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May 28, 2008 11:05 AM PDT

Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.3

by Tom Krazit

The newest version of Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.3, is ready for Mac owners.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple has released the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard, just weeks before its annual developers' conference.

Mac OS X 10.5.3 is now available for downloading from Apple's site or through the Software Update process. Dozens of bugs are fixed with the new release for products like iCal, Mail, Time Machine, and others.

Apple is getting set to host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco the week of June 9, where we might learn more about the yet-unnamed Mac OS X 10.6, assuming they aren't skipping ahead to Mac OS XI, or Mac OS 11, or whatever naming convention gets chosen.

Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom.
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by Kalama May 28, 2008 12:26 PM PDT
Unless Apple has a compelling reason to continue the 10X series, and each incarnation having either eye candy, neat stuff; or, the behind the scenes items ... UNIX base as the X.x.x series is.

Don't expect the eXeYe {XI} series until the commitment is made to ZFS, which will take on the current weak link of the box. The CPU's scream, RAM is "cheap", bus speeds are in express lanes, Blue Ray will just drop in under the hood. The current "slow" link is the HFS+ hard drive. Call it OS eXeYeZee code name : Lynx

And, Apple is the trend setter; dropping the old because it is. Heck, my 128 won't run 10X, so why should I worry about eXeYeZee ?
Reply to this comment
by stefanvolos May 28, 2008 12:34 PM PDT
Comment in English please, poindexter
by sciontcya May 28, 2008 12:35 PM PDT
What does one have to smoke in order to post such garbage?
by DrtyDogg May 31, 2008 12:53 PM PDT
RAM is "cheap" unless you buy it from Apple.
by jbhardman May 28, 2008 12:31 PM PDT
Wait....Apple has bugs that need fixing? Wow, you would never know this from most of the posts by Mac fans slamming Microsoft....
Reply to this comment
by edgedesign May 28, 2008 12:44 PM PDT
Nothing is perfect and improvements are always welcome.

Funny things is.... I see more Windows users bashing Microsoft these days.
by sciontcya May 28, 2008 12:33 PM PDT
Good build.
A lot of work went into this one.
Reply to this comment
by stefanvolos May 28, 2008 12:37 PM PDT
e plurbus unum
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by sciontcya May 28, 2008 12:37 PM PDT
Oh boy, don't you Wintel guys have anything better to do?
I get that defending your OS of choice is hard to do - painful in fact.
I get that even M$ won't talk about Vista because it's such a turd.
But please, don't litter Mac news with your whining.
It's so unbecoming...
Reply to this comment
by bobmarleypeople May 28, 2008 12:42 PM PDT
HOLY FISHSTICKS! The update is 420 meg! Ugh I'm gonna be downloading this for hours. Damn 15kb/s connection. I really wish I didn't go over my download limit now...
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by Penguinisto May 28, 2008 3:45 PM PDT
You may want to check at the Apple Store (online or in person) - I'm fairly sure that you can get that burned onto CD (if they don't already have it).
by open-mind May 28, 2008 8:10 PM PDT
I think that's the universal update. The 10.5.3 update (using the Software Update app) for my MBP is only 198MB.
by AMPerez May 28, 2008 10:37 PM PDT
420MB? You must have missed a few updates in between. Mine was only 126MB.
by Kalama May 28, 2008 12:53 PM PDT
Can't tell yet what "all" Apple did. It's big, takes a bit on the first reboot as it rewrites boot files. But I can tell on my mini and opening a NeoOffice file with OpenOffice Beta 3; Apple has done something in the background that is noticeable in the speed area. Better cache handling or linking or something. I really know when I start upgrading my iMacs. Good Job Apple.
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by Mr. Dee May 28, 2008 1:17 PM PDT
I don't think they will be leaving the leaving the 10.x brand anytime soon. The Company already has two trade marks with cat names (Cougar and Lynx). Also, we know WWDC 2008 will be all about Mac OS X Leopard, iPhone OS version 2 and the new SDK. Steve Jobs will most likely mention the code name for 10.6 like he did for Leopard at WWDC '05. WWDC '09 is more focused on the next iteration of Mac OS X, especially with the Desktop OS Wars first trigger pulled by Microsoft last night at D6.
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by exxtraz May 28, 2008 1:50 PM PDT
I just updated (took some time) but I've already noticed better speeds. Thank god iChat is fixed now. ... So happy!!!!
These small things just make me love apple more and more.
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by InsiderOut May 28, 2008 2:12 PM PDT
@jbhardman,
the only thing more pathetic than an Apple fanboy is an Apple hater :p At least fanboys are positive about what they like-haters are just bitter whiners.
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by firefoxluva95 May 28, 2008 4:56 PM PDT
Unfortunately, usually Apple Fanboy and Microsoft Hater or a better word, Microsoft Critic go hand in hand so I doubt the fanboys always are positive.
Reply to this comment
by ip4au May 28, 2008 5:46 PM PDT
Am I missing something here? My MacBook Pro updated to 10.5.3 weeks ago !! Unfortunately I can't tell the date as there doesn't seem to be a package receipt for the 10.5.x updates like there was for 10.4.x :(
Reply to this comment
by lkrupp May 29, 2008 8:10 PM PDT
You are simply wrong.
by ewelch May 28, 2008 6:57 PM PDT
Steve Jobs said, when OS X 10.0 was release, that it would be their OS for 15 years. That struck me pretty clearly, which is why I remember it.

As for your comment about ZFS, you are right on. I got the developer build of ZFS that lets you read and write ZFS last October and it was still a bit buggy, and took terminal to create ZFS volumes and manage them. But man, was it blazing fast. Not only on Firewire 800 and 400, but on USB 2.0 drives. Holy smokes it was so much faster I had a hard time believing it.

So, Apple does have it reading and writing drives. Now they have to get it to boot OS X, and we'll have a screaming systems! It very well could happen in the next year or so. I'm betting it will definitely be in 10.6 Puddy Tat.
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by Christopher Justice May 28, 2008 8:51 PM PDT
Updated to 10.5.3. No issues. Some noticeable performance improvements. After the update. You'll see the Leopard background for an extended period of time. Just wait. It will reboot (or chime twice) after a few minutes.
by farizky June 1, 2009 12:59 PM PDT
I think the Apple Software update is worth to download, because I'm using the High speed internet connection which is EV-DO CDMA, and for the Software update I'm using now is Apple Mac OS X 10.5.7.
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