Mac OS X 10.5.6 Released
Written on December 15, 2008 by David Appleyard and 19 people have commented
Apple today released the next major update to OS X Leopard in the form of Mac OS X 10.5.6 and is now available via Software Update, or the Apple downloads page. It is a 377MB download, recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard.
Some of the notable changes and updates included in the release are:
- Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com. This should go a long way towards making MobileMe more usable.
- Improves reliability of Address Book & Airport.
- Adds a Trackpad System Preference pane for portable Macs.
- Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule, and problems with locating backup volumes
- Includes fixes for possible graphics distortion issues with certain ATI graphics cards, and improvements for several graphics intensive apps (iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture, and iTunes).
- Several improvements to Mail to improve performance, junk filtering and handling of PDF attachments
- Networking enhancements for AT&T 3G cards and TCP connections
- Improved printing for users of Adobe CS3
As ever with updating to the latest software version, Apple recommends that you:
- Back up your computer prior to installing any updates.
- Quit any open applications before starting the installation.
- Do not interrupt the installation process.
They also note that you should take care with any third-party system software modifications installed, or if you have moved Apple applications from their default locations (the /Applications or /Applications/Utilities folders).
For full details and download instructions, see the official release page.
Do let us know how the update process goes!
Son of Bob on December 15th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
It was only 190mb download on my iMac G5 2.1 ghz. Went smoothly and installed nicely. I am always impressed with Apples download speeds when publishing these large files. Very fast.
Darrell Etherington on December 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’ve had no problems on my Black MacBook or my aluminum iMac. It may have improved some occasional glitchy issues with my ATI Radeon card on the iMac, in fact.
ZEDenterprizes on December 15th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Having troubles maintaining wireless connectivity with 10.5.5 and my Trendnet Wireless G router recently, so I’m hoping this update will fix my problems. But I’m getting timeouts even trying to download the files in the first place through SoftwaeUpdate! Anyone else having these problems?
Ken on December 15th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
We tried to upgrade one machine in the office and it got stuck “Configuring Installation…” until we rebooted. 2 other friends emailed me about their machines doing the same thing.
I think we’ll wait a few days to do the entire office….
Chris on December 15th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I have the same “Configuring Intallion…” hanging trouble on my first gen 15″ MacBook Pro.
Kevin Z on December 15th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Just updated new MBP 15″…worked like a charm….really like the MM improvements.
DTNick on December 15th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Glad to see they finally got MobileMe push working on the Mac!
Chris on December 15th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Using the complete download fixed the hang.
Eric Peniata on December 15th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
My “config install” ……. freezes up too. maybe I should wait
abragad on December 16th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Since the upgrade I cannot start Mail anymore, it hangs when trying to read a message already stored in a local mailbox. Not sure if it’s related to .6 but…
lazyj on December 16th, 2008 at 1:01 am
those with the hang on “config install” …. log back into OS X after a hard reset, find this folder:
/Library/Updates/Mac OS X
there should be two files in there (one with a DIST extension, the other PKG I believe).
Delete both of these files.
Re-run software update, and download the updates again.
This time it’ll work ;)
abragad on December 16th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I have fixed Mail, it was one of the plugin bundles (possibly GPGMail) that stopped working.
Jamx on December 16th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Still hasn’t fixed my wifi issues. Still drops all the time. Grrr @ Apple!!
Sirdar on December 18th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Read a lot of news/forums about some people having issues with this update. I’m happy to say that I didn’t have any problems with the update.
AndyG on December 27th, 2008 at 1:18 am
This update has wiped my address book, synced the empty address book with my iPhone…. How the heck can I get this stuff back???!!
Joanne on January 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Thanks lazyj that really helped!
fd0 on March 16th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
After buying a new early 2009 macbook pro last week, I am having problems connecting to my wireless accesspoint that has been running for years without problems. My ‘old’ macbook pro has no difficulties connecting.
What seems to be the problem?
Any ideas?
fd0 on March 16th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
btw.. forgot to mention: old macbook pro runs latest tiger, new one runs 10.5.6
shaaane on April 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
lazyj, i have done just that because when installing it freezed at one point and it didnt work.. is there a problem with my laptop or does it need more time, its been at that point for an hour and a halff. help