Apple Tames Tiger With Big Patch

Apple on Monday patched its newest operating system, Mac OS X 10.4--better known as Tiger--less than three weeks after the OS debuted.

Mac OS X 10.4.1, as the update is dubbed, includes at least 35 bug fixes for such bundled applications as the Safari Web browser, the Mail client, and the iSync utility.

Other fixes highlighted by Apple in the documentation on its support Web site claim that the patch improves the reliability of the operating system's Active Directory plug-in, which was one of the components users focused on in early complaints.

A security fix included in the update also prevents files, applications, and Web pages from opening at the password prompt that appears when waking from sleep or stopping a screen saver, said Apple.

Apple noted that it had fixed multiple problems in Safari, including one where the browser would crash when PDF files were clicked, and another where saved PDFs wouldn't print properly.

The 37MB 10.4.1 update can be downloaded manually from Apple's Web site, or retrieved automatically from within Tiger using its Software Update feature.