14 DAY TRIAL // In under a week since the last Mac OS X 10.6.3 seed, developers have been handed yet another test build of the software. These people claim the build comes with only three focus areas – AirPort, GraphicsDrivers and QuickTime –, while the public release for this third incremental update is expected to occur as soon as this week.
Thanks to its relationship with one or more Apple developers, World of Apple is able to confirm that, “Less than a week after the previous seed Apple has given developers access to the latest build of Mac OS X 10.6.3, labeled 10D522.” According to the site, this new build weighs in at 737.2MB and contains seed notes almost identical to those of the previous build, therefore it doesn’t bother posting them. The build appears rock-solid with no known issues and few focus areas, prompting developers to suggest we should be in for a major maintenance release this week.
World of Apple isn’t the only one to acknowledge these facts. AppleInsider cites people familiar with the matter as saying that this fifth beta release of Mac OS X 10.6.3 “narrows the focus areas down to three: AirPort, GraphicsDrivers and QuickTime.” Then comes MacRumors pointing out to iPhoneinCanada, which also notes that the recent build focuses on AirPort, GraphicsDrivers, and QuickTime. However, it also notes some of the changes spotted in this build, such as:
- Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic; - Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications; - Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability and enhance security; - Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers; - Addresses an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail when scrolling.
With no known issues listed in the latest three seeds, Softpedia strongly believes Apple is either wrapping up development for a release this week, or close to doing so, which would push the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.3 later, but not much later. In any case, all signs point to the end of this update’s development cycle.