According to Softpedia, it seems that Apple is very close to releasing the third big update for Snow Leopard. Which isn’t that impossible to believe, considering the release of the build 10D552 to developers a few days ago, without serious bugs or issues and that could be seen as a previous stable release before the official launch.

Also, the previous build, 10D548, released a little less than two weeks ago, had no big issues that weren’t solved. The last issue with serious bugs was released back in January. Hence it could be plausible that the Mac OS X 10.6.3 could be launched today, probably more in the evening. We’ll be tuned.

Apple has released a new build for the Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers, the 10D552. Apple’s request to developers is to concentrate their test on AirPort, graphic drivers and QuickTime. The build also features a few enhancements, such as:

• Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic
• Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
• Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability, improve compatibility and address security
• Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers
• Respects the DNS server ordering as specified in Network Preferences
• Addresses an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail when scrolling
• Resolves an issue that prevented files with the # or & in their names from opening in Rosetta
• Resolves an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows shares
• Resolves an issue that caused machines using BTMM and the Bonjour Sleep Proxy to wake unexpectedly

The first build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 was sent last January, and considering the release times for the following builds, it makes us think that Mac OS X 10.6.3 could be released not too long from now.

AppleInsider has published an article which states that Apple has released a new version of their Mac OS X 10.6.3. The build is called 10D538 and it’s been released to developers. The update should solve many problems in several areas, including QuickTime X and Logic Studio. According to AppleInsider:

“More specifically, people familiar with Friday’s beta say it includes an update to QuickTime X that, when finalized, will improve security and compatibility while simultaneously enhancing overall reliability. The release will also include tweaks that aim to enhance the performance of Apple’s 64-bit Logic pro audio suite. Other planned improvements include better compatibility with third-party printers and OpenGL-grounded applications, those same people say”

Only one big bug remains on the current build, the one that comes with the photo view in Front Row. The Mac OS X 10.6.3 will bring OpenGL 3.0 support, which should result in a significant enhancement in video performance. For now, the launch date for the update is still unknown.

Apple has started to send the build 10D522 for the Mac OS X 10.6.3 to a limited number of developers (premium and select), launching the first official new beta of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, version 10.6.3. According to some developers that have received the release, Apple has solved around 255 issues with the update, that should have more than 650 MB.

The update should be aimed at specific parts on the OS: Monitor Preference, iTunes, ColorSync Utility Filters, and so on. There were rumors of this update a month ago, but it seems Apple decided to postpone the launch for after the Christmas Season. The last upgrade for Snow Leopard (10.6.2) was released around two months ago.

The rumors from AppleInsider seem to confirm that Apple will start sending the first Mac OS X 10.6.3 beta to developers in the next few days. There aren’t official release dates, but it seems the waiting won’t be too long. The release of the next builds for the update (codename that starts with 10Dxx, since the 10Cxx was for the 10.6.2) should come this week, at least.

When the Mac OS X 10.6.2 was launched last month, the beta stage only lasted a month, but there was urgency in correcting a dangerous bug with guest accounts that made it possible to delete the user’s home, and implement the native support to Magic Mouse in Snow Leopard. It’s possible, thus, that the new update will be ready around the same timeframe. Apple has kept a quick schedule with Snow Leopard, in overall: also with the Mac OS X 10.6.1, two weeks separated the beta from the official launch.

Apple has released the update 10.6.2 for Snow Leopard today. The Update includes many corrections and enhancements concerning the stability, compatibility and safety of the whole system.

The update is advised to all Snow Leopard users and its size varies according to previous updates done on the machine. It’s available for download at Apple support’s download page for both Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server, or through the Software Update panel.

Not even a week from the last build release, Apple has released a new beta version of Mac OS X 10.6.2 (build 10C519f). There is a good number of changes in this new build and around 150 new interest areas in which the developers are asked to focus their attentions and tests, such as the Address Book, Photo Booth and QuickTime Player.

Among some of the objectives with tihs update, there’s the support to the mobile WWAN networks, the enhancement of the Exchange support, MobileDisk, iDisk and also the NTFS disk reading and the WebDav support. This latest beta also solves issues reguarding the switch of applications in the doct, the performance and stability issues connected to graphic drivers and OpenCL, and it also introduces a patch that will solve bugs regarding the Parental Control.

The full update has 456.8 MB.

A few hours ago, Apple has delivered the new build of their Mac OS X 10.6.2, the 10C514f, to developers. The update corrects a few minor issues and enhances the reliability and speed of a good number of applications.

More specifically, the combo version of this Snow Leopard update has 445.4 MB and it brings many bug fixes and enhancements in many areas such as the Address book, Apple Script, ColorSync, Component Manager, Core Animation, Core Audio, Core Data, Core Graphics, Core Text, Font Management, graphic drivers, network, OpenCL, OpenGL, QuickTime and others.

The known problems on this build are related to the optical driver (not recognized or sometimes not working properly) and the DVD Player application. Considering the stage of this release, and taking into consideration that the Mac OS X 10.6.1 was released around twenty days ago, it’s likely to hink that it’ll take a few weeks until the final version of this update reaches the Mac users.

After our brief vacation, here we are with more Apple news for you. And according to a new NPD report, the Mac OS X Snow Leopard is proving to be the most popular Operating System from Apple.

According to the data, Snow Leopard sold more during the first week than the Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger did when they were launched. The exact values are also very interesting: Snow Leopard sold four times better than Tiger, always referring to the first two weeks on the market.

Another interesting fact is that the sales do not seem to slow down too much after the first launch period. NPD claims that the sales only dropped 25% after the first week, nothing compared to the 60% from the two previous OS’s.

Apple has released yet another build of their Snow Leopard beta for the developers: the build 10A421. This update comes 10 days after the previous one and it’s rather big: 741MB.

The description that came with the update doesn’t say much; it mentions a general enhancement in stability, compatibility and security. The official launch for Snow Leopard is scheduled to September 2009.