At the end of March 2010, Apple officially released the public version of Mac OS X 10.6.3. The x.x.3 release marked the third main revision to the Mac operating system, Snow Leopard.

At the time of release, the 10.6.3 update brought many enhancements:

- improve the reliability and compatibility of QuickTime X
- address compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
- address an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail
- resolve an issue that prevented files with the # or & characters in their names from opening in Rosetta applications
- resolve an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows file servers
- improve performance of Logic Pro 9 and Main Stage 2 when running in 64-bit mode
- improve sleep and wake reliability when using Bonjour wake on demand
- address a color issue in iMovie with HD content
- improve printing reliability
- resolve issues with recurring events in iCal when connected to an Exchange server
- improve the reliability of 3rd party USB input devices
- fix glowing, stuck, or dark pixels when viewing video from the iMac (Late 2009) built-in iSight camera

The first two test builds of 10.6.3 were issued in January 2010 and the third through sixth builds were issued in February 2010. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth builds were issued in March 2010 with the final 10.6.3 released on March 29, 2010. The 10.6.3 build period marked one of the longest test periods for an Apple operating system.

This week, in less than a month since the last OS X release, Apple seems to be pushing forward with plans to update Snow Leopard. We have received reports that Apple is preparing to begin testing the next main revision of Snow Leopard, version 10.6.4.

It is unknown at this time how long this build period will last, but if the last period is any indication, the 10.6.4 period could take us into the early summer of 2010.

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