Apple releases Mac OS X 10.4.10
First palindromic version number?
Apple has posted Mac OS X 10.4.10, the first palindromic - well, sort of - version number to be applied to its Unix-based operating system. The update includes fixes and tweaks for both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs.
What's it do? Apple is as terse as ever, but the patch incorporates bug fixes for the OS' Bluetooth software and improves the way the system software mounts and ejects USB devices, external hard drives in particular. It also adds support for RAW-format photos generated by a range of digital cameras.
Other tweaks centre on a range of individual apps. And of course all the most recent security updates have also been implemented in the new release. Apple's list of fixes can be found here.
The Mac OS X 10.4.10 patch is available through the OS' own software update system, or it can be downloaded in the usual varieties - client and server; PowerPC and Intel; full update and delta - at the Apple website.
COMMENTS
This update has seriously shafted my Mac Mini
Always do the Software Updates on my Mac's, never again.. a 5 month old Mac Mini is in a right state after this update - there is no other reason than the latest security update. I've read all the forums on the subject and have yet to find a fix. The thing won't start up, the fan is working hard enough to cool Metallica's drummer mid set, and when I force it to start up, the finder freezes.
Not impressed.
It's a lot easier...
...than Apple's previous cryptic updates.
For example...
System 7.5.2 got you 7.5.2. But, System 7.5 Update 2.0 got you System 7.5.3. And they weren't cumulative. It was much uglier back then.
yes, it's a palindrome
Come on, you're all computer people, you should know this.
It's a palindrome at the token level, not the character level. Or another way to look at it, it's a palindrome if the numbers are taken in hexadecimal: A.4.A.
English palindromes have a very similar problem, which we just blithely ignore. The example given, "Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.", is not a palindrome because of different spacing, punctuation and capitalization. What, you say it is? Then you should accept the token-level version number palindrome.
The poster who cites Wikipedia showing the release history "full of palindromes" is only partly correct. There are a bunch of early versions like "3.3", but these are barely palindromes. "6.0.6" is the only previous 3-element example, and it was never actually released.
NO!
A palindrome it isn't.
It's a bit like saying something is "almost unique". It's either unique or it's not.
No wonder Apple don't invite El Reg to their shows!
Beware!
Please be careful, as there are quite a few reports of problems with this particular update.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1005263&tstart=0
I certainly won't be applying it for a while, to see how the dust settles.
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