Fire up Software Update, Apple has released a security update for Mac OS X. Several potential exploits are patched in the update, one of them looks similar to the PDF exploit that was used for the web based easy iPhone jailbreak that was patched with iOS 4.0.2. Who knew that Mac OS X and iOS shared some of the same vulnerabilities? Other security issues fixed involve PHP, Samba, libsecurity, CoreGraphics, ClamAV, CFNetwork, and ATS.

As usual, the security update requires a system reboot.

Apple has released a Graphics Update for Snow Leopard, and this is particularly good news to Mac gamers. Remember those pesky Starcraft 2 crashes I wrote about two weeks ago? This update specifically addresses some of the problems with Starcraft 2 for Mac as well as other issues with Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Aperture 3.

If you are a Mac gamer it is highly recommended to install this update. You can download the graphics update through the Software Update control panel, accessed through the Apple menu.

Here are the release notes from Apple:

The Snow Leopard Graphics Update contains stability and performance fixes for graphics applications and games:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

The hardware and software affected by this performance update are the following: MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009), Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009), Mac OS X 10.6.4, Mac mini (Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010), Portal, StarCraft II, Team Fortress 2

Fire up those Software Updates because Mac OS X 10.6.4 is ready for download. Addressing numerous bug and security fixes, it is a recommended download for all Mac users.

It looks like if you haven’t upgraded to Safari 5 yet, this software update handles that for you. The update comes in at a whopping 639.1 MB on my MacBook Pro 2010 model which makes for a pretty hefty download, but on another Mac right next to me the download is about 300MB, so the download size clearly varies from machine to machine and fixes that are relevant to the hardware.

Here’s what Apple says about the update:

The 10.6.4 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It includes Safari 5 and general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

You can read more at Apple.com

Mac OS X 10.6.2 has been released, for most Mac users this is great news because it fixes over 40 problems and bugs, including the rare but very problematic user account deletion bug. If you have an official Apple Mac then go right ahead and update to Mac OS X 10.6.2, but if you have a Hackintosh Mac Netbook… well you will want to hold off. It has been confirmed that the final release of 10.6.2 kills Intel Atom support officially. Hackintosh Guru StellaRolla reports:

The netbook forums are now blowing up with problems of 10.6.2 instant rebooting their Atom based netbooks.

A quick glance at the Hackintosh forums on MyDellMini.com confirms this:

So, I can tell you 10.6.2 DOES NOT WORK with the Mini10v.

OSX tries to start, but it hangs before you can see the apple and system ist trying to boot again … you are in a loop…

StellaRola goes on to note that the OSx86 community is pretty crafty and a modded kernel will likely surface in the near future. In any event, if you have a Hackintosh, hold off on the official 10.6.2 until more information is available.

You can read more about the Mac OS X 10.6.2 Update from Apple.com

[ Sources: Gizmodo: 10.6.2 bug fixes and StellaRola: Official: Atom Not Supported in 10.6.2 and MyDellMini.com Forums ]

AT&T iPhone users of 2009 can now officially join the cellular world of 2002, with the ability to finally send and receive MMS messages. You have to upgrade to iPhone 3.1 and download a new carrier file to enable MMS on your AT&T iPhone. After reading so many negative reviews about the iPhone 3.1 update, I am holding out on this ancient technological ‘upgrade’ from AT&T until Apple sorts out the 3.1 bugs, I waited 7 years I think I can wait a few more weeks/months. If you already have 3.1 installed, or you don’t mind installing 3.1 with the risks, then plug in your iPhone and open iTunes to get MMS capabilities. You can read more from Apple here:

Apple.com: Enabling MMS on iPhone 3.1 for AT&T customers

Welcome to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard! This was my first experience since installing the 10.5 upgrade, let’s hope that was a fluke. I’m super excited for Leopard! – Paul H.

Mac OS X 10.4.10 update has been released today, covering a series of security and bug fixes, adding a few additional features, and including some other improvements. Nothing too amazing is in the update in terms of features (especially when compared to what we’ll see in Leopard), but it is still worth downloading, so be sure to get it.

Apple: About the Mac OS X 10.4.10 Update

Apple has delayed the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard several months from it’s originally scheduled date of June 2007 to October 2007. The statement released by Apple says that the iPhone has distracted the operating system development team, and that the original deadline is no longer obtainable. Rumors are already circulating in the Mac web with some suggesting that Apple has delayed the release to include new features that have yet to be announced. We’re disappointed by the delay, but excited for whatever Apple is working on. Read the press release from Apple below:

The following statement appeared on Apple’s Hot News page today:

Apple Statement

iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price — we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones. [Apr 12, 2007]

Source: Apple Hot News

Looks like we’ve gotten one step closer to Leopard with the release of Mac OS X 10.4.9 today. Plenty of updates, fixes, some new features, and performance tweaks are included. While it’s unlikely there will be any problems with the update, some prudent users often wait a day after a release to insure a trouble free update, figuring that if there should be any trouble it will exposed by the second day. Whether you install it today, tomorrow, or next week, it’ll be waiting for you in Software Update. Read on for more info directly from Apple:

What’s included?

The following improvements apply to both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs unless otherwise noted:

.Mac

• Improves automatic iDisk syncing for customers whose .Mac username contains a period (.).
• Improves overall .Mac Sync performance.
• Addresses an issue with automatic and periodic syncing as set in the .Mac System Preferences panel.
• Reduces .Mac Sync timeouts when syncing large data sets.
• Prevents large amounts of Address Book data from being changed without authorization.
• Addresses an issue which could result in properly unregistering a computer.
• Addresses issues related to syncing a large number of changes to .Mac
• Prevents third-party syncing applications from presenting an extraneous initial sync alert.

Bluetooth

• Addresses a wake-from-sleep issue for Kensington PilotMouse Mini Bluetooth devices when used with a MacBook.
• Resolves issues in which Bluetooth-based devices might not respond after sleep on some computers.

iChat, iCal, and iSync

• Resolves an issue in which iCal reminders may appear off to the side of the screen.
• Resolves an issues in which some events added to particular dates may not display correctly.
• Event notes are now synced between iCal and Nokia N70 phones.
• Adds iSync support for more devices.
• Includes iChat support for USB Video Class webcams.

Networking and modem

• Addresses a permissions issue when copying a file with extended attributes from an AFP share of an Xsan volume, via the Finder.
• Resolves an issue when using kerberos authentication with Active Directory if the user is a member of many groups.
• Resolves performance issues with Intel-based iMacs that could occur when determining high-speed network switches.
• Improves reliability when faxing in France or Belgium via an external Apple USB Modem.
• Adds support for WPA2 encryption in Network Diagnostics.
• Addresses an issue with automatic AirPort connections that use different authentication methods.
• Addresses an issue in which Network Preferences may unexpectedly quit after disconnecting a network-aware USB device while Network Preferences is open.
• Addresses an issue with iMac’s maintaining manual duplex settings.
• Internal Apple modem drivers now offer the same robustness as external Apple modem drivers.
• External USB modems now report DLE-d for busy tone detection.
• Adds modem support for Russia.
• Fax receiving now works when the country code is set to France.
• Resolves an issue with dialing a modem in pulse mode to an ISP.
  
• Resolves an issue in the Open dialog when browsing AFP volumes within applications using Rosetta.
• Resolves a printing issue that could occur with applications using Rosetta, while logged in as Active Directory User that has an SMB home directory.

Printing

• Resolves a printing issue with applications using Rosetta while logged in as an Active Directory User with SMB home directory.
• Resolves an issue in which temporary files might use excessive disk space when printing to some third-party printers.

Aperture

For information on the benefits this update includes for Aperture, see this article.

Third-party

• Resolves issues for these third-party applications that use Rosetta: LEGO StarWars, Adobe InDesign, H&R Block TaxCut, Big Business’ Big Business 5.1.0.
• Resolves an issue in which Adobe Arno Pro Italics fonts might not install in Font Book.
• Resolves an issue for Microsoft Word in which OpenType Fonts may not display correctly; this update also addresses OpenType font issues using Word 2004.

 Other

• Improves the reliability of OpenGL-accelerated graphics in Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.
• Improves the reliability of OpenGL-based applications on Mac Pro computer with Nvidia graphics cards.
• Includes updated security certificates.
• Includes the Daylight Savings Time Update (released February 15, 2007) which contains the latest worldwide time zone and Daylight Saving Time (DST) rules as of January 8, 2007.
• Resolves a toggling issue when zooming using the Command-Alt-8 key combination (Universal Access).
• Resolves an issue in which some USB printers may stop printing in Classic.
• Addresses an issue in Classic in which an iMac G5′s built-in iSight camera might stop responding.
• Improves validation of disk images.
• Includes improved support for USB devices in Classic.
• Improves support for files with ".ac3", ".m2v", and ".m4v" filename extensions.
• Improves performance when transferring from a P2 USB reader in the Finder.
• Resolves an issue in which DVD player might not play a track that’s longer than 3 hours.
• Addresses a display issue that could occur in X11.app running in 256-color mode on an Intel-based Mac.
• Addresses EAP-FAST in PAC mode issue in a TLS session.
• Addresses an issue in which incorrect encoding could be used for the files created by the “New Text File” Automator action on Intel-based Macs.
• Includes recent Apple security updates.

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n304821.
For detailed information on Security Updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

Source: Apple: About the Mac OS X 10.4.9 update

To all the US Mac users out there, this is just a reminder that Daylight Savings time is coming early this year, so be sure to install the update from Apple to have your clocks working properly. While some news networks are predicting a mini-Y2K and all sorts of chaos, the worst that could really happen on your personal Mac is the time will be inaccurate. The Daylight Savings update has been available for a while now via Software Update, so if you haven’t installed it yet, now is the time. For earlier versions of OS X and for more information in general, check out this Ars Technica article:

A comprehensive Daylight Savings guide for your Mac

According to this Security update, eight dangerous security flaws have been discovered and squashed inside Apple’s QuickTime product. Some of these “holes’ in QuickTime can give a hacker full control of your computer. According to Apple, the problems lie in the way QuickTime handles MOV, MIDI, 3GP, PICT and QTIF files. Security is the number one topic these days when it comes to operating systems and its refreshing to see Apple “on top” of these potentially disastrous bugs. Be sure to run the Software Update utility!

Time to visit the Apple menu and fire up Software Update. Apple has released a new Security Update, recommended for all Mac users. Owners of the eMac, iBook, iMac, PowerBook G3, PowerBook G4, and Power Mac G4 affected by the airport vulnerability should pay extra attention to this update. It fixes the Airport driver exploit, which potentially allowed the execution of unwanted code. This update also improves the security of: AirPort, ATS, CFNetwork, Finder, Font Book, Font Importer, Installer, OpenSSL, PHP, PPP, Samba, Security Framework, VPN, WebKit, gnuzip, perl

For more details on the update and its changes, read: Apple: Security update 2006-007