Mac OS X 10.3.8

Mac OS X 10.3.8 is the eighth update to Mac OS X 10.3. Released on February 9, 2005, the update has the build number 7U16.

What's New in Mac OS X 10.3.8

 * Applications: Compatibility for third party applications and devices have been improved.
 * Graphics: OpenGL technology has been improved, and ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers have been updated.
 * Network: File sharing and Directory Services for mixed (Macintosh and PC) networks have been enhanced.

Previous stand-alone Security Updates have also been included.

Detailled improvements

 * Active Directory: An issue which could prevent clients using the Active Directory plugin from binding to their Active Directory server has been solved.
 * Address Book: Address Book and Mail LDAP lookups that are performed by a Cisco DistributedDirector DNS server have now been accelerated.
 * Applications: An issue was fixed where, under Mac OS X 10.3.7, iChat, Mail or other network-based applications could take a long time to open.
 * Portable Macs: The "jumping cursor" issues (which could occur when using a portable Mac's trackpad with the thumb, side thumb, or a "flat" finger") were solved.
 * PowerBook G4:
 * On some PowerBook G4s, a problem where a "flicker" occurred when navigating DVD menus in DVD Player was fixed.
 * A rare case where the PowerBook G4 would wake up from sleep with a black screen and not respond to any keyboard, mouse, or trackpad input was solved.
 * Power Macintosh G5: A fan would previously cycle at erratic, unexpected times. This update solved the error. However, according to MacFixIt, a new problem involving the fan on Power Mac G5s seemed to have jumped up.
 * Startup: An issue where the Mac would not restart automatically after a power failure, even when "Restart automatically after a power failure" option in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences was checked, was dealt with.
 * World of Warcraft: The performance of World of Warcraft's "Full Screen Glow" video feature was improved.

Issues with Mac OS X 10.3.8

 * MacFixIt reports some cases where fan activity increases on Power Macintosh G5 computers after Mac OS X 10.3.8 was installed. Later reports, however, confirm a very successful update  for many, with only a few isolated cases dealing with FireWire and Software Update issues.
 * Reports are coming in warning anyone with a driver from Macally (specifically the iShock driver): The driver must be deleted before Mac OS X 10.3.8 is installed, or the driver may literally fill up a hard drive with swap or temp files.

Sources and References

 * Release improvements from Apple's Software Update utility
 * Apple Support

Mac OS X 10.3.8Mac OS X 10.3.8Mac OS X 10.3.8