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Apple Re-releases Security Update
By David Utter
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-08-19
A security update released for Mac OS X earlier in the week broke the functionality of 64-bit applications.
There's an old joke about a couple at a classy restaurant, and their meal is interrupted by a god-awful sound of stuff being dropped and broken from the kitchen. They ask the waiter what that noise was, and he smoothly tells them it's the sound of a job opening being created.
Whoever dropped the QA part of Apple's recent security update may be applying for that kitchen job now. Apple has had to correct the original update and release it anew.
The update addressed a number of outstanding issues on the Mac OS X Tiger platform. But it created the problem of rendering 64-bit applications unusable on those systems that installed the update. Wolfram Research's Mathematica, a high-end computational engine, was widely reported as an example of an affected application.
From Apple's web site, it appears the earlier security update delivered the LibSystem component with 32-bit support only. That component has been replaced with a combined 32-bit and 64-bit LibSystem in the newest update.
All is well now, as Apple has hammered out the wrinkles and released the update again. The Safari web browser and Directory Services were among several components receiving fixes, and Apple recommends that its customers install the new update.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.
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