New OS X 10.6 Build Reaches Only a Few Devs

Following the disclosure of a new OS X 10.6 test build being handed to developers, several sources are now reporting that only a few select developers are privy to the new release. According to the same people, those developers have been asked to test the stability of non-Apple software on the OS.

As usual, developers will have to provide Apple with feedback. Reportedly, one of the aspects Apple asked developers to focus on in particular is the current implementation of Microsoft Exchange. Other focus areas include new printer drivers, as various reports indicate.

Earlier this week, MacRumors was pointing out to a Macitynet.it find that contained details regarding the above-mentioned 10.6 build being handed to developers. As the translated report indicated, Mac OS X 10.6 Build 10A261 is the newest since December's 10A222 release. According to Macity's sources, Mac OS X 10.6 Build 10A26 seems to contain very few to no noticeable changes. However, a noticeable improvement in stability was reported.

“The interface has not been revised and currently there are only small changes in System Preferences, have been resolved a few bugs in the Finder and little else,” goes a rough translation of the report. “According to the sources of Macity the impression is that this release is more reliable than those previously distributed.”

Apple is expected to release the new Snow Leopard operating system quite soon. Some believe the release is to occur by the end of Apple's Q1 '09, others pin down the release for the first half of the year. Unlike Microsoft, Apple doesn't release beta builds of its OS to the public. The first public release of Snow Leopard will most likely be the official release of the new OS X version.

Snow Leopard promises to support multi-core processors and GPU processing. One of the technologies leveraging the hardware is OpenCL. Proposed as a standard by Apple upon introducing Snow Leopard at WWDC '08, OpenCL will provide programmers with tools to take better advantage of existing hardware (GPUs, CPUs) to deliver faster software performance for the end-user.