March 13, 2010

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Apple Releases Safari 4 Update

March 12, 2010 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

Just a quick note. Apple has released Safari 4.0.5 for Mac and Windows. This update offers a number of fixes including:

- Performance improvements for Top Sites
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins
- Stability improvements for websites with online forms and Scalable Vector Graphics
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from changing settings on some Linksys routers

This update is recommended to all Safari 4 users and is available in Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Windows flavors. The download is around 35MB in size depending on which system you are running.

I’m someone who lives in Safari, and I can definitely notice a difference in the “Top Sites” and vector graphics performance.

Filed Under All News, OS X, Software

Another Build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 Seeded to Developers. Mac OS X 10.7 Showing up in Web Logs.

January 25, 2010 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has seeded a new build (Build 10D538) of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers. This update reportedly addresses issues in areas like QuickTime X and Logic Studio.

More specifically, people familiar with Friday’s beta say it includes an update to QuickTime X that, when finalized, will improve security and compatibility while simultaneously enhancing overall reliability. The release will also include tweaks that aim to enhance the performance of Apple’s 64-bit Logic pro audio suite. Other planned improvements include better compatibility with third-party printers and OpenGL-grounded applications, those same people say.

Only one documented issues remains in this build and it involves viewing photos through Front Row.

Worth noting, is that 10.6.3 could have better OpenGL 3.0 support at the time of it’s release, which means, better graphics performance, when the standard is fully implemented.

In other Mac OS X news, MacRumors is reporting that they have seen Mac OS X 10.7 show up in their web logs in increasing numbers as of late.

224934-107_500.png

Of course, Apple hasn’t said a word regarding the next major release of Mac OS X simply know to us at the moment as Mac OS X 10.7. People like John Gruber have heard rumblings suggesting that Apple will unveil the software this summer at WWDC.

Graph courtesy of MacRumors.

Filed Under OS X, Rumors

Apple Releases Boot Camp 3.1, Supports Windows 7

January 20, 2010 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

Screen shot 2010-01-19 at 7.56.54 PM.pngApple has released a Boot Camp update (Boot Camp 3.1) that now adds support for Microsoft Windows 7, while also taking care of minor issues and adding support for Apple peripherals.

This update adds support for Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate), addresses issues with the Apple trackpad, turns off the red digital audio port LED on laptop computers when it is not being used, and supports the Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic mouse.

Boot Camp 3.1 comes in 64 and 32-bit flavors and requires a genuine copy of Windows, and an Intel-based Mac. In a support document from Apple regarding Boot Camp and Windows 7, Apple noted a list of Mac models that will NOT support Windows 7 on Boot Camp. Here they are:

iMac (17-inch, Early 2006)
iMac (17-inch, Late 2006)
iMac (20-inch, Early 2006)
iMac (20-inch, Late 2006)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2006)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2006)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)
Mac Pro (Mid 2006, Intel Xeon Dual-core 2.66GHz or 3GHz)

Apple has also released Boot Camp Utility for Windows 7 Upgrade. This utility is needed to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 and “safely unmounts the read-only Macintosh volume on Microsoft Vista.”

Filed Under Microsoft, OS X, Software

Apple Releases Wireless Keyboard Update 2.0

November 10, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

hero_2_20091020.jpgApple has released Wireless Keyboard Update 2.0. This update adds support for features such as using the function keys to control display brightness, Spaces, Speaker volume, Dashboard, and iTunes control. The update weighs in under 11MB and requirers the keyboard to be turned on and paired to update.

Mac OS X 10.5.8 is the minimum OS required for this to work. For Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users, the update is included in the 10.6.2 update which was recently released.

Filed Under Hardware, OS X

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.2 and Security Update 2009-006

November 9, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

softwareupdate-iconjpg1112.jpegApple has released Mac OS X 10.6.2 to the public. This update comes with a large assortment of fixes, but most importantly, addresses a bug that erases user data. Here are the release notes:

The 10.6.2 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

- an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
- a graphics distortion in Safari Top Sites
- Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
- a problem that prevented authenticating as an administrative user
- issues when using NTFS and WebDAV file servers
- the reliability of menu extras
- an issue with the 4-finger swipe gesture
- an issue that causes Mail to quit unexpectedly when setting up an Exchange server
- Address Book becoming unresponsive when editing
- a problem adding images to contacts in Address Book
- an issue that prevented opening files downloaded from the Internet
- Safari plug-in reliability
- general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
- an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3874.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

You can download the update through Software Update or select your appropriate version here. The update, depending on what version you download, weighs in around 500 MB.

Additionally, Apple has released Security Update 2009-006 for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users.
You can find the downloads here and here. Also worth noting, it appears Intel Atom support is officially missing from this update, meaning “Hackintosh” netbooks running Snow Leopard will cease to function if they are updated.

Filed Under OS X, Software

New Mac OS X 10.6.2 Developer Build Fixes Large Number of Bugs, Intel Atom Support Maintained?

November 5, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

MC223.jpegThere have been recent reports suggesting Apple was axing Intel’s Atom processor support in the next update of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. If Apple were to cut Atom support, the update would break many “Hackintosh”, or non-Apple computers, specifically netbooks, running Mac OS X.

Stellarola, the source of this discovery, has updated the blog post originally stating that the then-latest developer build of 10.6.2 works just fine on Atom-based machines.

Anyways, in the latest development build Atom appears to have resurrected itself zombie style in 10C535. The Atom lives another day, but nothing is concrete until the final version of 10.6.2 is out.

Two developer builds later it appears Atom support is still there, but what else is in the latest developer build (Build 10C540)? Glad you asked. World of Apple reports that this latest build fixes a mysterious issue that Apple refers to as “plugging and unplugging to an Apple TV”, which may refer to an AppleTV connecting with the new 27-inch iMacs. Additionally, there are no known issues, and fixes things like, Airport problems on the new iMacs, AFP panics, graphics driver panics, and resolves issues involving VMWare.

Filed Under Developers, OS X, Rumors

Apple to Disable Intel Atom Processor Support in 10.6.2?

November 3, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

MC223.jpegOS X Daily is reporting that they have discovered Apple’s latest developer build of Mac OS X 10.6.2 disables support for the Intel Atom processor architecture. It is not known why Apple did this, but a good guess is to break user instillations of Snow Leopard on non-Apple Atom based netbooks.

You can’t help but suspect this move is Apple’s attempt at shutting down the growing and popular Hackintosh Netbook community, since Apple has no product line that runs the Atom itself. Mac OS X runs absolutely flawlessly on much of the PC Netbook hardware, once it’s configured you wouldn’t know you’re not on a Mac. Maybe it’s in effort to kill the Atom Hackintoh Netbooks in anticipation of the rumored Tablet? Or maybe it’s something totally unrelated?

Based on previous reports, Apple was originally interested in the Atom processors for it’s mythical- totally not proven to exist- tablet, but dropped support due to poor performance, and rampant battery consumption.

Filed Under OS X

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.1

September 10, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.6.1 this evening. This is the first update to Mac OS X 10.6. Snow Leopard, and addresses a series of minor issues. Most notably, it updates Flash to the latest version, eliminating any security concerns that have arisen recently.

Here are the release notes:

  • compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
  • an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly
  • some printer compatibility drivers not appearing properly in the add printer browser
  • an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock
  • instances where automatic account setup in Mail might not work
  • an issue where pressing cmd-opt-t in Mail brings up the special characters menu instead of moving a message
  • Motion 4 becoming unresponsive

This update is recommended for all Snow Leopard users and can be downloaded via Software Update.

Filed Under All News, OS X Tagged With mac os x 10.6.1, Update

Snow Leopard Out Now!

August 28, 2009 By Alex Jordan 5 Comments

Snow Leopard is now available for purchase. You can purchase a single user copy of Snow Leopard for $29, a family pack for $49, and if you bought a Mac after June 8th, 2009 you are eligible to purchase Snow Leopard for $9.95 through Apple’s Up-to-date program.

Did you order Snow Leopard? Are you going to order Snow Leopard? Tell us what you think by leaving  a comment!

Filed Under All News, OS X, Software Tagged With 10.6, august 28th, launch, Mac OS X, Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard Incompatible Applications List

August 28, 2009 By Alex Jordan 1 Comment

Apple has released this support document outlining what applications are known to be incompatible with Snow Leopard, and which applications simply won’t launch in Snow Leopard.

Software restricted during installation and migration

During installation, Snow Leopard moves known-incompatible software to a folder named Incompatible Software at the root level of the hard drive. If you see this folder on your Mac, use the table below to check with the software vendor to see if any Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard-compatible updates are available.

Some of the know incompatible software titles include. Parallels v 2.5 and earlier, Norton Antivirus v11.0, and At&T Laptop Connect Card v 1.0.4,1.0.5,1.10.0, just to name the large developers. Most of the applications that are incompatible with Snow Leopard seem to be from relatively unheard of software developers.

Software restricted from opening

After installation if you try to open (“launch”) software known to quit unexpectedly, Snow Leopard will prevent the application from opening and you will receive a dialog notifying you of the incompatibility. If you see such a dialog on your Mac, use the table below, then check with the software vendor to see if any Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard-compatible updates are available.

Some of the big name applications that will not launch in Snow Leopard include: Parallels Desktop v3.0, Ratatouille v1.1, Aperture v2.1.1 and earlier, and Keynote 4.2.5. This apps will not even launch in Snow Leopard, so don’t bother. Personally I’m kinda surprised these apps don’t run, especially some of the Apple apps.

Filed Under All News, OS X, Software Tagged With 10.6, Applications, incompatible, Snow Leopard
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