Our favorite fruit company has done the right thing. Although it’s been over a year since Apple last updated Leopard security and more than two-and-a-half years since the last OS X 10.5 update was released, here we have fresh patches covering the recurring Flashback trojan issue.

Better late than never. Apple released OS X Lion and Snow Leopard-flavored security updates covering the Flashback issue more than a month ago.

That said, the percentage of Flashback infected Macs running OS X Leopard is relatively high — 25 percent of infections versus a 13 percent usage share — so the wise thing to do is apply these updates:

• Leopard Security Update 2012-003, download
— This update disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provides the option to get the current version from Adobe’s website.

• Flashback Removal Security Update, download
— This update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware. If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will notify you that malware was removed. In some cases, the update may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware.

See also: Top 10 free ways to secure your Mac

That said, if the security update detects an active Java install, it will disable it. Additionally, PowerPC Mac owners have been reporting that these updates don’t install, which might not be a big deal considering Flashback hasn’t been ported to PPC — security through obscurity.

Collective sigh of relief

Yes, there is no question releasing OS X 10.5-flavored security updates was the right thing to do. Seriously, Leopard isn’t five years old yet.

However, I am surely not alone in being a little surprised Apple actually did it.

Nevertheless, I think Apple should also release at least one more Safari update for Leopard users…

What’s your take?

Related posts:
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— What’s new in OS X 10.7.4
— Microsoft patches Office security vulnerability
— What’s new in iOS 5.1.1
— One-in-five Macs harbor PC viruses