Mac OS X 10.4.2 Released

6 minute read

I’ve already updated all the Macs in the house with no ill effects. The most visual difference is the addition of a Widget Manager (for those afraid to fiddle around in their Library/Widgets folder).

Apple has posted a knowledge-base article (#301722), as well as a delta updater and a combo updater. The changes as described by Apple, are as follows.

The update mentions improved Safari scroll speed, so I expected that it was a recent WebKit build (with Acid2 test compatibility). Unfortunately, it seems that this hasn’t gone mainstream yet, so reliance on NightShift, SafariOnAcid, or your own builds will have to continue.

AirPort

  • With this update, logging out of Mac OS X automatically disconnects the computer from an AirPort network if it is using WPA Enterprise security settings (this does not affect WPA Personal WEP-secured networks).
  • The AirPort menu extra displays more information when you enable a Software Access Point with this update installed.
  • Adds support for AES encryption of WPA-PSK networks, which are supported by many wireless access points.
  • The Try Again button behaves as expected when attempting to join a third-party, WEP-enabled wireless access point with this update.
  • Improves reliability when associating with wireless networks after waking from sleep.
  • Improves WPA2 wireless encryption support for AirPort Extreme cards.

Mail

  • In Mail, if you retrieve and sort IMAP mail using multiple email clients, the counts of unread IMAP messages in mailboxes other than what’s in your Inbox are more accurate with this update.
  • Addresses an issue in which IMAP messages deleted in Mail could unexpectedly “reappear” after a few seconds.
  • In some situations, a Mail message’s attached graphic displayed as a small blue box with a question mark inside the message window, even though the attached file was just fine; this update addresses the issue.
  • Mail no longer tries to print an HTML message’s remote images if the “Display remote images in HTML messages” option is deselected—the message is printed without the graphics instead—after this update is installed.
  • This update addresses an issue for Mail in which signatures with graphics were not appearing as expected.

iChat

  • With this update, you can successfully send and receive AIM messages using iChat after changing network locations (without having to log out and back in)—from wireless to Ethernet, for example.
  • If iChat is logged in to your AIM account in Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.4.1, logging in to the same account on a different computer disconnects the Tiger computer without warning—this update adds a preference choice to iChat to avoid this, if desired.
  • iChat no longer states that the network is unavailable if you intentionally disconnect from the Internet using Internet Connect without first quitting iChat.
  • Improves video framerate for iChat when certain kinds of background processes or applications are running.
  • Resolves a situation in which iChat could incorrectly report “insufficient bandwidth to maintain conference,” even though enough bandwidth was available.

Finder

  • Addresses an issue in which the Finder could unexpectedly quit if Show Package Contents was chosen several times from the shortcut menu for the same package.
  • The Finder slideshow feature should now always work as expected.
  • If ACLs were enabled on an SMB volume, a Get Info window in the Finder wouldn’t show the Details section when getting info on files stored on the volume—this update addresses the issue.
  • Addresses an issue in which a supported burning device could unexpectedly be seen as “unsupported” by the Finder.
  • The duration of MP3 files is accurately reported in Get Info windows in the Finder with this update.

Other applications

  • With this update, many applications, including Safari, work better with proxy servers that require authentication.
  • With this update, you can use Safari to log in to MyAccount on cingular.com.
  • Safari pages scroll better with this update when scrolling with a scroll wheel (such as one on a third-party mouse or keyboard).
  • Orange iCal calendars, with alarms that go off while iCal is not open, no longer change color after the alarm is snoozed.
  • Addresses an issue in which Stickies.app notes could disappear unexpectedly if Stickies opens automatically during login (if it was set as a Login Item in Accounts preferences).
  • Addresses an issue for Adobe Premiere 6.5 in which the application could unexpectedly quit when exporting a file.
  • With this update, the Reduce File Size option in Preview works as expected when saving a file as a PDF from the File menu.
  • Addresses a Keychain Scripting issue in which the “password” property of a key often could not be retrieved.

iDisk, WebDAV

  • Improves .Mac iDisk syncing after changing network locations—an iDisk could incorrectly appear to be offline after switching networks, causing syncing to stop working.
  • With this update, you can access iDisk or other WebDAV servers through HTTP and HTTPS proxies.
  • HTTP/HTTPS proxy account and password settings defined in Network preferences are now used by the WebDAV file system as expected.
  • Addresses some issues that could occur when saving files directly to an iDisk.

Networking

  • Addresses an issue in which some Apple internal modems would not dial, and the PPP log would include a message such as “Failed to open /dev/cu.modem: Resource busy”.
  • Adds improvements to Active Directory support.
  • Addresses an alert “Error code -8065” that could occur when copying a file through SMB to a Microsoft Windows-based PC volume a second time, if the file had previously been deleted from the PC.
  • Includes other enhancements related to connecting to and using Windows-based file servers (SMB/CIFS).
  • Allows Active Directory users with Mobile Accounts to authenticate without being connected to the Active Directory network.
  • Allows Active Directory users to log in after a restart.
  • Resolves an issue that prevented Active Directory users from accessing certain Kerberized services, such as ssh, on a Windows 2003 server.
  • Active Directory users can be given local admin privileges on a client computer, with this update.

Other enhancements

  • Software Update no longer unexpectedly quits in certain situations after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and changing Network Port settings, after installing this update. More….
  • With this update installed, Disk Utility (and fsck) can better resolve “Overlapped Extent Allocation” issues that could appear when verifying or repairing a disk.
  • Xgrid can now map multiple input files using the inputFileMap key, and retrieve results from multitask jobs using the command line.
  • The Dashboard widget Unit Converter requires much less CPU usage after installing this update.
  • Improves performance for the web-based Power School student information system (http://www.apple.com/education/powerschool/).
  • Improves compatibility when using an HP Deskjet 5850 printer wirelessly.
  • Improves compatibility for HP LaserJet 1320 printers.
  • This update ensures that periodic background maintenance tasks as scheduled in launchd.conf.
  • Addresses an issue in which custom installations from a Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Install disc that don’t require starting up from the disc could cause Installer to stop responding (“hang”) for a couple of minutes if the destination volume was write-protected (eventually, a “There is not enough space for this item” message would appear).
  • External disks no longer unmount unexpectedly when switching users, if Fast User Switching is enabled.
  • Addresses an issue in which after performing a NetInstall or restoring Mac OS X from a disk image, you may see certain files and folders at the root level of the Mac OS X volume that are not supposed to be visible, such as etc, tmp, and var. More….
  • With this update, the ttys file can be edited in Tiger; for example, if you’re creating a login hook.
  • Addresses an issue in which the computer might wake from sleep with a black screen if it went to sleep while prompting you for a keychain password.
  • Allows users to log in with Kerberos authentication when using an edu.mit.Kerberos file.
  • These Automator actions are updated in this update: Add Files to Playlist, Add Songs to Playlist, Import Photos into iPhoto, New Mail Message, Run Shell Script.
  • The AppleScript “do shell script” command has been revised.

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