Category Archives: Apple Software

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Released

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Apple has released the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update. The 1.09 Gb Snow Leopard combo patch is expected to be the final Mac OS X Snow Leopard update. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is slated to ship some time in July.

10.6.8 addresses a number of issues, including:

  • Enhancements to the Mac App Store for a smoother transition OS X Lion.
  • Improved support for IPv6 protocols.
  • Identifies and remove known variants of the Mac Defender malware.
  • Resolves an issue that may cause Preview to unexpectedly quit.
  • Improves VPN reliability.

A corresponding update was also issued for Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard Server which includes many server-specific improvements.

Free Advice: For Mac OS updates this large, you encounter a lot less problems if you DO NOT use Apple’s Software Update feature and instead manually download and install the stand-alone combo updater.

Getting Ready for Lion – Checklist

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Apple Mac OS X 10.7 LionWe’re about a month (or less) away from the release of Apple’s newest operating system: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion – the most significant change in the way you work with your Mac in years.

Lion is the result of lessons Apple learned in developing its iOS for the iPhone and iPad as well as built on the strength of prior Mac OSes. But before you rush to download, make absolutely sure you are ready:

System RequirementsCan your computer handle it?

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will require a Mac with at least an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2Gb of RAM (memory – and please don’t confuse memory with hard disk space – and frankly, 4Gb+ of RAM would be better). Pretty much any new Mac computer purchased after 2007 will do it. Speaking of hard disk space you’ll need about 4Gb free on your hard drive as well.

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Getting Ready for Lion – go on a Rosetta hunt

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AppleInsider has published several outstanding pieces over the last few days reporting on the first developer preview on the upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 – Lion. Anticipated to be released later this summer, in many ways it will be a radical shift in terms of user interface and functionality. (Think a merge of your iPhone and your Mac.)

In addition to new Finder, Desktop, and Dashboard metaphors, the upcoming OS says goodbye to some previous features, such as Front Row, built-in Java Runtime (not as big a deal as it sounds), and Rosetta. It’s this last one that may affect the most users. Rosetta allows you to run older software, written for the PowerPC generation Macs, on your Intel machine. So if you’ve been running, say Microsoft Office 2004 or Quark XPress 6 – which have been running just dandy on 10.6, you’re going to need to replace them before upgrading to 10.7.

Activity Monitor - Looking for PowerPC Apps

Click thumb for larger image

An easy way to discover which programs you’ll need to upgrade, is to use the the Activity Monitor utility (you’ll find it, naturally, in Applications -> Utilities). This application provides a wealth of information about what’s going on inside your computer, if you truly want to get your geek on. But in this case, all you need to do is to make sure the “CPU” tab is highlighted and sort by “Kind”. All applications listed as PowerPC will have to go before you can upgrade. The applications you are checking on need to be open (launched) to show up in the list.

Don’t say you didn’t get enough warning.

Note: Since Lion is still in development, no feature set (or lack there of) is written in stone. It is possible removed features will be written back in – or more will be written out. Still it’s always good to keeps tabs on what you are running.

iOS 4.1 Released for iPhone / iPod Touch

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iOS 4.1 with HDR Photo TechnologyThe Apple iOS 4.1 update, announced last week by Steve Jobs, is now available owners of the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, plus the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod Touch.

In addition to overall performance improvements (especially for owners of the iPhone 3G), iOS 4.1 also adds:

  • HDR Photography – automatically combines multiple exposures into a single HDR image for greater clarity and color richness.
  • Direct HD Video Uploads – via Wi-Fi to MobileMe and YouTube.
  • Game Center – social gaming environment. Find friends or auto-match to other players with similar skills to play multiplayer games. Track achievements and compare high scores.
  • iTunes TV Show Rentals – enabled. Rent and stream television episodes directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch for 99 cents/episode.
  • iTunes Ping – access to Apple new social music environment in iTunes.

Relatedly, Apple has also released the iPhone Configuration Utility 3.0 for both Mac OS X and Windows. The release adds support for new Mobile Device Management (MDM) features introduced in iOS4 as well as enables wireless delivery of configuration profiles. Apple highly recommends updating for those business and enterprise managers responsible for company devices running iOS 4.0 or later.

Apple plugs 13 security holes …

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Apple has issued Security Update 2010-005 for both Snow Leopard 10.6 (81 Mb download) and Leopard 10.5 (212 Mb download) Client operating systems as well as their respective Server versions. The patch corrects 13 vulnerabilities which could potentially allow hackers to issue arbitrary code to an unsuspecting user.

Major processes the update addresses include those concerning font handling, PDFs, core graphics, PHP, and networking. Details can be found here.

Security Update 2010-005 can be downloaded and applied via the above links or by using Software Update.