Brief Hands-On Report--Mac OS X 10.3.7 Update for Client and Server

Yesterday, Apple released Mac OS X 10.3.7 update (Build 7S215) and it is available via the System Preferences Software Update pane or as a stand-alone for the client version delta updater (Mac OS X 10.3.6 to 10.3.7) or combo updater (Mac OS X 10.3.x to 10.3.7) and the server version delta or combo updater. The 10.3.7 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 (Panther) and is recommended for all users.

Key enhancements include:

• improved AFP support for saving documents with long file names
  
• improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
  
• improved FireWire device compatibility
  
• updated Preview application
  
• improved compatibility for third party applications
  
• previous standalone security updates
  

Here is a full list of enhancements:

Client Applications

• Allows TextEdit to open certain RTF documents that previously wouldn't open, resulting in a "TextEdit Open Failed. Couldn't open file" alert.
  
• Resolves an issue in which Safari, Mail, and other networking applications that use DNS lookups could experience intermittent connectivity issues with Security Update 2004-09-30 and Mac OS X 10.3.5 or later installed.
  
• Addresses an issue with Blizzard World of Warcraft in which the game's frame rate could drop considerably when in "Ghost mode," if the computer uses an nVidia graphics card.
  
• Resolves an issue in which enabling Vertex Shaders in World of Warcraft could lead to unexpected graphics issues when using an nVidia graphics card.
• Addresses an issue with World of Warcraft in which incorrect colors or unexpectedly flashing objects could appear when using an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card, making gameplay difficult.
  
• Improves compatibility for Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator 3.5—some 3D surfaces might not render in Mac OS X 10.3.6.
  

Client Other

• Addresses an issue in which a brief "flash of lines" may appear on the screen when waking the computer from sleep after the "Flurry" Screen Saver has run, if the computer uses an ATI Radeon 8500, 9000, 9200, 9600, or M9 graphics chip.
  
• Improves compatibility for FireWire-based audio interfaces, including the Edirol FA-101 FireWire audio interface.
  
• Enables E*TRADE PDF account statements to be viewed in Preview.
• An Apple Cinema 22" ADC display, when connected to certain PowerBook computers, no longer shows random "stuttering" or other graphics anomalies in the Finder and DVD Player.
  
• Addresses an issue in which shadowed text in a PDF file may print differently than it appears on the screen when printing to a raster printer.
  
• Filenames longer than 31 characters are no longer shortened when the file is saved on a server via Apple File Sharing.
  
• Resolves an issue with Mac OS X 10.3.6 in which some FireWire hard drives would not appear ("mount") on the desktop.
  
• Addresses an issue with Mac OS X 10.3.6 in which DVD Player might not open on some Power Mac G4 computers that use an ATI Radeon 9800 AGP video card.
  
• Resolves an issue that prevented printing to some Windows-based print servers.
  

Server

• improved reliability of AFP, CIFS and NFS file services, and network automounts
  
• enhanced Server Admin, Workgroup Manager and Network Image Utility applications
  
• improved Open Directory scalability and reliability, Active Directory integration and Kerberos support
  
• updated QuickTime streaming and broadcast services for compatibility with 3G phones
  
• added support for background rebuilding of RAID mirrors, and network VLAN tagging
  
• updated to Samba version 3.0.2 and MySQL version 4.0.18
  
• more reliable Rendezvous registration
  
• improved PostScript and USB printing
  
• added Fibre Channel Utility application and multipathing with support for bandwidth aggregation and failover
  
• additional support for FireWire and USB devices
  
• improved compatibility for third party applications and devices
  
• previous standalone security updates
  

We downloaded and installed 10.3.7 on several Macs, iMac G5 and PowerBook G4, with no apparent problems. Apple suggests that one disconnect any external FireWire drives but we didn't. [Dana Baggett and Bill Fox]