On Monday Apple released a slew of fixes -- 36 to be exact -- for Mac OS X Leopard in its 10.5.6 update that fixes problems with iChat, MobileMe, and Safari. On Tuesday, the Cupertino-based company released Security Update 2008-008 for Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11 users.

The update for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 to 10.5.5 addresses several issues with iChat, including no longer logging users out of iChat when setting the iChat status to invisible, and it resolves an issue with pasting text from Microsoft Office.

Mail also received a list of fixes, including improving its overall performance, improving the accuracy of Connection Doctor, and taking junk mail out of the inbox. The update also addressed the issue of Mail quitting, the reliability of printing PDF attachments, and the issue which caused Mail to append a character to the file extension of an attachment.

For MobileMe, the fix was simple: Sync contacts, calendars and bookmarks on a Mac automatically and within a minute of the changes being made on a computer, a mobile device, or via the Web at me.com.

Parents and Time Machine

Apple had several fixes for parental controls, including an issue which prevented the addition of allowed Web sites from Safari via drag and drop. The update also fixed time limits and addressed an issue in which parent-controlled accounts were not able to access iTunes.

For its Time Machine backup utility, the fixes were simple: Improve reliability with Time Capsule and fix issues that could cause Time Machine to show that a backup volume could not be found.

For gamers, the update solves problems with graphics. It includes general improvements for the performance of games; graphics improvements for iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture and iTunes; and fixes distortion issues with ATI graphics cards.

Increased Security

While Apple aimed to improve performance with its 10.5.6 update, it is also concerned about security breeches and Security Update 2008-008 corrects issues with CoreGraphics, CoreServices, Adobe's Flash Player plug-in, Libsystem, Internet sharing, and ISO files.

Fixes will prevent unexpected system shutdowns when a user has opened a malicious ISO file. The update also addresses an issue with memory corruption in Libsystem's startup time API. The update provides improved memory.

There are multiple issues that exist in the Flash Player plug-in, according to Apple. The most serious issues could lead to downloading malicious code when visiting a Web site. Apple tackles this problem by updating the plug-in to version 9.0.151.0.

The system updates can be downloaded as an automatic update or in a stand-alone installer.