By Graham K. Rogers

Although the rest of the world is full of reports about the arrival of the latest update to OS X Mountain Lion, the 10.8.4 release is not shown as available here. Apple Download pages fixed that.

Reading the reports sent me right away to the App Store application on my Mac, but all that was shown when I checked was an update to an Autodesk application. No OS X update. This appears to be a regular occurrence here: sites in the USA and elsewhere report the availability of an Apple update, which does not appear in my App Store display (even when checked) but then turns up a couple of days later.

Over at the Apple Downloads pages there were a couple of options shown including the Combo download at about 810 MB, which is what I downloaded (about 16 minutes with my download speeds). If Apple has released an update, particularly one with a fix I want it now.

The link page for the Combo download reports that it has fixes and features that improve stability, compatibility and security and lists the following:

• Compatibility improvements when connecting to certain enterprise Wi-Fi networks
• Microsoft Exchange compatibility improvements in Calendar
• A fix for an issue that prevented FaceTime calls to non-U.S. phone numbers
• A fix for an issue that may prevent scheduled sleep after using Boot Camp
• Improved VoiceOver compatibility with text in PDF documents
• Includes Safari 6.0.5

A new Safari? Of course I want it now.

Additional Note: A local user (from Phuket) commented that he had found this in his App Store updates list, but then remembered that he was connected to the US App Store. Just to make sure, I checked again: no change.

And to rub salt into the wounds, when I restarted after the 10.8.4 (Combo) update, the App Store showed that there was an update available. Not OS X of course, but Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 4.06; and that had been released on 30 May.

Is Thailand near the bottom of Apple's pile?

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand where he is also Assistant Dean. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.