Mac OS 10.5.8 Released

Apple has released Mac OS 10.5.8, the eighth update to it’s Leopard operating system. Offering the usual combination of security and bug fixes, full details are available in knowledge base article ht3606. I’m currently working through my three hackintosh systems to see if there are any problems with the upgrade, so a full report will follow.

Don’t believe the ‘Experts’

I’ve enjoyed some of the in depth guides on Techradar.com recently, so it was a surprise to read a couple of articles there today that are, while clearly opinions, rather short sighted. The first, Why Mac clones defeat the whole point of a Mac, misses the whole point of building a hackintosh. Here’s the section that gets it all wrong:

There are three major desktop operating systems available at the moment:

• Linux – an open OS running on open hardware
• Windows – a closed OS running on open hardware
• OS X – a closed OS running on closed hardware

Minor feature quibbles aside, all three operating systems do much the same thing. The decision of which one to run is an idealogical one that balances your love of freedom against your love of stability.

I could almost believe this is designed to start a flame war and boost site hits. Since Linux offers the most freedom it’s the least stable? And OS X is the most stable because it offers the least freedom? Idealogical decisions play very little part in the choosing of an operating system. A lot of people use Windows because they don’t know there’s an alternative, or they are happy with it. Many of us use Mac’s because we prefer the way Mac OS works, not because of some idealogical statement.

Security Update 2008-007 tested on hackintosh

It’s been out for a couple of days, but since I spent most of them replacing a roof I’ve just got around to installing it. Security update 2008-007 addresses many issues in Mac OS and is a recommended update. It worked fine on my hackintosh when installed through Software Update and there’s no new kernel (still 9.5.0).

Multi OS comparison by opinions

Not quite as objective as my recent comparison of Linux/Mac OS/XP/Vista, Computerworld has a piece titled ‘OS Smackdown: Linux vs. Mac OS X vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP’. There’s no numbers involved, just the opinions of four computer journalists. It’s an interesting read if only for the way some of the writers manipulate or ignore the facts about the other operating systems.

Leopard vs XP vs Vista vs Linux part 1

Leopard vs XP vs Vista vs Linux part 2