OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks Release Date Nears: Update Expected To Bring FaceTime Audio, Message Blocking And Fix For SSL Flaw

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has seeded seven beta versions of its upcoming OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks update to its registered developers as of now, and if a new report is to be believed, the company is now preparing to release the updated Mac operating system to the public soon.

According to a report from AppleInsider, a pre-release build of the OS X Mavericks version 10.9.2 is in circulation among some employees at Apple, which indicates that a public release for the highly-anticipated OS update is around the corner. The report also claimed that the update is confirmed to include a fix for the “goto fail” SSL bug, although the accompanying release notes make no mention of the fix.

Apple said last week that the SSL security flaw, which was fixed with the latest iOS 7.0.6 update, also affected the OS X. The company also revealed that it was working on a software fix that would be released very soon, Reuters reported.

In addition to the SSL bug fix, the OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks will also include some usual security fixes and many new features, with the most notable one being the ability to make FaceTime audio and video calls. The update is also expected to allow users to block incoming iMessages from individual senders in the Message app. Both of these features are present in the iOS.

According to internal release notes reportedly provided to employees, the accuracy of unread message counts in Mail has been improved in the software update, which is also expected to fix an issue that used to prevent Mail from receiving new messages from certain providers.

AppleInsider has listed out some other fixes and improvements that are expected to be included in OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks:

- Improved "Autofill" capabilities in Safari

- A fix for an issue that could cause audio distortion

- Improved reliability when connecting to a file server using SMB2

- A fix for an issue that could cause VPN connection outages

- Improved VoiceOver navigation in Mail and Finder

While the last beta of OS X 10.9.2 carried a build number of 13C62, the latest pre-release version in question is a slightly newer build, the report said.