Mac OS X 10.6.5 released

Apple has released their 10.6.5 update for the Mac OS X system, using the occasion to deploy a range of security corrections.

Apple has released a new version of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard OS. Version 10.6.5 brings with it a range of general updates to improve stability and security compatibility. Apple has provided the following list of made changes:

• Improves reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
• Addresses performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
• Addresses stability and performance of graphics applications and games
• Resolves a delay between print jobs
• Addresses a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
• Resolves an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
• Addresses an issue in which dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
• Resolves an issue in which Wikipedia information may not display correctly in Dictionary
• Improves performance of MainStage on certain Macs
• Resolves spacing issues with OpenType fonts
• Improves reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays
• Resolves a VoiceOver issue when browsing some websites with Safari 5

The complete version notes also mention improvements made to the Magic Trackpad Bluetooth connection and better Ethernet connection reliability. Unlike what had been previously mentioned in the development cycle, no mention of AirPrint was made, with this being the wireless printing function to be provided in iOS 4.2 from which it will be possible to select a printer connected to the network in addition to the number of copies you want made. Thanks to AirPrint support in Mac OS X, it will be possible to share a printer with an iOS 4.2 device.


Heavily security oriented
Mac OS X 10.6.5 also corrects a lot of security vulnerabilities, and we can note that a security update has also been made available for Mac OS X 10.5.

For Leopard, a fault which notably allowed an attacker to take control of your machine via a malicious PDF file containing CFF characters (Compact Font Format) has been corrected. This is a variation of a PDF vulnerability which allows for an iPhone to be easily jail broken. Behind the discovery of this fault, the company Core Security Technologies states that it is unfortunate that it took Apple so long to correct the issue (Apple has been aware of the fault for two months) putting pressure on the company to correct the issue by publishing information about the fault. The correction has now been provided, pretty much at the same time that Core Secutity published their alert.

Besides this small controversy, the security content updated by Apple is rather large. In total, more than one hundred security vulnerabilities have been corrected; with these bring spread out across a wide range of aspects. Numerous specialised sites have stated that Mac has put a heavy emphasis on the Flash Player plug-in which in itself has 55 detected faults.

While Apple has until now integrated the Flash Player and updates into their OS, the user has been of course been able to update the software by themselves without having to wait for Apple’s updates. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Apple has also decided that they will no longer integrate the Adobe Flash technology by default into their Mac computers.

Apple’s latest updates