14 DAY TRIAL // Just under a month since the latest Snow Leopard build seeded to developers, Apple has equipped members of its Developer Connection with a new Beta of Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard. Build 10A286 packs three main important changes, World of Apple reports, including a minimal-looking QuickTime, a Cocoa-based Finder and finally Safari 4 Beta.
World of Apple calls the seed notes for build 10A286 “unusually short.” This doesn't indicate that development on the latest iteration of Leopard is wrapping up, with such a long list of known issues. Moreover, fans of the Mac operating system may be disappointed at the small number of additions. So, here's what developers are currently looking at, including known issues.
Mac OS X 10.6 Build 10A286 seed notes:
New Content
This seed contains some major new changes in the following areas:
QuickTime Player
The new QuickTime Player has a new minimal UI and is focused on playback.
Finder
Finder includes a new Cocoa Desktop, Info Window and Contextual Menu
Safari
Safari 4 beta is included in the seed as the default browser.
Known Issues
Remote Installs over Airport may cause panics (A workaround is to install via Ethernet or DVD.)
Booting from the install DVD can take a long time
Some settings are not migrated from the previous system when upgrading, including file sharing, sharing name and energy saver settings.
Finder issues: Icon previews will not appear on the Desktop, selecting Clean Up does not change icon placement on the Desktop. Sometimes the Finder and Desktop will stop responding to input. A workaround is to restart Finder.
iTunes will sometimes lock up when an iPhone is connected. A workaround is to rename or delete ~/Library/Lockdown)
Microsoft Office 2004 applications can hang when using the File->Open menu. A workaround is to open the file by opening it in Finder.)
On newer MacBook Pros, the screen’s backlight will not come on when booting into the installer if the brightness is set below 6.
Hibernation is not working on machines with Nvidia graphics cards and will result in a frozen machine.
The Time Machine UI cannot be activated in Finder and Mail in some cases.
The linker creates a bad image when the minimum OS target is set to Mac OS X 10.5 and weak external symbols are used. (A workaround is to set Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.6 as the minimum OS target.)
Xcode often crashes when navigating in documentation using the navigation buttons.
Lastly, Apple advises against installing the latest Snow Leopard seed on Nehalem Mac Pros. The issue may be tied to the lack of compatibility with Nvidia graphics cards. The company is expected to release Snow Leopard in June, upon Steve Jobs' return from a six-month medical leave. A more detailed look at the changes in this seed will be posted in a separate article.