Apple has rushed out a fix to address a Mac OS X 10.4.2 security patch that prevented the operating system from running 64-bit applications. Users can obtain the patch through Apple's Web site or through Mac OS X's Software Update feature. Both versions of the update seek to address multiple performance and security issues and roll in many previous system updates, however the first version of the security update included only a 32-bit version of a crucial system component, whereas the second version contains the 64-bit version as well.
The incompatibility was first reported by Wolfram Research Inc., the makers of Mathematica, a visual computational tool.
As a result of the flaw in the security update, the 64-bit Mathematica 5.2 software would not run on any hardware based on the G5 processor that has Version 1.0 of the update installed on it, according to Wolfram.