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<b>Go Mac 1.4.1 is out; fixes bugs

<b>Go Mac 1.4.1 is out; fixes bugs

CNET staff
2 min read
Last time I posted a quote from Proteron that said: "Look for GoMac 1.4.1 within a few weeks." Well, technically, I guess later that same day qualifies as within a few weeks. In any event, GoMac 1.4.1 was released later that day. (GoMac is a "Mac OS system utility which adds keyboard program switching, a program bar and a customizable start menu to the Mac OS.")

Its press release states that GoMac 1.4.1 addresses three important conflicts. "Most importantly, the bug was fixed which had caused avariety of programs using the Communications Toolbox to crash when the Toolbox was closed (symptoms were observed with AOL 3.0, VersaTerm, ClarisWorks, MicroPhone etc.). This same fix also corrects a potential system crash at Shut Down or Restart. Also corrected is a minor problem with the Settings -> Extensions item. If no Extensions Manager is found, the Extensions folder is opened instead of the Control Panels folder. Finally, the notorious and elusive Kaleidoscope 1.7.2 bug has now been fixed."

For those with a more technical interest, Sam Caughron of Proteron sent me more details regarding the cause of the "Communications Toolbox - Shut Down" bug: "Although a machine running GoMac 1.4 may not manifest the symptoms (which is how the bug was able to slip past the beta testers), it is lurking behind the scenes and can cause a crash at any time. The cause of the bug was the failure to properly restore register A0 in one of the OS patches. Most of the time, this is not a problem since A0 is routinely changed during subroutines. However, certain calls made by the OS to the patched trap assume that A0 does not change.Thus GoMac's failure to restore the register could cause a crash."

Initial reader reports suggest that v. 1.4.1 indeed squashes all or almost all of the previously reported bugs. I have so far only gotten one report of a problem with 1.4 that persisted after updating to 1.4.1 (it involved a bus error triggered by moving the mouse over the Settings item of the Start menu).

By the way, the press release notes that a major upgrade to GoMac is planned for the near future.