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Apple yesterday released a Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.1. This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ‘08 for these cameras:

• Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/Kiss Digital x2/450D
• Epson R-D1
• Leaf AFi 7
• Leaf AFi 6
• Leaf AFi 5
• Pentax K200D
• Pentax K20D

But the updates didn’t stop there. A critical security update for OX S Tiger and an pretty darn huge Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard update are available. These updates address many security bugs. You can read more about these Tiger and Leopard updates here.

I’m just getting ready to restart after installing the Leopard update myself. To access these updates, click the Apple menu, then click ‘Software Update…’ on your mac.

[via MacNN]

Psystar has uploaded a new video to YouTube, showing their Open Computers in action. One running Ubuntu, a second running Windows XP, and a third running OS X Leopard. A comment at the end of the video claims that the video was edited and created in Final Cut Studio, from a Leopard-enabled Open Computer.

At the very least this proves that Psystar can deliver on their claims… and the video does show some shots of the front of their office. One thing to note… On the front doors, note the words ‘not open to the public’. Ha! I guess not! Enjoy the video below.

[via MacNN]

The Apple PR machine is at it again. Looks like they are running a new multi-banner campaign on ZDNet and other larger media outlets.

In the video below, ‘PC’ doesn’t like the overhead banner ad noting Vista’s deficiencies… He tries to switch up the ad, but negative ads keep popping up… Until one positive ad appears… About OS X Leopard.

Enough talk, check out the vid below!

OS X 10.5.2 update is now available and contains plenty of improvements and fixes. When I say plenty, I mean PLENTY! Many other Apple blogs out there are saying that this update ’shows Apple listens to its users’. I have to agree.

Here are some of the more notable updates in 10.5.2:

• Improves connection reliability and stability of Airport and resolves certain kernel panics.
• Updates Stacks with a List view option, a Folder view option, and an updated background for Grid view.
• Addresses legibility issues with the menu bar with an option to turn off transparency in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
• The computer will now shut down if an automatic disk repair does not succeed during startup.
• Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine features (the menu extra can be enabled in Time Machine preferences).
• Addresses issues in which some external drives are not recognized by Time Machine.

To install, I simply recommend you use Software Update. Click the Apple menu in the top left of your screen and select ‘Software Update’. Easy as pie!

Click here for the complete list of updates found in OS X 10.5.2 from Apple.

Word is that developers have received their first pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.5.2 updater… and it’s not a small one. The update comes in at over 350MB. Yikes!

Apparently updates and changes have been made to Finder, iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari and Time Machine. Other fixes for Rosetta and AirPort are included as well.

One interesting update that I’m eager to see involves stacks. Apparently the new feature allows you to provide a ‘list’ view reminiscent of the traditional hierarchical style display of files and folders.

Look for this update in January… Possibly during MacWorld.

[Source]

I was one of the folks that immediately had my copy of Leopard in hand for the update. Ordered the family pack for installation here at the Mactropolis offices and I was pumped. I’ve been using Leopard now since launch in late October. The last few months have given me a great opportunity to experience and share what I’ve found.

Installation on my MacBook pro was flawless and without any hang-ups. Immediately following the upgrade I of course began fooling around with the new features. Spaces was cool, the new ‘look’ I thought was OK, and Time Machine intruiged me. ‘I’ll have to get a huge external hard drive’ I thought to myself.

Initially Leopard was a hit here at Mactropolis. I installed Leopard on 3 more macs, each without any problems. With a few systems still running Tiger, I decided to leave things as is. I thought it might be interesting to see first hand the differences from Tiger to Leopard in terms of stability and usability.

Over time this became clear to me. In Tiger, I very, very rarely had any issues with applications locking up and freezing on me. In Leopard, I’m sad to report that this is a daily occurrence. In fact, shortly before sitting down to write this post, Safari froze up on me while I was doing some browsing. Frustrating to say the least.

(more…)

My sensible head told me to wait. Tiger was working great for me and did everything I needed. The problem is I love new Apple stuff and after a few days I couldn’t bear reading forum posts and listening to podcasts gushing over how yummy Leopard was. At least by waiting a few days I didn’t get caught by the Blue Screen of Death bug caused by upgrading from Tiger when you had Application Enhancer installed: I was able to run an Archive and Install and things worked fine. Sort of…

My main work machine (a MacBook Pro) has been unstable ever since installing Leopard. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to Force Quit apps such as Mail and the number of times I’ve sent Bug Reports to Apple. On two occasions the OS has hung up and I’ve had to hold down the power button to reboot. Not good news for an operating system that boasts it just works and doesn’t crash (from Apple’s GetaMac site: “If you spend more of your precious time figuring out why your PC crashes than you spend taking out the garbage every week, you need a Mac.” - yeah, funny.

(more…)

A recent forum post I read reminded me of a beef I have with Apple.

One of the selling points Apple claim is that the Mac just works out of the box. No need to waste time downloading drivers - just plug in your equipment and play away. Or so Apple would have you believe.

Well, here’s two examples of when this isn’t the case and Mac users can look darn right stupid to our PC colleagues.

(more…)

Our friend Kirby over at GoodieBag.tv sent us this great video. Watch as he dissects the Leopard overview/tutorial video and points out some jabs at Microsoft… Plus much more…

Thanks Kirby!

We’ve heard it all over the web that this update was coming, and today it is finally here. 10.5.1 is here, and it is the first big maintenance and security update. It’s a big one (110MB download). You can download it here.

Here’s a complete list of included updates from Apple: (for more info click here)
AirPort

• Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder’s Shared Sidebar.
• Resolves an issue with saved passwords for wireless networks.

Back to My Mac

• Improves the reliability of Back to My Mac-enabled Macs appearing in the Finder’s Shared Sidebar.
• Improves compatibility with D-Link NAT gateways.

Disk utilities

• Restores the functionality of the progress bar during permission repairs in Disk Utility.
• Addresses an issue that could produce an alert when creating disk images using Disk Utility or Terminal.
• Improves disk partitioning when multiple RAID sets are created on the same disk.

iCal

• iCal alarms are now more reliably delivered via email.
• Resolves an issue when inviting attendees via a CalDAV account.

Mail

• Improves stability when resizing columns in the message viewer or switching between Stationery templates in email messages.
• Addresses an issue in which attachments enclosed inside an HTML link may not be clickable in email messages.
• Fixes an issue with email accounts added using the “Simple Setup” feature in which messages cannot be sent due to an SMTP connection failure.
• Improves Smart Mailboxes compatibility with .Mac Sync, and addresses an issue with To Do’s disappearing when using Smart Mailboxes.
• Resolves an issue with syncing Mail accounts with .Mac in which multiple On My Mac folders appear in the Mailbox pane.

Networking

• Addresses an issue in which Microsoft Windows shared folders may be read-only when connected via SMB.

Printing

• Resolves an issue in which user-selected values on Paper Feed PDE are reset to default while saving a custom preset.

Security, Firewall

• Addresses a code signing issue; third-party applications can now run when included in the Application Firewall or when whitelisted in Parental Controls.
• In Security preferences’ Firewall tab, the “Block All” option is now called “Allow Only essential services”
• Includes recent Apple security updates.

System and Finder

• Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
• Resolves an issue with login after turning off FileVault for a specific user account.
• Improves compatibility with Adobe Flash-based uploaders used by .Mac Web Gallery and certain other websites and applications.
• Resolves a potential text drawing issue with certain Adobe Flash-based websites and applications.

Time Machine

• Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine (specifically, single-partition MBR drives greater than 512 GB in size as well as NTFS drives of any size and partition scheme).
• Resolves an issue in which files restored in Time Machine may be restored to the backup hierarchy rather than the folders to which they belong.

For more info click here, or to download the update, click here.