Less than a month after releasing OS X Mountain Lion to the public via the Mac App Store, Apple has updated its desktop operating system bringing an array of minor bug fixes. Despite selling over two million copies in the first 48 hours alone, the very first iteration has had a couple of minor issues, as is nearly always the case with an initial release.
The early adopters will be pleased to learn that the Cupertino company has addressed the lingering problems with July 25th release, and can be downloaded right now via the Mac App Store, under the Updates section. It appears those in the United States can already grab Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.1, but if yours isn’t showing just yet (mine isn’t on a UK-based MacBook Air), simply keep checking back during the course of today.
It doesn’t appear as though there are any major changes or new features, but the swift move to deal with the snags is more than welcome. The update is only a few megabytes in size, and although some have reported 10.8.1 offers improved battery life, this has yet to be confirmed by Apple.
Having used Mountain Lion for almost three weeks, I have to say I’ve personally yet to stumble across any issues – although I must confess I don’t really venture away from a select bundle of apps. The update will iron out any lingering bugs you might find in Migration Assistant, which, in some cases, unexpectedly quit, while also improving compatibility when connecting to a Microsoft Exchange server in the Mail app.
Also addressed are issues with playing audio through Thunderbolt, connecting to SMB servers with long names, and sending iMessages. iMessage has, without being a revelation, offered iDevice users a great way of communicating since arriving with iOS 5, and although it operates well, there’s certainly still work to be done. Not only does it have a habit of simply not working from time to time, but notifications between Mountain Lion and iDevice aren’t so harmonious. I’ve found, when reading an iMessage on my iPhone, the notification badge removes itself from the Messages app on ML, but it doesn’t always work the other way round, which does become a little tiresome.
Still, OS X 10.8.2 testing is already said to be underway, and Messages – along with many other iOS-based features like Facebook, Game Center, Safari and Reminders – are all part of the Focus areas, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of an improvement Apple brings in the near future.
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