Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.6.3 build 10D573 to devs, release probably not imminent

Leopard is at 10.5.8 unless I'm missing something

please Apple, release this update soon so I can play Settlers 7 on my MBP.
http://82.75.138.51/webpics/settlers7mac.png
Game is already released an needs 10.6.3 to play...crazy!

@snugs

Sure, Leopard is at 10.5.11 some 3 years after release. Compare that to Windows Vista which was released about the same time and is now on its second service pack (or third if you count the Platform Update last year) and your assessment seems valid.

However, you must agree that a Service Pack is not 100% comparable to a Mac OS X point release - if only because both companies have always adopted different version numbering conventions.

What would be interesting is to see a comparison of the patches/fixes released for both OS's over the last 3 years. I don't recall a month going by without Windows Update downloading multiple updates for Vista.

Of course, in isolation, this should carry no weight in the rather sad OS wars which seem to repeatedly do the rounds...

Given the frequency of the development releases, and the length of time since the last point release, I think it would be safer to say that 10.6.3 is coming sooner rather than later.

I'm a big Apple fan just like the everyone else that comes here, but I don't understand why everyone is following this so closely. Will 10.6.3 REALLY big that big of a deal? I have 3 personal Macs that are all running Snow Leopard, and all of them are working perfectly on 10.6.2. Therefore, I don't see the need to constantly lap up every tiny morsel of info about the next version. If you have rumors about 10.7, that would be an interesting read.

10.3 Panther
Friday, October 24, 2003: 10.3 released
Monday, March 15, 2004: 10.3.3 released
143 days

10.4 Tiger
Friday, April 29, 2005: 10.4 released
Monday, October 31, 2005: 10.4.3 released
185 days

10.5 Leopard
Friday, October 26, 2007: 10.5 released
Wednesday, May 28, 2008: 10.5.3 released
215 days

10.6 Snow Leopard
Friday, August 28, 2009: 10.6 released
Thursday, March 25, 2010: todays date
209 days

Now that you've said it is not imminent, it will probably be released tomorrow.

Crackpot theory to throw into the mix: 10.6.3 has looked imminent for release for a while now. The iPad might factor into it. But the other thing many feel are overdue are new computers, MBPs and whatnot. Is there a chance that there are things in 10.6.3 for as-yet unreleased Macs that they don't want in the wild until those are announced? Just a thought...