Apple released an update for Mac OS X Leopard Monday. The Mac OS X 10.5.6 client software is available as a 373MB download for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5.5 and a 71MB download for Macs running earlier versions of the Leopard operating system.

According to Apple's Support Page, the latest enhancements include: graphical improvements, various improvements to performance and stability in Mail.app, iChat, Airport and Safari that now improves compatibility with web proxy servers.

DVD player performance improvements, Time Machine and MobileMe improvements, a new Trackpad panel in System Preferences for portable Macs, improves reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices and applications and so on.
Regarding Apple’s MobileMe syncing service, according to Apple, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.

Apple’s Mail app fixes an issue that could prevent Mail from quitting and improves reliability when printing PDF attachments. Improvements regarding printing for the Adobe CS3 application suite have been made as well.

Moreover an iChat issues that caused pasting text from Microsoft Office has been resolved. A big that could cause an encryption alert to appear in the chat window has also been fixed. And, finally, Chess.app has received the performance and reliability overhaul it has needed for so long.

However Apple Inc. hasn't done much talking about Snow Leopard, the next-generation update to Mac OS X that's due to be released in 2009. But secrecy is not an unusual strategy for this company, is it? Snow Leopard is designed to focus on the underpinnings of the operating system, in other words, it’s a reason of sheer happiness for the ones who don’t use their Macs to check their e-mails only.