thursday 20 december 2007
Dear All -
As always, a warm welcome to new readers of this newsletter, going out around the globe - most of you are clients - thank you. Let me know if you want to be deleted from the mailing list, let me know if you change email address - each mailing comes back with a few "Not at this address anymore." notes.
As I always point out - this email goes out to you all - to some of you it will seem all "old news", to some of you it will "over my head, dear boy", some of it will be of interest to some of you. Call me if you'd like more information about any of the items here.
Apple Store purchases. Rod Gorgia is our man at Apple - call him on 0800 03 999 01 extn 88094 for your Apple (and other) purchases with discount.
There are two main sections in this overdue newsletter.
Here's the Apple stuff:
OS X 10.5
Leopard, OS X 10.5, has now been out for 6 or 7 weeks and the feedback is mostly positive. I have tried it, and have used it on new machines - which now come with 10.5, but I haven't yet moved to it as my main operating system - mostly because of user interface issues - though the operating system has many new features, see for example: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html it also has a number of stability issues, especially with pre-existing set-ups, and a number of user-interface issues which I have yet to grow accustomed!
My advice is to upgrade to Leopard if you need the new features, or like being at the forefront. If you are running Tiger (OS X 10.4) make sure it is upto date (10.4.11) and stay there for the time being - next year, in a quite period, consider the upgrade. Similarly for Panther (OS X 10.3.9). OS X 10.2.8 is looking long in the tooth, but if it works for you, stay there. Note however that programs such as iTunes (necessary for iPods and iPhone), and upto date web browsers like Safari need a minimum of 10.3.x or, increasingly, 10.4.x.
There have been a couple of MAJOR problems with OS X 10.5:
Firstly - early versions could loose whole directories of files during a copy operation:
When moving a folder of files to another device, Leopard (OS X 10.5), can delete the ORIGINAL folder if the DESTINATION device disappears during the move operation. This can quite often happen when the destination is a networked device and the network link gets interrupted.
(Unlike a directory copy action across drives, which duplicates a directory from one volume to the other and leaves the original intact, a directory move action across drives is intended to duplicate the original directory from the source drive to the destination drive, then delete the original from the source drive when the move to the destination drive is complete.
It appears that Leopard's Finder (as well as Finder versions dating back to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther) fails to check the integrity of the directory copied to the destination drive before deleting the source directory from the source drive. Therefor, if a directory move is interrupted partially through the move process, the Finder assumes the move was successful and deletes the original directory from the source drive, leaving a directory with only partial file contents on the destination drive.
The bug occurs regardless of the type of destination drive -- be it a local USB drive, local Firewire drive, or SMB volume.)
Secondly there were (even more) problems with Airport (WiFi) connections - again, mostly fixed since 10.5.1
Apple Updates:
Apple recently posted iMac Software Update v1.3 for Leopard (21.6MB) and v1.2 for Tiger (13.3MB). The fix applies exclusively to 2.0GHz, 2.4GHz, and 2.8GHz aluminum iMacs and is officially said only to apply "important issue fixes" for the affected systems. Previous updates for the new iMacs have primarily focused on video drivers relating to random video freezing that Apple had promised it would fix in an impending update. The company also posted MacBook Pro Software Update 1.2 update, which it says improves graphics stability and is recommended for all MacBook Pro (Mid 2007, 2.4/2.2GHz) computers running Mac OS 10.4 Tiger. It is a 14.4MB download.
iTunes 7.5, QuickTime 7.3 - both mostly to do with iPhone support. QuickTime 7.3.1 has been issued, but CAREFUL - some are reporting problems with it.
Security update 2007-009 - available for 10.5 and 10.4
Apple has released MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1, which it says addresses a responsiveness issue on MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers. According to Apple's documentation, "some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems may occasionally experience a temporary suspension of keyboard input which can last a minute or longer. The Mac OS X 10.5.1 update is required before installing the MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1.
OS X 10.5.1 and OS X 10.4.11 have been posted. 10.5.2 is in development and has been seeded to developers.
Problems with 24" iMac
A number of you have bought 24" iMac computers which have exhibited uneven screen backlighting - much darker on the right hand side. There appears to have been a batch that were manufactured with this error. Apple have not yet publically admitted a problem, but there is plenty of evidence of the problem on discussion sites. The machines I saw all came from John Lewis in Norwich, Norfolk, UK, but they are not limited to that stockist. The machine that I delivered today was free of this defect.
Other News and Updates:
Quark - 7.3 looks good for Leopard
02 nov 07: Quark has announced that early tests reveal compatibility for QuarkXPress 7.3 with Leopard. There is one exception, however: the Flash export in Quark Interactive Designer. Quark spokesperson Sarah Rector told MacNN "We chose to focus on optimizing the latest version of QuarkXPress because it offers our customers the greatest value, features and benefits. We plan on releasing a QuarkXPress 7 update with fully tested Leopard support within the next few weeks." Quark says the new release will be a free update for existing QuarkXPress 7 users and will be available to download from the Quark Web site. Of important note is that QuarkXPress 6.5 is not compatible with Leopard.
FileMaker Pro - version 9
02 nov 07: FileMaker today released FileMaker Pro 9.0v2 and FileMaker Pro 9.0v2 Advanced, enhancing its database software with improved support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The update no longer crashes when creating files if hte file system language and region do not match, and returns the correct version on Mac OS X operating systems ending with double digit revision numbers like 10.4.10. The database consistency check initiated on launch will no longer incorrectly report that a database is damaged for some databases that users can open and use without any problems, and the update addresses issues that caused the application to crash when a page range was specified when printing. FileMaker Pro 9.0v2 and FileMaker Pro 9.0v2 Advanced are available as downloadable updates to registered users of version 9.0.
FileMaker Pro - version 8
FileMaker on 18 dec 07 released a downloadable update to fix important compatibility issues in FileMaker Pro 8.5 and FileMaker Pro 8.5 Advanced running on Mac OS X Leopard, but stopped short of offering complete compatibility with the new operating system. The v2 update fixes issues that caused FileMaker Pro 8.5 to hang when the system language and region did not match, and when saving to or exporting to Microsoft Excel format. The Apple subsidiary, however, noted that the Instant Web Publishing (IWP) feature does not work in FileMaker Pro 8.5v2 or FileMaker Pro 8.5v2 Advanced running on Mac OS X Leopard: "The IWP feature in FileMaker Pro 8.5 was designed and implemented long before Leopard, and it is not feasible to update it for Leopard," the company said in its documentation.
Sibelius
Now at version 5.1
AOL
America Online (AOL) recently released AOL Desktop for Mac (beta 4) to AOL Beta Central. Mail receives the most improvement in the latest beta release, according to the company, and the application works with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as well as the WebKit update released with Apple's Safari 3.0 Web browser. The software is available for free via AOL Beta Central.
A couple of warnings:
WARNING 1 - for laptop users only (I have seen this in at least one client machine)Keep your back-ups up to date.
UK data recovery firm Retrodata warns that a batch of Seagate drives used in some MacBooks seems to suffer from a manufacturing defect, according to InformationWeek. Retrodata says that the problem is confined to Seagate 2.5 inch SATA drives revision 7.0.1 from China. You can find out if you have one of those by selecting "About This Mac" from the menu, then clicking on "More Info...," and selecting "Serial-ATA."
Read/write heads can become detached from the drive and subsequently scratch the surface of the disk if the computer isn't immediately turned off. The scratching then renders data recovery largely impossible. Apple has acknowledged the problem by saying that it has "received a few reports" and is "looking into it." Retrodata feels the problem is severe enough that a recall is warranted and that Apple should replace the affected drives. In the mean time, the company recommends that users of these drives back up all their data and have the drive replaced themselves.
Note, however, that having a firm like Retrodata recover data from a dead hard drive can be an expensive proposition—most people will probably prefer to replace the drive and restore their data from a backup. In that case, there's no difference between a drive that suffers from a routine (electronic or mechanical) failure where data recovery would be possible and the "deep scratches" caused by a head becoming detached. Therefore, replacing the drive as a precautionary measure is probably not warranted if you make regular backups.
WARNING 2 - issued as a service - you'd have to be stupid, or at least unwise, to let it affect you
There is a new security threat on the horizon. The culprit is a new OS X-specific Trojan horse that has started popping up on a few sites and has already affected one user.
OS X AV vendor Intego warns about what they labeled OSX.RSPlug.A, which is also known as DNSchanger or Ultracodec/Zlob in its Windows incarnation. The Trojan horse is delivered to the user on seedy sites under the pretense of being a QuickTime video codec needed in order to view adult content. Once the disk image containing the Trojan has been downloaded, and the installer application is run, it will ask for the user’s administrator password in order to be able to install itself. The end result has nothing to do with video codecs, and everything to do with rogue DNS settings and a cron job that will constantly reapply these settings. To complicate things a little further, under Tiger, the malicious DNS entries are not visible in the Network system preference pane.
Since Domain Name Servers (DNS) are used to direct your browser to the appropriate network address when you type in a domain name such as ‘www.softpedia.com’ the rogue server that the Trojan points the computer to could redirect the user towards any site whatsoever. Common uses for this include spyware/malware sites, which would have no effect on Macs; pay-per-click search engines, which could be very frustrating but no more; other pornography sites, which could be very unpleasant depending on the circumstances; and last but not least fake versions of popular sites such as PayPal, eBay or banks, which would look identical to the real ones but send any and all information you enter into them to a third party.
Like all Trojans, this one relies on user cooperation in order to be able to do anything, so there is no hard way to prevent being infected. Of course, one could avoid downloading dubious software from unknown people on seedy sites off the back end of the Internet. If that can’t be avoided, one should at least be wary of programs that ask for you administrator password, especially when they come from unknown sources.
Microsoft Office
Currently at version 2004, but version 2008 is expected early in the new year. Discounts are available on the old stock, and the update to the new version will be £17, so it might be worth buying this "standard" now. There will be a "Home & Student" version in 2008 which will mean a lower price for non-commercial users.
Best wishes to you all, and thanks for being Mac users
hugh
As always, previous newsletters can be found at http://www.themacdoc.co.uk/pastemails.html where this one will be posted in a while