apple's drivers for both only support OpenGL 1.2.

Apple's drivers also don't seem to support OpenGL 2.1 on the HD 2xxx and nVidia 8k series even though the hardware supports it and Leopard was marketed as incorporating OpenGL 2.1 support.

If the drivers in 10.5.5 are improved, it would explain why we are still waiting for the Mac versions of Gears of War, UT3, and CoD4.

[juice831]

looking forward to this

[jpine]

Originally Posted by olliebraves20

I'm hoping that this will finally alleviate most of the new OS bugs....it seems to have taken Leopard a longer period of time to get to the completely stable state....I guess that is why the next one is Snow Leopard....just going to fix up and polish the OS...

Hey, aren't we running a little short on big cats?

[min_t]

When have the updates not been free? Do you know something that we don't, like Apple announcing charging for future updates?

[goinskiing]

Originally Posted by min_t

When have the updates not been free? Do you know something that we don't, like Apple announcing charging for future updates?

That would just be plain dumb if they ever did that IMO.

[HyperZboy]

LEOPARD IS BUGGIEST MAC OS SINCE 10.2....

A Few Requests....

How about better PowerPC support, less kernel panics?

How about fixing all the graphics card issues reported at Apple Discussions?
Seriously, how is it that an ATI Radeon 9800 or Apple Radeon 9600 or (a list of others at Apple Discussions) video cards work fine in Mac OS X Tiger, yet fail or artifact in Mac OS X Leopard in Powermac G4 & G5 towers? This is a constant problem that must be fixed and still hasn't even at 10.5.4!!! That's very sad.

How about being able to click on a folder in the dock & have it open as an, ummmm, ya know, just a DAMN FOLDER!?!?!?!?! GRRRRRRR

As it stands now, if you have a PowerPC Mac and have lots of games, don't bother upgrading to Leopard. You'll stand a very high risk of just bricking your Mac gaming experience. And I have several PowerPC Macs, so I know what i'm talking about and have already ruined 2 Radeon 9800 cards with Leopard that ran fine in Tiger.

[uly]

Originally Posted by thejadedmonkey

Awesome, hopefully this fixes my issue with iCal where sometimes I can't use the buttons on the toolbar in the top.

Ditto. Apple introduced that bug in 10.5.3 or 10.5.4. It happens when you press the red close button in iCal, then come back to it and try to press the top Today/View buttons and find they're disabled.

Hard to believe such a visible bug would pass their QA.

[FJ218700]

Originally Posted by HyperZboy

A Few Requests....

How about being able to click on a folder in the dock & have it open as an, ummmm, ya know, just a DAMN FOLDER!?!?!?!?! GRRRRRRR

command-click dude

[iMacmatician]

Any signs of "MacBookPro5,1," "MacBookPro1,2," or anything like that?

Any signs of GMA X4500 or new GPUs?

[Kilamite]

Looking forward to this. Hopefully it'll sort out some of the fan issues that I'm having.

[Amdahl]

Originally Posted by FJ218700

command-click dude

That doesn't work. The only way it works (as the original poster requested) is with empty folders.

[koko76]

Originally Posted by Amdahl

That doesn't work. The only way it works (as the original poster requested) is with empty folders.

Uh, I just CMD-clicked the folders in my dock, and presto, opened in a folder. My applications, and documents folders are far from empty.

[Kilamite]

Originally Posted by koko76

Uh, I just CMD-clicked the folders in my dock, and presto, opened in a folder. My applications, and documents folders are far from empty.

For me, it opens the location of the folder, not the actual folder itself.