According to numerous reports from developers and other sources, this new build is considerably closer to being ready for prime time, but is most likely still at least 2-3 seeds away from being “done” which puts a release date at about a month from now. Stability in build 9J39 is solid but still far from perfect, and quite a few issues still arise from the new bundled Flash Player engine which was introduced in the last seed.

Given the fact that the last officially road-mapped release of Leopard, 10.5.8, is supposed to ship at or around the same time as Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” (WWDC, June 8-12)….and several of the 10.5.x “debugging” team will switch over to work on Snow Leopard after 10.5.7 is out the door….we believe that this will be the last release anywhere near this ambitious and that future updates (whether they be point-upgrades or “security updates”) will be smaller, more frequent, and considerably less dependent on third party developers for hands-on testing.

This is mostly good news….though for those whose machines may not be supported by Snow Leopard (PowerPC Macs), the time is most definitely now if you want to lobby Apple for a tweak or new feature in Leopard. The window is fast closing on non-bugfix changes to 10.5.7, and willingness or even ability to undertake more ambitious work may be extremely limited during the 10.5.8 cycle.

The weekend seeding of 9J39 is becoming a pattern, and based on our most recent contacts with sources at Infinite Loop we believe weekly seeds will continue up until release.

From Apple’s seed notes:

Known Issues

• Safari 4 Beta only installs on Mac OS X 10.5.6.

General Focus Areas

• AFP
• AirPort
• Bluetooth
• Directory Services
• FileSync
• Flash Player
• GraphicsDrivers
• iCal
• iDisk Synching
• Mail
• Managed Client
• MobileMe Synching
• Networking
• Parental Controls
• Printing
• Safari
• Screen Sharing
• Sound
• Time Machine
• USB & Flash Drives
• VPN
• Widgets
• X11

Areas of Change

• AFP client’s FSCatalogSearch loops issue fixed
• Fixed USB plugin path after USB hot-plugging
• iChatAgent and SecTrustEvaluate issue fixed
• Issue with Mail signature in rich ASCII text fix
• Fixed System Profiler’s display of DisplayPort Adapters info

Issues fixed in previous seeds:

• Updated Speech Dictionary
• Resolved issue where computer may wake after Sleep enabled
• Fixed Mail signature synching issue
• Fixed localization problem with Weather Widget
• Resolved color corruption issue
• Fixed problem with CFNetwork FileProtocol and WebArchive
• Resolved problem with AFP C Client and searches
• Issue with FSCatalogSearch loops and AFP X Client fixed
• Issue with HFS and Magneto-Optical Disk resolved
• Flash Player updated
• Fixed issue with CoreGraphics and screen zoom parameters
• Issue with iChat framerates fixed
• Fixed problem with HFS+ volumes and DVD media
• Resolved issue with iCal CalDAV and calendar refresh
• Issue with CPU Software and digital output fixed
• Resolved issue with launchd and LoginWindow capturing crash data
• Issue with LoginWindow and FileVault remote backups fixed
• Fixed problem with Time Capsule and sparse image backups
• Fixed issue with Print & Fax pref pane and managing settings
• Resolved crashing issue with Parental Controls and System Preferences
• Fixed problem with HFS and MBR partitioned volumes
• Fixed hanging issue with MobileMe Sync tab
• Fixed issue with iCalExternalSync and iCal Synchronization
• Issue with AC interrupts and Sleep/Wake resolved
• Fixed problem with Portable Home Directories and Login/Logout not syncing
• Resolved issue with Mail accounts and syncing
• Fixed issue with CoreAnimation and mouse movement between snapshots
• Fixed problem with System Profiler Plug-Ins and panic logs
• Resolved crashing issue with Help Viewer
• Resolved crashing issue with Preview Image
• Fixed issue with IOHIDPosteEvent()
• Fixed problem with MobileMe AOSNotification not sending JID
• Resolved issue with AddressBook Sync and Mail Addressing
• Fixed problem with NSOperationQueue and PThreads
• Fixed issue with LoginWindow UI and AirPort
• Issue with Virtual Memory and wired pages fixed
• Images are now retained when syncing between two Macs using Mail Sync
• Resolved issue with CFNetwork Host and AppStore loading delays
• Issue with Networking and TCP FIN resolved
• Issue with FPCatalog search and AFP X Client resolved
• File/Folder label changes over AFP now visible without unmounting/remounting
• Fixed problem with NSView and layer-backed views inside a scroll
• NSURLConnection now correctly notifies client before transmission
• Resolved NSinvalidSendPortExceptions with Sync Services Engine
• Fixed problem with CFNetwork Cookies and SAP cookie path
• Resolved issue with CFNetwork Cache and DF URL cache
• Fixed problem with iCal CalDAV and cancelled meetings still showing up for attendees
• Hanging issue with CFURLCache thread fixed
• Issue with MobileMe AOSNotification connection failures resolved
• Resolved issue with Safari and certain cookies not being accepted
• Fixed crashing issue with mdworker and signed messages
• Resolved issue with MCX Client and visible groups
• Resolved value issue with cupsBorderlessScalingFactor
• Issue with CoreData Framework and foreign key references resolved
• Fixed issue with Weather Widget and default city selection
• CoreData Framework now ensures cached statements are nulled out after being finalized in the event of an error
• Resolved issue with Desktop Services where desktop may not update correctly
• Fixed value issue with Unit Converter Widget
• Resolved issue with NSData and CoreData Framework
• Fixed issue with ImageCapture not recognizing certain CompactFlash card adapters
• Fixed issue with CUPS and Print & Fax Preference Pane
• Resolved issue with CoreData fetch and CoreData Framework
• Fixed issue where Stocks Widget was unresponsive in certain situations
• iCalExternalSync no longer wrongly clears the “original date” field of a detached Task
• Fixed issue where Preferences Sync would use excessive CPU cycles
• Fixed problem with delegate windows and multiple error messages with iCal DAV
• Issue with HICocoaView and mouse tracking resolved
• Fixed button issue with Energy Saver pref pane
• issue with Login window and MCX Client resolved
• Fixed issue with Netbooting and the Energy Saver pref pane
• Fixed problem with AMDocumentVersion and Automator Application
• Updated ICC Profiles in ColorSync Registry
• Issue with last modification date and Sync Services Engine resolved
• Resolved issue with NSSpellChecker and custom NSSpellServer servers
• Fixed issue with Time Machine Preferences and previously used backup volumes
• Fixed problem with DSADplugin and User vs Contact
• Issue with Text Services Manager and Dvorak Keyboard layout fixed
• Resolved crashing issue with NSTreeController
• Fixed whitelist issue with Parental Controls
• Resolved automatic iCal MobileMe sync issue with iCal Synchronization
• Fixed crashing issue with HLTB Menus and status bar
• Resolved issue with AFP X Client and AFP sessions not disconnecting after volumes are dismounted
• Issue with AXUIElementPostKeyboardEvent and HLTB Accessibility fixed
• Fixed USB tranfer issue with printing large PostScript files
• Fixed movie title issue with Movie Widget
• Resolved Non-Administrator issue with Energy Saver pref pane
• Fixed issue with Bluetooth mouse and button settings after disconnect/reconnect
• Fixed problem with XServe Netboot and launchd
• Fixed issue with Text (AppKit) where enabling garbage collection would cause autocomplete popup to automatically close
• Fixed image orientation issue with Image RAW
• Issue with HLTB Menus and OpenSubmenu fixed
• Issue with HLTB Windows and child windows fixed
• Issue with FileSync and login/logout resolved
• Resolved issue with Image RAW and image conversion

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