Rumor: 'Jaguar Pink' Takes Shape


Pre-release versions of OS 10.2.4 have been seeded to developers, according to Nick de Plume at ThinkSecret. Builds of 10.2.4 have also been spotted, albeit briefly, on the new PowerBooks released earlier this month.

Think Secret highlights a number of areas where 10.2.4 has come in for attention, including ATI / nVidia software; audio software; Sherlock; directory services; web and mail; file services; Workgroup Manager; and NetBoot.

The story notes that the builds installed on the new PowerBooks (build 6J11) included support for the new GeoForce4 Go graphics cards in the Aluminum PowerBook, as well as the 17" model's light sensor.

Bugs addressed include permissions problems when copying files to OS X Servers. Big news for Mac audio editors is the likelihood of 24-bit audio and 196KHz sampling. Jaguar incrementally improved X's audio capabilities, with support for features such as FireWire audio, and the changes to 10.2.4 and beyond appear consistent with Cupertino policy of gradually addressing X's audio shortcomings.

Other rumored improvements for the future OS 10.3 'Panther' release are support for high-end workstation graphics cards, and major revisions to desktops' PCI SCSI throughput.

Analysis: Given the PowerBook G4 support, there's got to be a general release by the end of January, when the 12.1" PowerBooks are released. Apple released 10.2.3 just before Christmas, and if the company keeps it's typical six week-ish update schedule, end of January/early February would be a good time for the update. Keep an eye on Software Update.