Apple releases Mac OS X 10.4.4 and Mac OS X 10.4.4 Server (for PowerPC-based Macs)

Apple has now posted Mac OS X 10.4.4 (which also ships on the new Intel CoreDuo-based Macs) in PowerPC-based Mac form.

A Mac OS X 10.4.4 Server edition is also available.

Major improvements in this release (see below for a full list of changes) include enhancements to:

• SMB/CIFS and NFS network file services
• Bluetooth wireless access
• Core Graphics, Core Audio, Core Image, RAW camera support, including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
• Spotlight indexing and searching
• AppleScript, iChat, DVD Player, and Safari applications
• Dashboard widgets: Calendar and Stocks
• Software Update and Sync Services
• compatibility with USB and FireWire devices and third party applications
• previous standalone security updates

Download links are as follows:

• Mac OS X Update 10.4.4 Delta[55 MB]
• Mac OS X Update 10.4.4 Combo [120 MB]
• Mac OS X Server 10.4.4 Delta[83 MB]
• Mac OS X Server 10.4.4 Combo [166 MB]

If you are having problems with the new release, please let us know.

Full list of enhancements

Safari

• Safari now displays certain documents that have text/plain headers as plain text rather than treating them as HTML.
• On certain websites, such as Telia Webmail, buttons on a page might overlap in Safari; this update resolves the issue.
• Text within a nested HTML table's cells (such as a web-based form) no longer disappears when you click it.
• Addresses an issue in which some websites, such as www.cbsnews.com, could cause CPU usage to spike unnecessarily, or cause Safari to stop responding, unless Safari's Enable JavaScript preference was deselected.
• Resolves an issue in which Safari could unexpectedly quit if you tried to save a web page which includes an inline PDF file as a Web Archive.
• Addresses an issue that could cause Safari to unexpectedly quit when filling out forms on some websites.
• .Mac now syncs which RSS feed items you have and haven't read in Safari.
• Dashboard: the following widgets are updated or new with this update:
• Stocks - The stocks widget can now display price graphs for a week or a month; also, font size and spacing have been adjusted.
• Address Book - Address Book widget now has three panes: Search, List, and Card.
• Calendar - This widget's appearance has been adjusted.
• PhoneBook - This widget is now named Business.
• People - This widget lets you look up residential phone numbers.
• Google - Searches the Internet via www.google.com, then displays the results in your default web browser.
• ESPN - Shows news and scores for the sports you choose.
• Ski Report - Shows you ski conditions at popular skiing locationspowered by AccuWeather.

iChat

• iChat can now detect when you're using a Bluetooth headset as your audio device.
• Allows iChat to initiate a video conference with an AOL Messenger (AIM) for Windows user whose name include spaces or uppercase characters.
• Resolves an issue in which iChat could unexpectedly quit after experiencing a disconnection during a file transfer.
• In an iChat multiperson chat (conference) with "Auto-reply with my away message" enabled, if your status changes to Away your away message no longer appears after every chat line.

Other applications

• Addresses an issue in which Preview or other graphic applications might be able to open an EPS format file, but would unexpectedly quit soon afterwards.
• Instead of Disk Utility reporting "ERROR: could not freeze volume (Operation not supported)," when trying to perform a Live Verification of a non-Journaled volume, the Verify button is dimmed when a non-Journaled volume is selected.
• Improves the compression achieved when saving a TIFF file as a compressed TIFF.
• Shadows within a PDF document created in Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later are visible in Adobe Reader as well.
• Calculator widget now uses the number format set in International preferences format pane; for example, the Calculator widget's number separator is a comma when the Russian region is selected in the Region pop-up menu.
• Resolves an issue in which some PDF files could appear with inverted colors in Preview or other applications.
• Adobe Illustrator CS version 11.0 can now save files with 2-byte characters in their name.
• Improves framerates in Blizzard World of Warcraft for GeForce 4Ti video cards.
• T.C. Electronic Spark XL 2.8 no longer stops responding when quitting or when switching audio devices in the application's preferences.
• Addresses an unexpected quitting issue that could occur when switching GarageBand to an aggregate audio hardware device.

Other improvements

• Improves stability when third-party networking kernel extensions are installed, such as socket filters that implement a data filter.
• iPhoto can now import and work with raw graphic files from several recent digital cameras.
• Resolves an issue in which, under certain conditions, canceling a .Mac synchronization session could result in erroneous contacts being added to Address Book.
• Addresses certain issues that could occur when performing a full sync or sync reset with .Mac.
• Allows you to reinstall bundled software from Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later DVDs, instead of receiving an "Error Reading Package - The package is damaged and cannot be read" alert.
• Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.4.3 in which you cannot unlock the System Keychain, or the System Keychain does not accept your authentication when authenticating for a wireless network.
• Includes later versions of the Courier and Monaco system fonts that resolve certain Central European language and Cyrillic glyph display issues.
• Turning Bluetooth on and off rapidly several times in Bluetooth preferences no longer causes Bluetooth to stop responding, nor causes the On/Off button to become dimmed.
• Includes recent Security Updates.

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