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The most controversial OS X update in some time is now available has arrived without support for Intel Atom processors — a fact that’s sure to ignite a firestorm of protest and indignation.

According to Stell’s Blog, the source of nearly all of the information regarding the disappearance of the Atom support in OS X 10.6.2, reports that it has confirmed that the final, shipping version of this second Snow Leopard update does not include support for Intel’s low power processors used in the great majority of netbooks. That said, Stell reports that the UD3P v3 updater is available, which strips out the Sleepenabler.kext a work around so users can install OS X 10.6.2 update.

• Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update, 473MB
• Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update (Combo), Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update (Combo)
• Mac OS X Server v10.6.2 Update, 496MB
• Mac OS X Server v10.6.2 Update (Combo), 503MB

Includes fixes for:
— An issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
— A graphics distortion in Safari Top Sites
— Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
— A problem that prevented authenticating as an administrative user
— Issues when using NTFS and WebDAV file servers
— The reliability of menu extras
— An issue with the 4-finger swipe gesture
— An issue that causes Mail to quit unexpectedly when setting up an Exchange server
— Address Book becoming unresponsive when editing
— A problem adding images to contacts in Address Book
— An issue that prevented opening files downloaded from the Internet
— Safari plug-in reliability
— General reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
— And, last but far from least, an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account

Additional information about OS X 10.6.2 is available here — http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3874.

Because they could

Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have both publicly criticized netbooks as being cheap, under-powered junk, and that Apple would not entertain the possibility of making similar products. Now, the company has gone a step further and essentially banned users from creating their own.

The obvious take away here is that Apple is preparing the way for their own low-cost, low-power portable — the Mac tablet (a.k.a. iPod touch on steroids).

Although that’s the likely reason for Cupertino to try to kill hackintoshed netbooks, it seems petty and parsimonious of the company to have done so. Whatever, the homebrew guys are, for the moment at least, in step with Apple, having already released a work around…

What’s your take?

Recent software posts:
— Latest OS X 10.6.2 [10C540] seed doesn’t support Atom?
— John Carmack: Apple ‘not proud of’ iPhone games
— Firefox 3.5.5, Picasa 3.5.2 now available
— Mac software: Stainless 0.7.5 adds URL, search auto-completion; skinnable UI

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Filed under: Mac, Software