Apple Releases OS X 10.0.1 Update

by , 7:00 AM EDT, April 16th, 2001

After weeks of speculation Apple has officially released the first update for OS X, version 10.0.1. There was talk around the Web that Apple had an update for OS X ready to go when it was released at the end of March. The public, however, was forced to wait until Friday evening for the update.

Labeled OS X "10.0.1 (Build 4L13)" in the About This Mac information box, the update promises increased performance, stability, and support for third party hardware. According to Apple:

Use Software Update in your System Preferences to get the Mac OS X v10.0.1 software update.

Improvements include better support for third party USB devices, Classic compatibility and overall application stability as well as support for the popular Secure Shell service. For Japanese users, an update to the Epson printer drivers is also available.

Users must run Software Update and first download a new version of the actual Software Update utility, then run Software Update again to download and install the OS X update. You can find more information on Mac OS X at the Apple Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Woohoo! This is good news for Apple and the Mac community on a number of different fronts. First, it shows that the engineers at Apple are still plugging away at the recently released OS. While an outstanding product was shipped on March 24th, it was not a perfect product. Apple is aware of this, and we expect them to continually improve the product through the MACWORLD New York release in July.

Second, it put a more usable operating system in user's hands today. The update is a bit faster, particularly in Finder menu performance and program launching, two of the biggest complaints about the initial release.

Last it demonstrates just how simple the update process is. Due in large part to OS X's Unix foundations, this fairly significant update weighs in at a whopping 4MB! Not bad.

Those that have been using the unofficial 4L5 or 4L7 builds will not notice as much of a difference as those using 4K78 (OS X 10.0), but the update is a worthwhile download for all OS X users. Seeing Apple pump this update out so quickly bodes well for continued development of the new OS.

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