14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is informing developers that a new OS X Lion test build is now available for download, alongside the eighth beta of iCloud, the company’s upcoming suite of Internet services.
Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.1 last week with improvements to Wi-Fi, fixes to audio out, an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari, as well as a bug that prevented transfer of data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion.
Separate releases of the incremental update were made available, including two builds for owners of a MacBook Air laptop and for owners of a Mac mini Server desktop computer.
This week’s Lion seed, OS X 10.7.2 build 11C40 is said to be the second beta received by developers since the public release of 10.7.1.
According to those who are familiar with the new software, Apple's build 11C40 is a 730MB download that tasks the code savvy with testing areas like AirPort, AppKit, Graphics Drivers, Mac App Store, Mail and Spotlight.
As usual, Apple gives no estimate as to when its next OS X maintenance release will occur, and we can expect the Mac maker to feed developers with several betas over the course of at last four weeks.
Developers enrolled with Apple’s program are also reporting that they are being offered iCloud for OS X Lion beta 8, an add-on installer that adds in-development iCloud functionality.
AppleInsider reports that the first beta of Mac OS X 10.7.2 arrived in late July, which places it in the hands of developers before the public release of Mac OS X 10.7.1 had occurred.
Mac OS X Lion is a $30 upgrade to Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system. It can be obtained by customers who are already running Snow Leopard on supported hardware by visiting the Mac App Store.