OS X 10.6.5 was released today, which was an important update that included security fixes, bug fixes, and support for iOS 4.2, which will likely be released later this week.

However, an important feature is missing.  It’s been widely reported that the 10.6.5 beta builds allowed a Mac to share any printer over the network as an AirPrint printer to be used with an iPad or iPhone, but it looks like this feature may have been removed from the production build of OS X 10.6.5 released today, meaning the feature may be delayed.

In practice, this may mean AirPrint will be limited (at least initially) to only five HP ePrint printers.

Obviously this would be a pretty big blow to AirPrint’s usability right out of the gate, and would also affect many apps that we have either added AirPrint support to, or are in the process of adding AirPrint support to.  While obviously we can’t discuss Apple Confidential information, we’re doing the best we can to make sure Apple understands that this is a very important feature to us and to our clients, and one that will significantly contribute to AirPrint’s viability as a platform.