MacBook, PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing is covered
in The 'Book Review. iPod, iPhone,
and Apple TV news is covered in The iNews
Review.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
Apple Updates
Snow Leopard News
Products & Services
Software
Apple Updates
Mac OS X 10.6.1 Update
This update is recommended for Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard" users
and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability,
compatibility, and security of your Mac.
Products Affected: Mail, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS Printing/Fax (any
version)
Updating your system
You should back up your system before installation; you can use Time
Machine.
Do not interrupt the installation process once you have started to
update your system. You may experience unexpected results if you have
third-party system software modifications installed, or if you've
modified the operating system through other means.
Choose Software Update from the Apple menu to check for the latest
Apple software via the Internet, including this update.
If your computer is not up-to-date, other software updates available
for your computer may appear, which you should install. When Software
Updates states "Your software is up to date," you can be sure that all
available updates have been installed.
Note that an update size may vary from computer to computer when
installed using Software Update. Also, some updates must be installed
prior to others, so you should run Software Update more than once to
make sure you have all available updates.
You can manually download the update installer. This is a useful
option when you need to update multiple computers but only want to
download the update once. These versions of the standalone installers
are available from Apple Support Downloads. [Editor's note: this is my
preferred method regardless of how many computers there are to update.
See download link below. cm]
What's included?
- Improves compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
- Addresses an issue in which some printer compatibility drivers
might not appear properly in the Add Printer browser
- Addresses an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop
unexpectedly
- Addresses an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item
from the Dock
- Resolves an issue in which the Command-Option-T keyboard shortcut
would sometimes bring up the special characters menu in applications
such as Mail and TextEdit
- Addresses instances in which auto account setup in Mail might not
work
- Resolves issues when sending mail with certain SMTP servers
- Addresses an issue in which Motion 4 could become unresponsive
- Includes an update to Adobe Flash Player plugin version
10.0.32.18
Link: About the Mac OS X v10.6.1
Update
Mac OS X Server 10.6.1 Update
The 10.6.1 update is recommended for all servers currently running
Snow Leopard Server version 10.6 and includes general operating system
fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your
server, as well as specific fixes for:
- reliability of services using Grand Central Dispatch
- duplicate serial number alerts on servers with multiple network
interfaces
Link: About the Mac OS X Server v10.6.1
Update
Security Update 2009-004 for Tiger and Leopard
Security Update 2009-004 can be downloaded and installed via
Software Update preferences or from Apple Downloads.
A logic issue in the handling of dynamic DNS update messages may
cause an assertion to be triggered. By sending a maliciously crafted
update message to the BIND DNS server, a remote attacker may be able to
interrupt the BIND service. The issue affects servers which are masters
for one or more zones, regardless of whether they accept updates. BIND
is included with Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server but it is not
enabled by default. This update addresses the issue by properly
rejecting messages with a record of type 'ANY' where an assertion would
previously have been raised
For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose,
discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has
occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn
more about Apple Product Security, see the Apple Product Security
website.
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.11, Mac OS X Server v10.4.11, Mac
OS X v10.5.8, Mac OS X Server v10.5.8
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause the DNS server to
unexpectedly terminate
Fixed in this update:
- Alias Manager: Opening a maliciously crafted alias file may lead to
an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
- CarbonCore: Opening a file with a maliciously crafted resource fork
may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code
execution
- ClamAV: Multiple vulnerabilities in ClamAV 0.94.2
- ColorSync: Viewing a maliciously crafted image with an embedded
ColorSync profile may lead to an unexpected application termination or
arbitrary code execution
- CoreGraphics: Opening a maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
- CoreGraphics: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
- CUPS: A remote attacker may be able to deny access to the Printer
Sharing service : An uprivileged local user may be able to obtain
system privileges
- Flash Player plugin: Multiple vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player
plugin
- ImageIO: Viewing a maliciously crafted PixarFilm encoded TIFF image
may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code
execution
- Launch Services: Attempting to open unsafe downloaded content may
not lead to a warning : Visiting a malicious website may lead to
arbitrary code execution
- MySQL: MySQL is updated to version 5.0.82
- PHP: Multiple vulnerabilities in PHP 5.2.8
- SMB: Enabling Windows File Sharing may share folders
unexpectedly
- Wiki Server: A remote attacker may gain access to Wiki Server user
accounts
Alternate download links posted on MacUpdate.
Link: About Security Update
2009-004
iTunes 9
Apple on Wednesday introduced iTunes 9, the latest version of the
world's most popular software application to purchase, manage and play
media, packed with innovative features such as iTunes LP, Home Sharing
and Genius Mixes, as well as a redesigned store and improved synching.
iTunes 9 makes it easier than ever to discover, purchase and enjoy your
music, movies, TV shows, and apps for iPhone™ and iPod touch from
Apple's revolutionary App Store. Plus, Home Sharing now lets you easily
transfer songs, movies and TV shows to other computers in your
home.
"iTunes 9 is a great iTunes release, with innovative features that
make using iTunes better than ever and iTunes content richer than
ever," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iTunes LP, for example, lets
artists share more of their creativity with fans and gives music lovers
the feeling of being immersed in an entire album with art, lyrics,
liner notes, photos and videos."
iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album delivering a
rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by
combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live
performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos,
album credits and more. iTunes LP debuts today with albums including
Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me,"
The Grateful Dead's "American Beauty" and Dave Matthews Band's "Big
Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: iTunes Pass." The new iTunes Extras
provides a similar experience for movies on iTunes with features
including documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews and interactive
galleries. iTunes Extras is now available for select movies including
"Twilight," "Batman Begins," "WALL-E," "Iron Man" and "The Da Vinci
Code." Customers can enjoy iTunes LP and iTunes Extras on a Mac or
PC.
iTunes 9 also introduces Home Sharing, which lets you easily
transfer music, movies and TV shows among up to five authorized
computers in your home. Family members can now view up to five iTunes
libraries on their home network, see only the portion of these
libraries they don't already have, import their favorite content
directly to their own libraries, and automatically add new purchases
from other computers into their library.
The incredibly popular Genius feature gets even better with Genius
Mixes which are created using the results of over 27 million music
libraries with over 54 billion songs that have been submitted and
analyzed by Genius. The new Genius Mixes feature is like having a
"Genius" DJ that automatically generates up to 12 endless mixes of
songs from your iTunes library that go great together.
With improved synching in iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1, you can now
organize your iPhone apps right in iTunes and they will automatically
appear on your iPhone with the same layout. Plus, synching music,
photos, movies and TV shows is easier than ever with the added ability
to sync music by artist and genre and sync photos by Events and Faces.
The iTunes Store on iPhone now features precut ringtone downloads with
over 20,000 ringtones priced at just $1.29.
iTunes 9 is available immediately as a free download at
www.itunes.com.
The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and
movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV
episodes and over 7,500 films including over 2,000 in stunning high
definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering
features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support,
the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at
a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the
iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover,
purchase and download music and video online.
iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0.2
This update is for iMac computers with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card installed, running Mac OS X 10.5.2
or later.
It updates the graphics card firmware on the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card in the iMac to improve system
stability.
Editor's note: This update is only for the 2007 and 2008 iMacs.
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later
Link: iMac
Graphics Firmware Update 1.0.2
Apple RAID Card Firmware Update
This update provides several fixes, including:
- Reliability improvements during boot and power fail recovery
- Addresses a potential issue when rebuilding a degraded RAID 5
- Resolves an issue that can fill the onboard flash file system
- Improves battery handling and reporting
The update is recommend for all Mac Pro (Late 2006, Early 2008) and Xserve (Late 2006, Early 2008) systems with the Apple RAID
card.
The updater application will be installed in the
/Applications/Utilities folder and will launch automatically. Please
follow the instructions in the updater application to complete the
update process.
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later
File Size: 26.12 MB
Link: About the Apple RAID Card Firmware
Update 1.0
Apple Launches Mail Setup Assistant
Need help setting up email accounts in Mac OS X? Simply provide
Apple with your email address and they'll let you know exactly what you
need to do.
Note: Only US-based email accounts are currently supported by this
tool. Your email address will only be used to provide your Mail
settings. Your email will not be stored and will not be used by Apple
or shared with any other entities.
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6
Link: Mail Setup
Assistant
Snow Leopard News
Things Removed in Snow Leopard
Waffle has posted a list of things removed from Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard", which
is being updated continuously and reader contribution is welcomed.
Notable examples:
- PowerPC support
- The blood on the signature snow leopard's mouth, except for in the
wallpaper
- Cocoa Java runtime support
- AppleTalk printing
- Creator code adherence when opening files
- AppleScript Utility (settings moved to AppleScript Editor
Preferences)
- The nuh-uh shaking login window behavior when you re bound to a
domain/directory and enter the wrong password (it s still there when
you re not bound to a domain/directory)
- iSync Palm OS conduit
Link: Things
Removed in Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard to Save 50 Gigawatt Hours of
Electricity in One Year?
Computerworld's Seth Weintraub says that Snow Leopard doesn't just
speed up your Mac; it also makes it a better environmental citizen by
conserving electricity. Weintraub says that after installing OS X
10.6, he's getting about 10 to 20 additional minutes of battery runtime
from his MacBook Pro and notes that CNET tested a 17" MacBook Pro with
Leopard and with Snow Leopard, and found that using Snow Leopard would
save 10 kWh of energy per year, which works out to only around a dollar
of savings - but a significant amount when spread over a world of
Macs.
Per
CNET: operating cost for an 17" MacBook Pro would drop to $8.71
from $9.66. If Apple sells at least five million copies of Snow Leopard
this quarter, as expected, and every machine saves 10 kWh of energy,
that calculates to $5 million and 50 gigawatts of electricity
saved.
Link:
Snow Leopard Saves Millions of Kilowatt Hours of Electricity?
Some Web Content Will Look Darker on Snow
Leopard
John Nack on Adobe says:
"If you're a Web designer, expect your CSS colors & your
untagged/unmanaged images to look darker on Snow Leopard than on
previous versions of the Mac OS. You'll also see less of a visible
color shift when going from Photoshop to Flash or other unmanaged
environments (e.g. Internet Explorer)."
Why? Because after 25 years of using gamma 1.8, Apple has switched
to a Windows-esque default gamma of 2.2 so colors that aren't
color-managed are going to look darker on the whole.
Link:
Why Your Web Content Will Look Darker on Snow Leopard
How to Build a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard
Lifehacker's Adam Pash says:
"Two years ago, I detailed how to build a Hackintosh for under $800
- then covered how to do the same with less hacking. Now that Snow
Leopard's out, we're revisiting the Hackintosh, building a Hack Pro
from scratch for roughly $900."
Link:
How to Build a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, Start to Finish
Psystar Supports Mac OS X 'Snow Leopard' on All
New Computers
PR: Psystar Corporation announced this week that it is
offering OS X Snow Leopard on its Open Computers. Apple's newest
version of OS X is now offered as an option on all new Psystar
machines. Psystar continues to pioneer the open OS X market, and in
conjunction with the release of Snow Leopard unveils its virtualization
technology to enable native-speed performance of the operating system
and expand the range of hardware platforms available to OS X users.
Since the official release of OS X Snow Leopard, Psystar's systems
have undergone rigorous testing with the newest version of OS X to
ensure compatibility with Open Computers. Customers can pre-order a
Psystar Snow Leopard compatible machine now. Psystar will begin
shipping the new Snow Leopard compatible systems next week.
Psystar will soon release benchmarking results for its popular Rebel
series of OS X compatible systems with the new Snow Leopard benchmarks.
The OS X Leopard benchmarks (available at Psystar.com) highlight the
significant price-performance advantage of Psystar Rebel systems over
comparable Macintosh systems. Psystar expects the price-performance
advantage of its Rebel systems to increase further with Snow Leopard
running on top of Psystar's new virtualization technology.
Psystar is committed to the development of open and innovative
computing solutions. Recently Psystar filed suit against Apple to
enforce the legal rights of software consumers to maintain choice and
control over the hardware platform used to run software. As
virtualization technologies revolutionize the computing industry,
Psystar believes its legal efforts contribute to competition and
innovation in the marketplace to the benefit of all consumers.
OS X, OS X Leopard, Leopard, OS X Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard, and
Macintosh are products and trademarks of Apple, Inc. Psystar purchases
copies of these operating systems to resell as part of its Open
Computer systems. Psystar has no other affiliations with Apple,
Inc.
Link: Psystar
Products & Services
Mercury On-The-Go Pro 750 GB FireWire/USB Bus
Powered Portable Storage Solution
PR: Other World Computing (OWC), has announced its new OWC
Mercury On-The-Go Pro 750 GB model is the first FireWire 800/400 and
USB 2.0 bus powered portable storage solution on the market. The
Mercury On-The-Go Pro is a high-performance, pocket-sized portable
storage solution for Mac or PC users featuring FireWire 800, FireWire
400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces for data transfer speeds up to 100 MB/s.
With 750 GB of storage capacity, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro now offers
50% more data storage capacity than existing models in the line and can
hold up to 750,000 JPEG photos, 375 DVD movies, 57 hours of digital
video, or 262,500 MP3 songs.
Pocket-Sized & Bus Powered - Ideal for the Mobile
Office
Small enough to fit into a shirt pocket with its diminutive 3.5" x
5.5" x 1" footprint, the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro offers 750 GB of
high performance data storage/backup capacity in a stylish, impact
resistant acrylic case. Because it's bus-powered, the OWC Mercury
On-The-Go Pro can be used without an AC adapter, which makes it ideal
for presentations, multimedia, law enforcement, surveyors, and other
"mobile office" uses.
Works with Macs, PCs, and Digital Devices
Featuring a variety of FireWire and USB 2.0 interface models, the
Plug-and-Play ready Mercury On-The-Go Pro can be used with Macs and PCs
for additional storage capacity, transporting large files between
multiple computers and real-time A/V editing. The drive can also be
used with storage capable digital cameras and camcorders with FireWire
and/or USB data ports for quick, convenient backups of images and video
while on the road.
"Over the past eight years, the innovations and performance of this
portable drive have continually raised the bar by which all other
portable drives are measured," said Larry O'Connor, CEO, Other World
Computing. "Not just high capacity, these high-performance solutions
are ideal and widely used for Audio/Video, Music, and even live
recordings in addition to being a great solution for backup, data
transport, and just additional storage in general. Several leading
industry media outlets regularly use the Mercury On-The-Go Pro as the
standard to beat in performance reviews and the new 750 GB model just
provides more to love."
The new Mercury On-The-Go Pro 750 GB 5200 RPM line is available in
three interface models:
- "Triple Interface" with FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0 connectivity,
$269.99 MSRP
- "Combo Interface" with FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connectivity,
$249.99 MSRP
- USB 2.0 only connectivity, $229.99 MSRP
The new OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro 750 GB 5200 RPM models are
immediately available from Other World Computing. They are compatible
with Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2.2, Apple OS X (all versions) including the
latest 10.6 "Snow Leopard"; and Windows 98SE or later operating systems
and come ready for Plug and Play ease of use with all supported
interface connecting cables, carrying case, $200 retail value disk
utility software bundle, and an industry leading three year complete
solution warranty.
In addition to the newest 750 GB 5200 RPM models, OWC also offers a
full line of 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM Mercury On-The-Go Pro models with
FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces in capacities of
80 GB to 500 GB priced starting at $62.99.
Complete Mercury On-The-Go Pro Specs:
- Fully suitable for Audio/Video applications
- Oxford (all FireWire equipped models) or JMicron bridge
chipset
- 2.5" Serial ATA (SATA) drive up to 750 GB capacity
- Up to 16 MB hard drive data cache
- Data transfer speeds up to 100 MB/s
- Cool blue activity LED
- Super quiet fanless operation
- Compact size: 3.5"(W) x 5.5"(D) x 1"(H)
- Lightweight: 11 ounces empty case, 2.5 lb. with drive
- Clear, shock resistant polycarbonate acrylic case
- Three years complete solution warranty
- Carrying case
- All interface connection cables included
- Mac and PC compatible
- Includes $200 retail value disk utility software bundle: Carbon
Copy Cloner, ProSoft Engineering Data Backup 3, NovaStor NovaBACKUP,
and Intech SpeedTools Utilities.
Link: Mercury On-The-Go
Pro 750 GB FireWire/USB Bus Powered Portable Storage Solution
Software
Eudora 8.0b7 Released
PR: The first new beta update of Eudora 8.0 since April has
been released.
Major changes in version 8.0b7 include:
- Search Messages now uses the fast index if turned on in the
preferences, Advanced->General->Enable Global Search and Indexer.
The checkbox "Use indexed search" in the Search Messages can be used to
turn this on/off.
- Eudora now automatically checks if new versions are available. A
manual check can be done by going to the Help menu and selecting Check
for Updates.
Editor's note: I downloaded and checked out Eudora 8.0b7 and
discovered a serious bug - keyboard shortcuts for cut/copy/paste don't
work, at least on my rig (2.0 GHz Unibody MacBook
running OS 10.5.8) although those functions respond from the Edit Menu.
Downgrading to Eudora 8.0b6 restored normal keyboard shortcut behavior.
cm
Link: Penelope
Project Canvas: 'PowerPoint for the Rest of Us'
with a HyperCard-like Motif
PR: Project Canvas is a multimedia presentation tool, much
like industry giant PowerPoint, but comes at the fraction of the cost.
Incorporating many features and functions similar to Apple's old
HyperCard application, Project Canvas lets you create click-by-click
adventure games, interactive tutorials, storybooks, school
presentations, and more.
Sporting a cross-platform compatible file format, Project Canvas
files can also recalls the old HyperCard application much beloved of
veterans from the early days of the Mac, using a card and stack
metaphor and containing an unlimited number of cards and buttons.
Buttons can perform a variety of actions from getting and setting
variables, playing movies, and transitioning between cards with visual
effects to playing sounds, playing music, speaking text, prompting the
user for feedback and more!
Again reminiscent of the erstwhile HyperCard, one of the most
versatile features of Project Canvas is the ability to export a Stand
Alone copy of a stack. The stack will be exported as an executable file
that can be run without having to have Project Canvas installed! In
addition, specify special kiosk-style features like hiding the menubar
or making the stack run full screen.
Like HyperCard again, Project Canvas includes an integrated paint
program.
Features
- Prompt the user for a reply with 3 button options
- Obtain a text response from a user
- Go to a card by number, ID, or relative identifier
- Play, stop, and queue movies, music, and sounds
- Quit or reset the current stack
- Speak some text
- Set and clear variables
- Create and destroy text fields on the fly
- Use visual effects between cards
- Save and load the stack state
- Show multiple cards (animate) one after another
- Create unlimited cards
- Cross platform compatible stack files
- Compile as a Stand Alone application
- Built-in paint program to draw card images
- Import card images from all industry standard formats
- Create an unlimited number of buttons
- Specify actions not just for buttons, but also for card arrival and
departures
- Utilize any stack dimensions desired
- Familiar actions to HyperCard users
System requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4 to 10.6
- Windows XP+
System Support: Universal Binary
15 Day Trialware
Price: $29.95 (Single User)
Link: Project
Canvas
VueScan Enhances OCR Support as It Reaches over
200,00 Customers
PR: Hamrick Software, the developer of VueScan, claimed to be
the world's most widely used scanning software, has released it's
latest version 8.5.26 using Google's Tesseract OCR code, and announced
that it's customer base now stands at more than 200,000.
"Over the past 10 years we have been working constantly on VueScan.
We have released over 120 versions, all the time making over a thousand
improvements. The majority of these changes came directly as requests
from users. " says Ed Hamrick, President of Hamrick Software. "In
VueScan 8.5.26 we've significantly improved the accuracy of OCR by
integrating Google's Tesseract OCR engine in VueScan, which was in the
top three OCR software packages in a test by University of Nevada, Las
Vegas. In addition, we now support OCR in 33 languages and have
built-in support for English, French and German languages. Support for
30 additional languages can be downloaded."
VueScan 0.1 was first released in 1998 with support for a single
scanner on Windows only. Within 5 years VueScan supported more than 400
scanners, and had acquired a good reputation through word of mouth.
After a further 10 years of development, VueScan now supports over 1200
scanners on 3 operating systems, has been downloaded more than 5
million times, and is the scanning program of choice for more than
200,000 customers in over 150 different countries.
"Since the first release we've made more than 1000 improvements and
it's really changed a lot in this time. Adding multiple language
support has made a big difference to our business, and our customers
are spread globally." says Ed Hamrick. "We have many small but clearly
defined features that make a world of difference for many of our
customers. Some features are for photographers, some for people working
with thousands of scans, some are for beginners who have never used a
scanner. We've also worked hard to support scanners that manufacturers
don't support any more, especially on Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow
Leopard)."
"Our goal is to make VueScan known to everyone and to become the
universal scanning application. We now support over 1200 scanners on
Windows, 750 on Mac OS X and 580 scanners on Linux. A single 8 Mbyte
download supports all these scanners, in 35 different languages." says
Ed Hamrick.
Future plans include adding more advanced scanning features, such as
scanning multiple photos placed randomly on a scanner (auto image
segmentation). All of these advanced scanning features will work with
all of the 1200 supported scanners, in all 33 languages, on all three
operating systems - a truly universal scanning application."
VueScan is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. VueScan offers
a full range of advanced features; including options for scanning faded
slides and prints and automatically adjusting images to optimum color
balance that reduces the need to manually do it in Photoshop. It
includes built-in IT8 color calibration of scanners, producing colors
that look true to life, batch scanning and other advanced and powerful
scanning and productivity features, including PDF output.
VueScan is available in two editions, Standard Edition ($39.95) and
Professional Edition ($79.95). The Professional Edition adds unlimited
free upgrades, advanced IT8 color calibration and support for raw scan
files. Multi-user licenses are available. A fully functional, trial
copy of VueScan can be downloaded from hamrick.com.
Link: VueScan
Desktop Mac
Deals
Low End Mac updates the following price trackers monthly:
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
