Apple has released OS X Leopard 10.5.3, a service release to the Mac operating system that addresses over 70 bugs, or in Apple speak “general operating system improvements that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.”
The highlight of the release is Address Book support for syncing with your Google account. To use, users go to preferences with Address Book, add synchronize with Google, then enter their Google account details. Address book does the rest syncing your contact details to and from Google Contacts/ Gmail. Being able to sync contacts was always one of the selling points for a .Mac account, so is Apple planning something there, be it dropping .Mac or something else?
Other fixes include active Directory binding and login, Spotlight searches on remote APF servers, 802.1X behavior and reliability, iChat screensharing, Automator, Parental Controls, and VoiceOver.
The important thing with 10.5.3: it’s safe to install, at least I haven’t had any problems so far after having installed it. This compares to 10.5.2 which was perhaps the buggiest update Apple has ever released. Apple forums were full of people complaining of issues, and it killed both my Macs (relatively new Macbook Pro and MacPro) resulting in both needing fresh installs. On the fresh installs I’d been ignoring the prompts for 10.5.2 ever since.
