Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Update With Key Bug Fixes And Performance Improvements

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), on Thursday, released the new OS X 10.8.5 software update for the current Mountain lion operating system for its Macintosh computers.

The OS X 10.8.5 is a maintenance update, which brings many bug fixes for various issues, related to the Mail app, file transfers over 802.11ac Wi-Fi and the OS’ screen saver feature among others. The update also includes performance enhancements for transferring large files using Ethernet.

The OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 is currently available through the Software Update option on the Mac menu or through the App Store’s Updates tab.

“The OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 Update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users. It improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac,” the company release notes said.

Here is the complete changelog for the software update (courtesy of iDownloadBlog), with the build number 12F37:

- Fixes an issue that may prevent Mail from displaying messages.

- Improves AFP file transfer performance over 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

- Resolves an issue that may prevent a screen saver from starting automatically.

- Improves Xsan reliability.

- Improves reliability when transferring large files over Ethernet.

- Improves performance when authenticating to an Open Directory server.

- Addresses an issue that prevented a smart card from unlocking preference panes in System Preferences.

- Contains improvements included in MacBook Air (Mid 2013) Software Update 1.0.

Users can find further details regarding the changes on Apple's Support Website, while security notes can be found here.

According to rumors, Apple is likely to release the OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the next version of its Mac operating system, by the end of October.

Apple released the previous major OS X updates -- OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion -- on the day following an earnings release. Now, speculation is rife that the company could follow a similar pattern with Mavericks and will release it one day after its fourth-quarter results announcement in October.