Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Security
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Update: Apple releases first Leopard update

Also fixes flaws that made researchers call the firewall 'a mess'

November 15, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Apple Inc. today issued the first update for Leopard, its three-week-old operating system. The update fixes a wide range of out-the-gate bugs and patches three security-related design flaws in the revamped firewall.

The update to Mac OS X 10.5.1 includes changes to a host of Leopard features, including some that have given early adopters fits, such as a gaffe that cripples some software, including Skype, when the firewall is set to the most flexible option. It also tackles problems formatting drives before they can be used with Time Machine, the integrated backup and restore software.

Other non-security fixes address a file copy bug that deleted data if the destination drive suddenly went offline during the job, boost the reliability of iCal in delivering alarms via e-mail, improve Mail's synchronizing with .Mac, makes Windows shared folders both read- and write-enabled when connected via SMB, and resolves an issue with saved passwords on wireless networks.

Some reported Leopard troubles, however, did not make the list, including a fix for an intermittent keyboard failure on some MacBook Pro notebooks.

Apple also released the first security patches for Leopard as part of 10.5.1, quashing what the company classified as vulnerabilities but were more akin to design flaws.

Leopard's firewall, Apple acknowledged, misleads users with the label "Block all incoming connections" of one option. As several researchers had pointed out earlier this month, setting the firewall to the "Block all..." option did nothing of the kind, and left the Mac visible to port scanners. "This update addresses the issue by more accurately describing the option as 'Allow only essential services,' and by limiting the processes permitted to receive incoming connections under this setting to a small fixed set of system services," said Apple.

Two other corrections to the firewall make sure that any application marked not to accept incoming data actually complies, and immediately applies changes to the firewall's settings.

Mac OS X 10.5.1 can be downloaded from the Apple Web site or retrieved using Leopard's built-in Software Update feature. The update is approximately 40MB in size, while the stand-alone installer version weighs in at 110MB.



Jump to comments

Apple

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER
Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.
WHITE PAPER
Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.
WHITE PAPER
Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Share our Strength
Download Now  

Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...

Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.

Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...