Apple’s Leopard has some new spots, in the structure of the latest version of the Mac OS X Leopard operating system, as well as a defense update.

The defense update, released Thursday, is plus included in the latest Leopard 10.5.3 version, released Wednesday. The releases come as the Apple developer world prepares for the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco the week of June 9.

instance Capsule, Spaces, Aperture 2

The 10.5.3 release deals with a variety of compatibility issues, including some in the day Capsule backup device and in Apple’s work-flow application for photographers, Aperture 2. Updates to the virtual-desktop application, Spaces, corrects a bug in which application windows were reordered when switching desktops and soon after switching back. Mail additionally received updates, including stability issues related to large attachments and mailbox changes made while offline.

Fixes in iChat enhance reliability while users are screen sharing, and they plus fix a bug where group chats are not indexed

in Spotlight. Enhancements to improve reliability have additionally been made for Automator, AirPort, Address Book, Parental Controls, and VoiceOver.

The separate safety measure Update 2008-003/Mac OS X 10.5.3 update is designed to address more than 40 vulnerabilities. In a posting on its support site, Apple said the update includes operating-system improvements to “enhance the stability, compatibility, and safety measure of your Mac.”

Apple is strongly recommending the 10.5.3 safety measure update for all users of OS X 10.5, 10.5.1, and 10.5.2, whether they choose not to upgrade to the newest OS. It can be downloaded through Software Update or from Apple Downloads.

Multiple Flash Fixes

The vulnerabilities include application terminations and arbitrary cipher executions for Apple Pixlet Video, ATS, CoreGraphics, Help Viewer, iCal, AppKit, AFP Server, Core Foundation, instance Machine, and the Flash Player Plug-in, among others. The common Flash plug-in had multiple issues, according to Apple, and the most…

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