Apple Releases Update to OS X Panther

Advertisement (Why?)

Apple Computer Inc. late Wednesday rolled out Mac OS X 10.3.2, a minor update that offers a variety of tweaks and bug fixes for the "Panther" OS. Version 10.3.2 includes enhancements to file sharing and directory services for cross-platform networks, Apple described in the release's documentation. The update also improves PostScript printing, font management, and the Mail and Address Book applications.

According to the documentation, the 10.3.2 update also includes new drivers for ATI and Nvidia graphics cards, and ties in security patches that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has already released separately. Customers can download the free update through the Software Update mechanism built into Mac OS X. The release will also be available at Apple's Web site however it had not been posted at press time.

News source: eWeek

Some of the fixes included are:
Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing EA Sports' Madden 2004
Setting the display resolution to 1024x768 32bpp followed by playing Blade of Darkness with the game set to 1027x768 16bpp, and texture resolution set to max, no longer results in a flickering horizontal line of display corruption
Playing the game Battle Field 1942 under Windows XP results in the Haze effect appearing incorrectly
Playing the game Call of Duty no longer results in the operating system failing to respond
Setting the game Flight Simulator 2004 to display at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 followed by starting a new flight no longer results in the menu being flipped just before the new flight is about to begin
Choppy gameplay is no longer noticed with attempting to play the game Homeworld 2
The game Jedi Knight-Jedi Academy no longer fails to respond when enabling Anti-Aliasing to 4x or 6x
Setting the texture preference bar to any setting lower than High Quality in the game Formula 1 2002 no longer results in the 2D game menu being displayed when maximizing the replay screen
Poor game performance is no longer noticed when playing the game Lord of the Realms 3 under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON(tm) 9200 series installed
Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the demo game 4x4 Evolution under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON(tm) 9600 series installed
Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game Indiana Jones at its default mode of 640x480 32bpp
Playing the game Morrowind with Truform enabled no longer results in the game failing to respond Configuring the game Halo Combat Evolved (demo) to 1024x768 followed by selecting a normal campaign no longer results in the operating system failing to respond

#1 timdorr on 18 Dec 2003 - 05:58

There's also a battery update for iBook and Powerbook owners that is supposed to extend battery life. We'll see how it goes...

#2 BTallack on 18 Dec 2003 - 06:41

Just downloaded both updates. Now to see if that battery update does anything. I was already getting 3.5 hours on my 12" PBook with Airport enabled. I'm not sure how much better it can get.

(3 replies) #3 Dark Warhawk on 18 Dec 2003 - 07:20

3.5 hours? thats it? that seems kinda sucky

#3.1 Shovel on 18 Dec 2003 - 10:34

That's quite a long time for any notebook. Centrinos will (in the 'real world') hit about the same. It's the big thing that's put me off saving for a notebook, my train journey is longer than the battery life.

Screen related power saving should provide a boost, but how much remains to be seen.

#3.2 roadwarrior on 18 Dec 2003 - 16:03

3.5 hours with wireless networking enabled is far from sucky.

#3.3 timdorr on 19 Dec 2003 - 05:48

I can get 4.5 hours out of my iBook with Airport installed and running. The trick is just to run with the monitor brightness down a bit. it's still very readable, but boosts the battery a lot.

(1 reply) #4 adi on 18 Dec 2003 - 09:33

titanium books left out?...for the battery update

#4.1 roadwarrior on 18 Dec 2003 - 16:01

Not seeing it listed for my PowerBook G3 Firewire either. I may have to do a re-install though because I had a pre-release of the 10.3.2 update installed already, which may be affecting things since the released version doesn't show up in software update either. Can someone confirm the build number of the released version of 10.3.2?

#5 the evn show on 18 Dec 2003 - 10:24

i'm getting 4.5 - 5 hours on my tibook: does it really get any better?
(granted this battery is ~3 weeks old)

(1 reply) #6 Webgraph on 18 Dec 2003 - 11:26

When will OS 11 be released? LOL!

#6.1 BTallack on 18 Dec 2003 - 14:43

Probably not until 2006/2007 at the earliest. There's still plenty of of decimals left. (10.4, 10.5)

(2 replies) #7 nummi on 18 Dec 2003 - 17:28

Hmmm... I just sent my AlBook to Apple to get a new LCD and battery. I don't think the update would have helped me. The battery was only holding 2.4Ah, it should have 4.0+Ah.

#7.1 aristotle-dude on 18 Dec 2003 - 18:51

Did you condition the battery when you got it?

#7.2 nummi on 18 Dec 2003 - 23:21

No, but I calibrated the battery before taking it in. The battery time went down.

#8 Bling3k12 on 18 Dec 2003 - 20:28

10.3.2 totally f'd up my user account. I'm going to blame it on FileVault, because when I re-logged in after applying the update, it was as if I had just performed a stock installation of 10.3 in my account, except for a "username.sparseimage" disk image, which was my 16+ GB Encrypted Home folder. All my files, library settings, etc. were in there, so I offloaded the file to my FireWire drive, deleted it off my hard drive, mounted it and then threw back all my files. I'm now back to normal, somewhat.

Little to say, I turned off FileVault. I thought 10.3.1 fixed problems in it, 10.3.2 introduces a new one it seems. Oh well, besides that 10.3.2 is working fine, don't see any other problems.

Note: Before I get asked why I turned it on, I turned FileVault on because I leave my iBook just sittin around for hours at a time, along with locking my computer from use, I also like to keep my files encrypted, in the very horrid event something was to happen, nobody can get into my data.

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Neowin.net