If you were one of the many users who upgraded to Mac OS X 10.5.6 soon after it came out, then you might have experienced some major problems on your Mac. Fortunately, Apple has admitted there were issues with the update. Now there are more updates to fix the problems.

Last night, Apple released a Mail update for users experiencing problems with Mail unexpectedly quitting. "This can be caused by using a copy of Mail that wasn't updated properly (you may need to install the Mail Update)," the update page states.

If you have been experiencing problems with Mail.app post-10.5.6, then you can install the update by visiting the Support Downloads website and download the installer package.


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Apple support boards are filling up with reports from frustrated Mac OS X 10.5.6 upgraders. The most common complaint seems to be that the update stops in the middle and freezes. Here are some sample comments:

• I tried to upgrade to 10.5.6 yesterday and I left the computer on to do the upgrade while I went back to work. When I came back, it has the normal window up that says "configuring installation" and from there it just starts and hangs.
• I have just downloaded the latest update (10.5.6) and then rebooted my iMac, next the software Update box appeared on screen as usual, saying: Installing 1 item, configuring Installation. Then the Blue progress bar started to move to the right, went about 1/4 of an inch and stopped there, I left the iMac running for two hours and the progress blue bar had not moved.
• My Mac gets to preparing installation then nothing... Left it there all night in case I was being impatient but this morning still preparing install?

My own experience was similar. My Mac Pro upgraded just fine. My mid-2007 MacBook Pro froze on the 'configuring installation' screen. I went back to the Apple site and downloaded the combo update (which many frontline Mac techs recommend as a best practice for all system upgrades, despite the 3x larger file size) and installed that after booting from a backup USB drive. After that, everything was fine. Many upgraders, however, may not know to try that approach, and those with problems will keep Apple support techs quite busy today.

Some people noticed that the upgrade may not fully download [via MacInTouch] yet the installation proceeded anyway. If widespread, that would be a pretty serious problem, and Apple needs to do some diligent investigation.

There was a smattering of other problems. Some people saw mail crashes, network issues, and a lot of the usual complaints that seem to afflict a handful of users. At this point, it is hard to tell if this update was better or worse than previous ones, but clearly a lot of people got stuck along the way.

Apple's support page and Software Update appear to be a little bit hammered --- you know what that means: A new OS update!

Mac OS X 10.5.6 has just been released to Software Update. The ~190 MB update (assuming you are already running the latest version of OS X) offers up the following, according to Apple's Support Page:

• Various improvements to performance and stability in Mail.app, iCal, Airport and Safari
• Graphical improvements
• DVD player performance improvements
• A new Trackpad panel in System Preferences for portable Macs
• Time Machine and MobileMe improvements
• Other various fixes.

The whole support page lays out the improvements with more accuracy than we often see from Apple and there are security updates too.

My download has just finished and my dock is bouncing, so I'm off to update my system. Post your results in the comments!

Thanks Tyler and Mike!

Although they speculated that Mac OS X 10.5.6 (not to be confused with 10.6, "Snow Leopard") could arrive by November 21, there is still work to be done on the release, according to Ars Technica's David Chartier.

Apple is asking reviewers of this latest build, 9G52, to test MobileMe's automatic syncing on "networks with medium-to-high latency or constrained bandwidth." Apple might be trying to improve MobileMe syncing; anecdotal evidence suggests that for many, syncing is still not up to snuff.

Second, Apple wants users of non-Latin languages like Hangul, Kototeri, Traditional Chinese, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Arabic to use Mail, in order to test its support of non-Latin character sets.

Even so, 9G52 fixes over 100 issues. Full notes on the build are available in the second part of this story.

There's no word on when the update will be released, but we'll likely have to be patient for a little while longer. Like my mom always said when baking, "it'll be ready when it's finished."

Ars Technica's Chris Foresman notes that test builds of Leopard's newest update, version 10.5.6, are arriving more frequently, perhaps signaling that the software is nearly ready for the public.

Build 9G38, the latest, notes that there are no known issues with the build, a crucial last step in the development process. Prior builds addressed issues with MobileMe, Time Machine reliability over AFP, Mail, and a long list of other "focus areas." The build was released last week.

Foresman closed by saying "though the signs point to a release soon ... I do not recommend holding your breath." Always good advice.