Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"New browser time -- and unfortunately, time to restart your Mac. Safari has been updated (for 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 on the Mac side, and Windows XP/Vista/7 on the Win side); it includes the improvements noted: performance improvements for Top Sites, stability improvements for plug-ins, and for sites with SVG graphics and online forms and fixes issues affecting settings changes to some Linksys routers and iWork.com user comments"

Lots of security fixes with this update, all outlined here, and you can get the 31.8 MB download via Software Update or by going to the Safari download page here.

"Remember iCalShare? The calendar-sharing site-once touted by Steve Jobs during a Macworld Expo keynote-seemed to have vanished for a while, but it's now back, and even easier to use. iCalShare now provides more than 3,500 free calendars in 40 categories, with its search tool and interface both undergoing improvements in its latest incarnation."

You can check out all their calendars at their site, iCalShare, and it is worth a look. I use several of these for sport schedules and holidays. It is pretty easy, and the only requirement after creating an account is to make sure you use the iCalendar (.ics) format. This is a sharing site only, it doesn't help you create or host any, but it certainly makes finding that special or obscure calendar. And it beats finding all the dates and entering them manually!

"According to a Microsoft security bulletin, seven privately reported vulnerabilities in Excel could allow remote code execution if a user were to open a specially-crafted file. By exploiting those vulnerabilities, an attacker could gain the same user rights as a local user."

So in order to fix this, Microsoft released two updates, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.4 Update and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.8 Update. These updates will, as described by Microsoft, take care of “vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.” The updates will also improve stability and slow performance.

Microsoft also brought out two other updates: Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition 13.0.4 (which will now allow you to synchronize notes, tasks, and categories with Exchange Server), and Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 1.1.4 (which lets you convert Open XML files created in Office 2008 for Mac or Office 2007 for Windows).

"FileMaker Pro 11, the latest version of the Mac database software, was officially released Tuesday, packing in improved chart visuals, "on the fly" reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and a number of productivity tools that aim to make database creation simpler and quicker."

The last update was in 2009 when they released FileMaker 10. They also released updates to the entire line of FileMaker products. The retail price for FileMaker Pro 11 is $299.00 USD, or $179.00 USD to upgrade. The prices for advanced and server go up from there. I haven't used FileMaker in years, do any of you use it on a regular basis?

"After Valve's series of teaser images, it's now been revealed that their upcoming sequel Portal 2 will also be coming to the Mac. The above image comes from a series of scans from the latest issue of Gameinformer magazine which carries a cover story about the much anticipated sequel."

A friend of mine has the Orange Box compilation and Portal was one of the games. Very interesting game and it really made you think. Can't wait to see what they come up with for Portal 2, due out this fall.

"The folks at Opera might have had to spend some time working around restrictions to port their browser to the iPhone, but when it comes to the desktop there are no such issues to contend with. Hence the release of Opera 10.50 beta, a sneak peek at the latest version of the company's venerable browser."

You can download this new version here, and I must say it certainly is quick. This is a free download and I've been using it for about a day and really like it. I'm almost sold on having it as my main browser in place of Safari. As of late, I've really had a bad problem with the spinning rainbow beach ball when I use Safari and haven't been able to track down the cause, so that just adds to my enjoyment of Opera. We shall see. Anyone else trying this one out?

"The latest version of the Boxee beta, v0.9.20.10708, should now install normally on the Apple TV, its developer says. While it was possible to put the update on Apple's set-top prior to today, the process involved SSH, making it impractical for a casual user. The situation has changed thanks to a "resurrected" atvusb-creator tool."

To install you still have a few steps, outlined here, and those upgrading are "encouraged" to do a clean install.

"It's hard to kill a Sith Lord. Long thought to be a dead project, The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition made its surprise arrival on the Mac platform Tuesday."

And for $40.00 USD you can download the game at gameagent.com to see if it was worth the wait for "one of the most popular console games of 2008." This game is "set in the years between Episode III and IV of the Star Wars saga, The Force Unleashed follows the story of Darth Vader's secret apprentice as he tracks down rogue Jedi and does the bidding of his villainous master." This was supposed to be released last November, but with problems at the game company Aspyr, it never materialized until now. Hopefully they have fixed the frame rate problems the game had on the PC version.

"YouTube is dropping support for certain older browsers, most notably Internet Explorer 6 for Windows. But reader Mike Lemon discovered and alerted us that the last release of Firefox for Mac OS X 10.3.9 Panther - version 2.0.0.20 - will also be dropped from supported browsers."

You can find out more on the YouTube FAQ page, but basically they are not supporting browsers that are older than Firefox 3+, Chrome 4+, IE 7+ and Safari 3+. This doesn't mean you can go to YouTube if you have one of those older browsers, it just means that some of the improvements they are making won't be engineered to work in the older stuff. Support officially stops on March 13th, 2010.

"Social note-taking service Evernote may be available on the desktop and six different mobile platforms including the iPhone, but now it can boast its presence on a unique piece of hardware: your printer."

Evernote is a very slick program, for your desktop and iPhone. And as of Tuesday this week you can use Lexmark's SmartSolution Interact, Prestige and Platinum printers to automatically send and store scans in your Evernote account. Seems like a pretty smart addition for a printer/scanner that already comes with several apps such as Google Calendar and MSNBC Headlines. This wouldn't necessarily convince me to buy the printer if it didn't have the qualities in the printing and scanning that I needed however. Would it convince you?

"Last week, Apple released Aperture 3, a major new version that offers "over 200 new features," according to the company's Aperture page. Before you rush to upgrade, though, you might want to check out Apple's Support site. Apple has already posted more than two dozen Knowledge Base articles citing various problems that you may confront with Aperture 3."

You can find more about the upgrade at Apple's Aperture page, and if you are curious as to the reported problems you can scan through the list here from the support pages. Two of the major topics are Memory Leaks and Aperture not showing up in the Media Library. You can also get troubleshooting tips from Apple at this page.

"Mozilla on Wednesday patched five vulnerabilities, three of them critical, in older editions of Firefox and in the process extended the support life of Firefox 3.0 by at least one more month."

The latest browser, Firefox 3.6 already has the patches so you don't have to worry about this update if that is the version you have. This update fixes "critical flaws in the Gecko rendering engines, the HTML parsers and their implementations of Web Worker." Basically it allowed hackers to inject their own malware onto the machines. This update also covered a couple more moderate vulnerabilities and also extended the support for this version of Firefox until August of 2010. You can download version 3.5x here, or go ahead and get 3.6 here. 

"Five years after launch, Google finally took Gmail out of Beta last summer. But make no mistake, Google continues to constantly update the product with new experimental features."

This article goes through some of the more obscure features of Gmail, such as "Wrong Bob" to alert you that you are sending the email to the wrong Bob in your address book, or "Mail Goggles" that requires you to complete simple math problems before actually sending the email to the recipient so that late night email writing campaign doesn't create a disaster.

"Google released a new version of Chrome for Mac OS X on Thursday that restores a key feature, extensions, that had been missing for weeks."

According to Chrome programmer Mark Mentoval, "With this new version, you'll be able to install any of over 2,200 extensions (and counting!) currently available in Chrome's extensions gallery." This version also fixes some Adobe stability issues as well as including some new multitouch support. The new beta version should get some Firefox users to switch now that it has extensions I would imagine. You can download the latest beta version here, and if you currently are using Chrome, they expect an automatic update within the next few days. Still not sure? Check out the Macworld run through of the latest beta here.

"Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.7 Update improves security for all Office 2004 for Mac applications by addressing "vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of a computer's memory by using malicious code."

Visit the Microsoft Office 2004 Update page to get more info and to download the update.

"Apple may have skipped out on this year's Macworld Expo, but the company at least marked the first day of the annual Mac trade show with a release-Mac Pro Audio Update 1.0."

What better way to celebrate the first day of Macworld than with an update from Apple right? This update is for the Mac Pro models circa early 2009, that are running Mac OS X 10.6.2. This update "reduces processor utilization during audio activities such as playing or recording music." For more info, check out the support page from Apple. 

"Microsoft on Thursday detailed some of the new features in its forthcoming Office for Mac 2011 suite, including co-authoring tools, Web apps, and a redesigned ribbon interface more consistent with its Windows counterpart."

According to Eric Wilfrid, MacBU General Manager at Microsoft, "Together with your team -- officemates, family or classmates -- you are part of the community that helps shape each version of Office for Mac. You’ve told us that working together across platforms is a priority to you and that’s why we are making Office for Mac 2011 the best, most compatible productivity suite on the Mac." No pricing set yet, but some of the specifics are co-authoring tools that allow multiple users to work on files from different locations with real-time updates, access to Microsoft Web Apps from within the program so you can share documents from any machine with an Internet connection and allowing Outlook to import .PST files from Outlook for Windows.

"You've caught the buzz. You've been watching the weather, seeing how the wind blows. You've moved or you're moving to the Mac, because Windows blows. Where can you get the advice you need to help you with this transition?"

Several good choices, the best one being "Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual" by David Pogue in my opinion, mainly because it has the most up-to-date information and covers pretty much all you need to know when switching. Well, if you are switching to Snow Leopard. If you are switching to an older version of OS X, then try one of the other books listed.

"Aperture 3 popped its head up and over the parapet this morning, with Apple introducing its newly announced pro photography protege as, "the next major release" of the application, bestowed with an impressive 200 added features at the same $199 price."

If you want to give it a try, you can test it out with the free trial version from Apple, which is fully functional for 30 days. After that, it costs $199.00 USD (or $99.00 USD for those upgrading).

"Mac OS X's System Preferences program is the one-stop shop for customizing many aspects of your operating system. Open System Preferences by choosing Apple menu -> System Preferences, or by clicking on the Dock icon that looks like a set of gears. Each preference pane is labeled to give you a clear idea of what type of elements it lets you change: Appearance, Spotlight, Displays, Network, and so on."

And he goes on to list the five that he likes the best, including taking control of your Spotlight searches as shown above in the screenshot from the preferences window. My favorite of the five? Disabling the CAPS lock, I hate that key!