Wednesday, February 15, 2006
10.4.5 update surprisingly small
Two things caught me off guard when my iBook kindly informed me that it was time to install the newly release MacOS X 10.4.5 updater. See if you can spot the two irregularities in the screenshot below:
First off, even a full month after the launch (and some eight months after the announcement), it was still a bit disarming to see that the updater was clearly labeled as being the "PowerPC" version. Oh yeah, right, there are in fact Intel Mac users out there, a group growing in size by the day, and heck, I'll be one of them some day soon.
But perhaps the more surprising thing was the update's file size. Can anyone recall the last time a MacOS X update was a mere 6.4 megabytes in size? Seems like they're usually closer to fifty megs these days. It's almost as if there's nothing inside this one at all. Not that I'm complaining, but you have to wonder the point of even releasing the thing.
Intel iMac users out there, what's your file size for this update? Perhaps 10.4.5 is all about Intel, and they're just throwing us PowerPC users a few megs to keep us quiet.
Two things caught me off guard when my iBook kindly informed me that it was time to install the newly release MacOS X 10.4.5 updater. See if you can spot the two irregularities in the screenshot below:
First off, even a full month after the launch (and some eight months after the announcement), it was still a bit disarming to see that the updater was clearly labeled as being the "PowerPC" version. Oh yeah, right, there are in fact Intel Mac users out there, a group growing in size by the day, and heck, I'll be one of them some day soon.
But perhaps the more surprising thing was the update's file size. Can anyone recall the last time a MacOS X update was a mere 6.4 megabytes in size? Seems like they're usually closer to fifty megs these days. It's almost as if there's nothing inside this one at all. Not that I'm complaining, but you have to wonder the point of even releasing the thing.
Intel iMac users out there, what's your file size for this update? Perhaps 10.4.5 is all about Intel, and they're just throwing us PowerPC users a few megs to keep us quiet.
Comments:
I have noticed that in the password box, there is a caselock symbol now.
And Sarfari now has problems with Flash Shockwave modules.
And Sarfari now has problems with Flash Shockwave modules.
Anonymous, you pegged it. Also, you can fit an awful lot of text (read: code) into 6.4 megabytes of space. Toss in compression and it's even more. And, sometimes, the smallest packages have the biggest benefits (c.f wedding ring). In short, this article is pointless.
Well using that same argument Russet, one could say that there's even more code scrunched into a typical 50MB OS update, compared to this 6.4MB version.
I too thought it was a bit strange to see the small size, but I don't mind them putting it out there.
I trust that it was necessary. Particularly if it would stop my 12" powerbooks' hard drive from clunking so much.
(A recent GarageBand reinstallation seemed to have triggered the constant updates/clicks again after a period of silenceÉ Hmm)
-deepkid
I too thought it was a bit strange to see the small size, but I don't mind them putting it out there.
I trust that it was necessary. Particularly if it would stop my 12" powerbooks' hard drive from clunking so much.
(A recent GarageBand reinstallation seemed to have triggered the constant updates/clicks again after a period of silenceÉ Hmm)
-deepkid
# posted by 
: 9:21 AM
: 9:21 AM
On an Intel Mac, the 10.4.5 update available from Software Update is 102MB.
Trevor
Trevor
# posted by : 10:24 AM
: 10:24 AM
Seems like 6.4 or 104 MB doesn't really matter. If they're releasing it, it must be important, no matter what the size. I'd rather take a little update that improves performance a little than none at all. JMHO.
Post a Comment
