By Graham K. Rogers

Software Update on my Mac reports that a download of OS X (10.7.4) is now available for me.

The download file is reported as 369.5MB and it will require a restart. I am holding off for the moment, not because I have any fears about the update, but I am on vacation and the disk I use for Time Machine backups is in my office. I always make sure the Mac is backed up before I attempt any update.

Apple reports the following changes to the update -

. . . [it] includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:

• Resolve an issue where the "Reopen windows when logging back in" setting is always enabled
• Resolve an issue in which the "Reopen windows when logging back in" setting is always enabled.
• Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards.
• Addresses permission issues that may be caused if you use the Get Info inspector function "Apply to enclosed items . . ." on your home directory. For more information, see this article.
• Improve Internet sharing of PPPoE connections.
• Improve using a proxy auto-configuration (PAC) file.
• Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to an SMB server.
• Improve printing to an SMB print queue.
• Improve performance when connecting to a WebDAV server.
• Enable automatic login for NIS accounts.
• Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras.
• Improve the reliability of binding and logging into Active Directory accounts.
• The OS X Lion v10.7.4 Update includes Safari 5.1.6 (see note below), which contains stability improvements.

Note: Other sources are reporting that the update to Safari is 5.1.7 while the information above (copied from Apple), tells me it is 5.1.6 and the current version on my Mac is 5.1.5. However, I also found a link to an Apple Knowledge Base article -- About the security content of Safari 5.1.7 -- which seems to confirm that this and not 5.1.6 is the newest version. Confused?

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5167.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Additional RAW Support

• Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Canon PowerShot G1 X
• Nikon D4
• Nikon D800
• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX1
• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ35
• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ38
• Samsung NX200
• Sony Alpha NEX-7
• Sony NEX-VG20

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.