April 21, 2006 7:58 AM PDT

Mac OS X 10.4.6 Special Report: Improvements

by CNET staff

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This section includes enhancements in Mac OS X 10.4.6 not explicitly described in the release notes.

VPN issues with Intel-based Macs resolved Prior to Mac OS X 10.4.6's release, some Intel-based Macs were unable to maintain VPN (PPTP) connections, dropping the connections within a few minutes after initializing.

These issues have been resolved under Mac OS X 10.4.6.

MacFixIt reader Josh Turiel writes:

"I installed the 10.4.6 update on my MacBook Pro, and am no longer having any problems talking to Server-based PPTP VPNs."

Better SCSI support MacFixIt reader Mark Stern reports better support for his SCSI devices under Mac OS X 10.4.6:

"I've got a Quicksilver dual 1GHz mac with 2 Adaptec 2906 SCSI cards in it. I updated the OS from 10.4.5 to 10.4.6 using the combo updater. Not only don?t I have kernel panics (I didn?t before, either, after deleting the Adaptec extensions), but I have no trouble mounting and accessing the peripherals connected to the SCSI cards. These peripherals include APS SCSI hard drives and an Epson scanner. I did notice that the hard drives continued to make noise as if their partitions were being accessed for quite a while after being mounted, but I had no trouble using them or doing anything else on the machine."

iSync can see farther into the future Bob Weller notes that iSync 2.2 can synchronize events up to 1 year in the future, instead of 8 weeks as the previous iteration was capable of.

Bob writes:

"iSync 2.2, included with the 10.4.6 update, allows syncing events up to one-year in advance. Previously, it supported syncing only 8 weeks in advance. The Apple iSync discussion list has been complaining about that limitation for years, so this is a major improvement."

Intel-based Macs have better success printing wirelessly A separate special report entitled "Getting printers to work with Intel-based Macs." notes some serious issues with getting Intel-based Macs to print to devices connected via AirPort base stations or other wireless connections.

It appears that many of these issues have been resolved in Mac OS X 10.4.6.

One reader writes:

"After updating to Mac OS X 10.4.6, I am finally able to print wirelessly (using airport) to AppleTalk and other printers from a MacBook Pro."

Improvements for iMac Core Duo networking Some readers report elimination of the iMac Core Duo networking issues we've covered in previous reports, including problems with VLAN set-ups.

One reader writes:

"As of this writing, based on about an hour of testing, it would appear that the networking issues with the intel Core Duo iMac in corporate networks with VLAN has been resolved with the 10.4.6 update. I applied the combo updater for good measure. It looks as though the AppleYukon.kext file has been updated to 1.0.2b9 from the previous 1.0.1. Server connections, internet streaming, and other services now appear to be working."