Apple yesterday released Mac OS X 10.6.3, an update to Snow Leopard that addresses about fifty bugs and issues and includes dozens of security fixes. According to Apple, the update fixes a number of problems that MacWindows readers have been reporting since Snow Leopard first shipped, including those related to file sharing, Active Directory, and Exchange Server. Apple also released a Mac OS X Server 10.6.3 update.

Apple said that the update fixes the problem with saving files to Windows servers from Office 2008, a problem that many readers have reported and offered workarounds. Readers have also reported the problem with the Adobe CS suite, and today, a reader today reported that the 10.6.3 update fixed the problem.

Apple also said that the update fixes problems "copying, renaming or deleting files on an SMB server volume." It's not known if this address problems that we've reported such as the -36 errors when copying files, and problems copying files greater than 2 GB. However, Apple said that the update contains another file sharing fix addresses a problem with the Finder that produces a -36 error message when copying folders to FAT32-formatted drives. This may be related to problems we've reported about problems with network-attached storage devices.

Mail is updated to fix a couple of problems with Exchange Server. It fixes an bug that can cause Mail to delete mailboxes on an Exchange server that is hosted behind an Internet load balancer. It also fixes a problem synchronizing the "Sent" mailbox on a Microsoft Exchange server.

The update contains also a number of fixes related to Active Directory, authentication, and mobile accounts. The Accounts preference pane can now limit login to members of groups hosted by Active Directory. The update fixes a problem with synchronizing Mac home directories stored on an SMB server.

There's a fix for a problem with directory authentication over Ethernet when the 802.1X Loginwindow Profile is in place, but when the wireless network is not available. There's a fix for an issue that could cause the system to become unstable or unresponsive when bound to an LDAP server using SSL.

Apple also lists these fixes for Mobile Accounts:

• Home directory synchronization when the home directory is stored on an SMB file server
• Properly warning mobile users in an Active Directory domain about upcoming password expiration
• Creating a Mobile Account that uses smart card authentication, without using a command-line tool
• Reliability in background synchronization

If the 10.6.3 update fixes any of these issues for you