Apple releases Mac OS X Tiger Update 10.4.1, fixes Dashboard widget auto-installation issue

Apple today released Mac OS X Update 10.4.1 (Build 8B15) which delivers overall improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users. This update offers many reliability and compatibility improvements. Here are just a few of the enhancements and improvements included:

Mail and Address Book:
• When typing immediately after clicking Reply in a Mail message, all characters typed before the Reply window appeared should now appear in the window.
• In Mail, opening an attached Pages document could lead to an unexpected “Name of document may contain an application” alert—this update addresses the issue.
• Sometimes Address Book subgroups (groups within groups) might not sync correctly during .Mac syncing—this update addresses the issue.
• Addresses an issue in which Mail might unexpectedly quit after pasting a large graphic into a message and then typing text just before the graphic.
• When deleting text in a Mail message window, sometimes some of the undeleted text could unexpectedly move to the beginning of the message—this update resolves the issue.
• This update prevents a second unnecessary horizontal scroll bar from appearing in a Mail message.
• Addresses an issue in Mail in which an entire line of text could be inadvertently deleted when deleting a link at the end of the line.
• Resolves a potential issue in which Mail could unexpectedly quit, stop responding, or fail to import your previous emails if third-party software were installed in a ~/Library/Mail/Bundles or /Library/Mail/Bundles—this update prevents previously-installed plug-ins from loading. (Click here for more information.)
• Updates Mail to handle IMAP prefix paths that start with “/” better.

Dashboard widgets:
• Improves Dashboard widget compatibility with third-party mice with scroll wheels, and also for PowerBook G4 computers that feature trackpad scrolling.
• You can choose from three font sizes in the Dictionary widget after installing this update (regular, large, and extra-large)—click the “i” button to access the Font size pop-up menu.

Mac OS X 10.4.1 addresses the Dashboard Widget auto-installation issue by adding widgets to the items that Safari prompts for before a download is complete. Users will now receive a dialog prompt: “‘FILENAME’ is an application. Are you sure you want to download the application ‘FILENAME?'” with “Cancel” and “Download” buttons. This dialog box is presented even when Safari is in its default state, with “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” checked in Safari’s General Preferences. This mitigates the Dashboard Widget auto-installation issue present in Mac OS X Tiger 10.4, as items can no longer be downloaded or installed without the user’s express knowledge and permission.

.Mac, iSync, and syncing:
• Addresses an issue for .Mac syncing in which the alert “cannot login to the .Mac sync server” could unexpectedly appear when clicking the Sync tab in .Mac preferences.
• You can now add a Motorola V180 mobile phone in iSync 2.0 with this update.
• Improves iSync 2.0 compatibility for Motorola V551 mobile phones.
• With this update, the default option for the first sync for a mobile phone added to iSync 2.0 is now “Merge data on computer and device,” though the “Erase data on device then sync” option is still available if you need it.
• This update allows you to register a computer for .Mac whose name (in Sharing preferences) contains an ampersand (“&”).

Safari, iLife, and other applications:
• With this update, Safari no longer unexpectedly quits when Control-clicking (or right-clicking with a multi-button mouse) some kinds of PDFs or graphics within a Safari window.
• Addresses an issue where iPhoto could unexpectedly quit.
• iDVD no longer quits unexpectedly when hiding it while burning a DVD or saving a disc image. (Click here for more information.)
• With this update, DVD Player no longer unexpectedly quits when opening if Turkish, Central European (Czech, Polish, Hungarian), Cyrillic (Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian), or Greek is the primary Mac OS X language in International preferences.
• With some printers, when printing a PDF webpage file that had been saved from Safari (with the Safari printing option “Print webpage information in headers and footers” deselected), only a gray bar would print—this update addresses the issue.
This update addresses an issue in which text in a TextEdit document with lists could disappear (even though it really hadn’t).
• Addresses an issue in which iCal could unexpectedly quit after you receive an iCal invitation in Mail (and the invitation doesn’t appear in iCal).
• Improves compatibility for Dreamweaver MX 2004 when double-clicking results of an XML validation, and when using “Launch & Optimize” with Fireworks MX 2004.
• Users who subscribed to iCal calendars with long names or special characters, and that were published under Mac OS X 10.3 before upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4, will now see changes made in calendars under Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.
• Includes reliability and compatibility improvements for Motion 2.0.

Other enhancements:
• When using the FileVault secure erase feature, the progress window now states “Deleting old Home folder” when securely deleting files from their original location (instead of “Unmounting FileVault”). Note that this option may take a while to complete, during which you shouldn’t force-restart your Mac.
• Improves security by disallowing files, applications, and webpages from being opened at the password prompt that appears when waking from sleep or stopping a screen saver (which can be enabled in Security preferences).
• Addresses issues that could, in certain situations, prevent you from opening (mounting) a disk image that’s shared by a different computer (in /Network).
• Improves menu scrolling behavior for third-party mice with scroll wheels, and also for PowerBook G4 computers that feature trackpad scrolling.
• Addresses an issue in which clicking a Help button or choosing an item from the Help menu would take you to the main page of the application’s Help content, instead of a more relevant page.
• Some third-party wireless DHCP servers might not provide an IP address to a computer through AirPort if the computer has a long computer name—this update addresses the issue.
• Resolves a potential issue that could occur when moving from one access point to another within the same wireless network—the IP address could have been lost and not restored unless the DHCP lease was renewed or the computer put to sleep and then awakened.
• Improves reliability when using the Active Directory plug-in.
• Improves the Mac OS X 10.4 Keyboard Setup Assistant.

Installation:
You have two ways to update to Mac OS X 10.4.1: Use Software Update or the standalone installer. You only need to use one of these methods to update your computer.

Automatic Software Update:
Software Update, located in System Preferences, can automatically download and install the latest Apple software. Software Update may have linked you to this document for additional information about the update. The update’s size may vary from computer to computer when installed through Software Update. Because some updates are prerequisites for others, you may need to run Software Update more than once to get all available updates.

Standalone installer:
Another version of the installer is available from Apple Downloads as a standalone update. After you download an update, you can use it to update your computer without being connected to the Internet. The standalone installer is useful if you have multiple computers to update and only want to download the update once.

Mac OS X Update 10.4.1 is available via Software Update and also online. More information and download link (37MB) here.

[UPDATE: 8:21pm EDT. Posted from Mac OS X 10.4.1! Added “Installation” section to explain options and why update file sizes may vary .]

[UPDATE: 10:22pm EDT. Added Dashboard auto-install fix information.]