10.5.3 on the way

[Infiniteloop]

Hi


It seems apple is going to release 10.5.3 soon and it also seems it has fixes for about 75 bugs

Apple Seeds First Mac OS X 10.5.3 Build

I hope this isnt a duplicate thread

Thanks

[Sandman]

Having read the above blog it sounds that X 10.5.2 is as buggy as Vista! What a letdown. Is this what you Mac-users are used to? If so, it is a well kept secret from us XP/Vista users; I'd always had the impression that the various Mac OS's were rock-solid & stable. Sad to read that it isn't.
Wireless problems, disappearing icons, frequent freeezes etc.....sounds like the bad old days before & after XP.
One of my copilots showed me his shiny & pretty MacBook Pro, but it froze twice while demo'ing it; I thought that was a BIG no-no in Mac-land.
What am I missing here, boys and girls?
Care to enlighten me?

[fangpyre]

Hi Sandman.
Welcome to the site.
I have to admit, it takes guts (I'd use another word, but Magnus wouldn't like it ) to walk into the lion's den.
I like that.
But the guys here are all nice, so I wouldn't worry about that.

First of all, lets get things straight.
If you are afraid of risking your data, then do get data.
Data, just like any asset is coveted.
And it doesn't take a computer to lose it.
Kevin Mitnick (known as one of the best hackers ever) is best with Social Engineering.
Which is about manipulating people, not computers.

Macs are not immune to computer problems.
A good way to think of this is to think of an athletic person vs one that isn't (smoking, junk food, no exercise, etc...)
The healthy person will get sick (and eventually die) but not as frequently as the other person.

A common debate here, and in all Mac circles, is that we forget this and strut around like Superman.
And it is this attitude that would cause so much damage that wouldn't be there if they were simply cautious.

There is also the point that not as many people know how to attack Macs.
Imagine two 1x1m door being rammed down.
On the first there is 1 person trying to ram it down.
On the second there are 100 people.
Which is at greater risk?
Keep in mind they both have the same vulnerability, that 1x1 door.

How vulnerable is OSX?
Well on a timeline since 03, data shows that the average of 6% of vulnerabilities remain unpatched.
6%!!!

But if you look at how that compares:
Vista: 8%
XP: 14%
Suddenly 6% doesn't look so bad.

So how dangerous are the patches?
OSX: extreme 5%, high 34%
XP: extreme 4%, high 34%
Vista: extreme 4%, high 40%

How many give system access?
OSX: 20%
XP: 52%
Vista: 39%

Also, software on Macs is better written. I still don't know why, but it is.
So buggy software doesn't happen much.
And the platform makes sure that it doesn't hit as hard.
The Unix backbone, for example, ensures that each process requires separate authorization.
So the fact that you have logged in as Admin doesn't authorize you (or processes posing as you) to run amuck.

I hope you will try Macs.
I'm sure if you give it a fair chance, you will love it.

Microsoft Windows Vista - Vulnerability Report - Secunia
Apple Macintosh OS X - Vulnerability Report - Secunia
Microsoft Windows XP Professional - Vulnerability Report - Secunia

[Sandman]

Hi Fangpyre - thanks for the welcome & the kind words.
It seems you UAE-guys are a great bunch, and I'm sure many of my airborne colleagues are amongst you. After 6 years in the emirate it is nice to have discovered this site.

Your points are well put and refreshingly viewed from a different angle than commonly seen.
Appreciated.
I'm happy with the amount of people wanting to harm OSX is far fewer than XP/Vista, which is one of the many reasons I want to switch, but after 14 years using PC I have never had any security problems, ever. Lots of luck I know, but still.

The main reason for the switch is that Vista has gone completely awry. What a mess.
I'm happy with XP, but who wants to continue down a discontinued line?

And having flown with soooo many happy Mac-pilots through the years I had the distinct impression that all the big Cats were freeze-free, fail safe & will even make you car use less fuel if you are lucky.
So reading the blog posted by Infiniteloop I was shocked. As simple as that.
Let's hope that the new patch will make the slightly sick athlete feel much better and get him up & running again, yeah?

I do a lot of video-editing & photo-editing, and am looking forward to try the one OS that should be made for this.

Now, should I jump right in today and get the MacBook Pro or wait for the June release of the new Intel chip? (all rhetorical q's of course, it all comes down to personal pref's, I know).
Also; 15" or 17" LED? Will the 17" be too heavy for the flightbag?
2.4/2.5/2.6GHz? Is the cost too much compared to the benefit for the two latter?
250 or 300GB? Is the 300GB too slow for video editing?
The questions are many, and I'm learning new stuff on a daily basis.

[Magnus]

We had this "battle" before....

Sandman, if someone has in the past said to you that Macs are not susceptible to problems, whether it's bugs or malware, they were seriously misinformed. Of course there are bugs in Mac OS X, of course it happens that Macs crash. Whether there are fewer bugs in Mac OS X 10.5.2 compared to Vista, I don't know. But remember that 10.5 came out in October and Vista was launched early last year.

Being rock-solid and stable doesn't mean no bugs in my mind. It's not an absolute measure, it's relative. If we have an absolute measuring-stick, and rock-solid and stable means 0 bugs, then is any system in the world truly rock-solid and stable? Or where on the scale does rock-solid and stable start?

Concerning one MacBook Pro freezing during a demo, that could have many very natural explanations, like bad RAM, for example. Drawing any sort of conclusions from one computer is just not very useful.

[Magnus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Now, should I jump right in today and get the MacBook Pro or wait for the June release of the new Intel chip? (all rhetorical q's of course, it all comes down to personal pref's, I know).
Also; 15" or 17" LED? Will the 17" be too heavy for the flightbag?
2.4/2.5/2.6GHz? Is the cost too much compared to the benefit for the two latter?
250 or 300GB? Is the 300GB too slow for video editing?
The questions are many, and I'm learning new stuff on a daily basis.

Depends of course... do you need it now? If so, buy now. That's pretty simple.

17-inch is large and heavy. If you're going to carry it around a lot I'd stay away from it.
The speed in processor makes little difference I think.
If the 300GB drive is 4200RPM I'd stay away from it. I'd rather have something like a 200GB 7200RPM for what you're going to do.

[Sandman]

Takk skal du ha Magnus.
Thanks a lot, good replies & sound advice.

I actually think there is a lot of 'serious misinformation' out there from Mac-users towards us PC users, completely understandable of course ;-))

The 15" is what I like the most myself, I just wish a speedy harddrive came in larger versions. As I'm sure it will, given time.

Again, thanks guys.

[Infiniteloop]

Update: 10.5.3 will fix 100 bugs or so and you can expect it very soon because apple is rushing it for some reason

Apple Rapidly Seeding Mac OS X 10.5.3 Test Builds

[fangpyre]

The gap between PCs and Macs is so big it is easy to forget that Macs are not perfect.
Throw in the amount of admiration and affection we have towards our Macs, and as they say "Love is Blind".

[dandantheitman]

Originally Posted by fangpyre

Also, software on Macs is better written. I still don't know why, but it is.
So buggy software doesn't happen much.

I would attribute the better quality software on the Mac to the open nature of its operating system. As a POSIX compliant UNIX OS developers know exactly which libraries are where, and when testing the product the logging on a UNIX can be extremely verbose or not. Where as Windows it is hit and Miss.

There is a lot in the windows environment that is hidden from the developer. In the windows environment you input X and get result Y. In UNIX you get the same but you get to see how the OS comes up with Y.

I think this allows for better troubleshooting during dev. developers can assign different variables and undestand which the output is the way it is. In microsoft they have no way of knowing.

Dan