14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has commenced internal testing of Mac OS X 10.6.7, the seventh incremental update to its Snow Leopard operating system, tasked with improving core elements of the software, including security.
Build 10J842 is reportedly the first seed of Mac OS X 10.6.7 Apple has handed developers.
Weighing in at 338.6MB in delta form, the build is typically accompanied by a seed note which explains to developers what their focus is.
Particularly, Apple is telling members of its developer community to focus on AirPort, Bonjour, SMB file sharing, and graphics drivers.
No known issues are reported as of yet, while the main purpose of Mac OS X 10.6.7 is yet unknown.
For comparison, the major focus of Mac OS X 10.6.6 - released to the public earlier this month - was the Mac App Store, an attempt on behalf of Apple to unify the process of downloading, installing, and updating third party Macintosh applications.
However, the purpose of the software update was not known until later in the OS X 10.6.6 development cycle.
As such, Mac OS X 10.6.7 may or may not include surprises as developers publicize their findings.
One possibility is that Mac OS X 10.6.7 will further try to bridge some of the gaps between Apple’s desktop operating system and iOS, the company’s mobile OS powering iPhones, iPod touches and iPads.
With Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on its way to Mac users this summer, Apple is said to propose the unification of the two OSes.
The seventh Snow Leopard update might just deliver more Multi-Touch goodness, perhaps requiring more use of the company’s currently-unpopular Magic Trackpad.
For now, all we can do is wait and see what developers report for the next 10.6.7 seed.