Yesterday, Apple pushed the first beta build of 10.6.3 for Snow Leopard. Weighing in at nearly 700MB, this update fixes hundreds of problems:

People familiar with the matter say the first external build of the software — labeled Mac OS X 10.6.3 build 10D522 and weighing in at 665.7MB in barebones delta form — includes a total of 221 code corrections to 92 distinct system components.

Among those components receiving the most attention are AppKit, CoreMedia, Desktop Services, FileSync, Fonts, HIToolbox, iCal, Mail, MobileMe, and QuickTime Player X, those same people say.

Other individual and welcomed enhancements include improvements to Snow Leopard’s automatic spell correction, and fixes for crashes while printing and using AppKit, the Dock, iCal, Mail, Photo Booth, Rosetta, Spotlight, Screen Sharing, and Software Updater.

In total, nearly 60 individual pieces of crash-prone code have reportedly been addressed as of build 10D522.

Apple also reportedly noted four known issues with Wednesday’s beta, including hangs in iTunes, and potential anomalies while updating applications, viewing Display preferences, and navigating the ColorSync Utility Filters tab.

Source: Apple Insider