MacosX 10.1.3

[tagliatelle]

New Mac OS X 10.1.3 seed released as development wraps up
By Nick dePlume, Publisher and Editor in Chief

Last month, Think Secret was the first to report on the 10.1.3 update to Mac OS X. 10.1.3 is the next minor revision to Apple's next-generation operating system, and is part of a series of service releases that will eventually lead to version 10.2 later this year.

Apple provided a new pre-release seed of 10.1.3 to developers Wednesday afternoon, labeled build 5Q39. The new build continues to fix bugs, most notably in the area of URL Access. No list of known issues was provided to developers -- presumably there are none and this seed is a candidate for release.

On Wednesday, Think Secret received an indication that 10.1.3 would be out the door soon, with one source suggesting that it would be released via Software Update Thursday afternoon. Sources say that a bug has updated 10.1.3 to 5Q40 (only distributed within Apple) and delayed the release until Monday. Apple's announcements are known for receiving last-minute changes, but the releases of minor OS X updates are without a doubt the ones most likely to receive strange delays at the 11th hour, as past readers of Think Secret know. However, insiders asserted that the release wouldn't come in "weeks," despite reports elsewhere on the web.

The 10.1.3 update addresses a variety of issues, but also includes several enhancements. As noted in our first report, these include expanded support for CD burners and digital cameras and security improvements. It also includes an update LDAP directory service -- version 1.2.1 -- that allows authentication to Active Directory. One source tested this out and reported that it works "very well." Its only requirement is that the Active Directory scheme on the Windows 2000 server be modified with additional attributes. "Kind of messy, but it's not difficult to get up and running," the source said.