What's New - Nov 20, 2002

By: Mikio Moriyasu - Revised: 2006-07-05 devin

Download Slides – PDF-File, 7.2 MB

Introduction

What's new for the Mac in the previous month:
  • General issues, workarounds and fixes
  • New Software and hardware
  • Software and hardware updates/patches


New Apple Software

Carbon Sound Manager 6.0.2 is an update to the component for managing sound in Classic, and is currently only available through Apple's Software Update feature.

CHUD Tools 2.5.1 stands for Computer Hardware Understanding Development, and is a set of tools for developers. The latest release fixes a kernel panic on G3 machines when sampling

DVD Studio Pro 1.5.2 is a professional DVD authoring tool. The new version addresses issues with setting dual layer break points on DVD-9 projects and flagging of Dolby Digital 5.1 streams.

Final Cut Pro 3.0.4 is a video editing, compositing, special effects tool. The new release addresses performance and reliability issues in Final Cut Pro 3.

IP over FireWire PR3 allows for TCP/IP connections via FireWire. With this software, Macs can use existing IP protocols and services over FireWire, including AFP, HTTP, FTP, SSH, etc. In all cases, Rendezvous can be used if desired for configuration, name resolution, and discovery.

Security Update 2002-11-21 fixes potential vulnerabilities introduced in BIND, the domain server and client library software package from Internet Software Consortium (ISC), that is shipped with Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.

New Third Party Software

(Updates are assumed to be for Mac OS X, not much is being updated for Mac OS 9 nowadays...)

Adobe Premiere Mac Capture Update fixes a slow refresh problem.

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 4.5.947 is a chat client. The new release has logging/Encrypted Logging, and Folder Preferences.

BBEdit 7.0.1 is an HTML and text editing tool. In the new version, shift has been added to the required modifiers for the values in the scheme popup in the Anchor dialog to avoid conflicting with system wide keystrokes on Mac OS X.

ChimerIcon 0.6.2 is a visual theme editor for Chimera browser user interface. The new release updates Chimera's new default icons and adds support for Global Extras installation.

ChimeraKnight 1.8 is an automatic download tool for Chimera nightly builds. The latest release adds support for Global Extras resource installation.

Chimera Localization 0.6.2 adds French, Italian and Japanese localizations to Chimera.

Default Folder X 1.6.4 enhances open/save dialog boxes for ease of use. The new release adds a convenient menu to the Dock for quick access to folders, includes the ability to exclude Default Folder X from certain applications.

DMG Tool 3.0.1 quickly creates compressed disk images. The new version fixes user canceled error messages.

Eudora vCard Export 1.2.3 is a tool to convert Eudora nicknames to vCards. The new release fixes a problem where some characters (e.g., accented letters) of a contact's name would not show up when the resulting vCards were transferred to an iPod.

Fetch 4.0.3 is an FTP client. This version includes dozens of bug fixes in such areas as Jaguar compatibility, AppleScript support, Kerberos, and working through SOCKS gateways.

File Buddy 7.2.5 is an extensive desktop and file/folder editing and task tool. The latest release fixes an extremely rare condition in which a serial number for non-English versions may not be recognized.

FileMaker Pro 6.0v4 is a database application. In the new release, HTTP requests sent during an XML import can include passwords or other sensitive data.

FWB SMART Toolkit 1.2 helps protect data from drive failures. The new release adds an option to allow sending of email messages in plain text.

gimp-print 4.2.4 is a set of open-source printer drivers for HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark devices. The latest release fixes a problem where all PCL laser printers (including HP LaserJet and many other printer lines) printed too light (black came out as medium gray).

gimp-print 4.2.5-pre1 is a set of printer drivers for HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark. In the latest release, the Epson Stylus Photo 950/960/PM-950C and 2100/2200 are now tuned.

HTML-Optimizer Pro X 2.1 checks and optimizes Web pages. The latest release has improved Smart Handling which is now date+time sensitive.

Iomega NAS update is for network attached storage units. The new release includes an updated OS Patch and Discovery Admin Tool available for NAS P400m 160GB, P405m 320GB, P410m 480GB configurations.

Interarchy 6.0.1 is a file transfer, server/network info tool (was Anarchie). The new version handles creating ftp disks and sftp disks on non startup disks.

InterMapper X 3.7.1b1 monitors servers, networks and AirPort networks. Its on-screen maps can be printed to document the network configuration.

LapCop 1.0 sends a stealth email if your Mac is stolen.

MacAnalysis X 2.2.6 is an advanced network security auditing tool. The new version adds the latest exploits, vulnerabilities.

Macaroni 1.3 is an automated OS X system maintenance. The new release now automatically runs the Mac OS X "repair privileges" utility for you.

Macromedia Flash player 6.0r67 is a browser plugin to view Flash media.

MkLinux Floppy Driver 0.96j is a diver for built in floppy drives. The new release may improve support for some faster machines, and includes improved performance.

Mozilla 1.3a is Mozilla.org's next generation Web browser. In the latest release, Mozilla Mail now has basic junk-mail classification capabilities.

Now Up-to-Date and Contact X 4.2.6 is a PIM to organize schedule and contacts. The new release has improved compatibility with Now Up-to-Date for Windows 4.5 so that files created with that version will be able to be recognized by Now Up-to-Date & Contact 4.2.6.

Opera 6.0b3 is a lightweight Web browser. The latest release enables drag and drop of URLs and bookmarks to the personal bar, and adds drag and drop of URLs and images.

PDF Browser Plugin 0.3.2 displays PDF documents in web browsers.

Personal Serial Database X 1.6 is a tool to archive serial numbers, URLs, passwords. The new version support for multiple serial numbers and authorization codes per application version.

PGP 8.0 is the final release of a disk and mail encryption scheme that provides invisible security. The new release has full support for Mac OS X 10.2, and PGP Disk interoperability with PGP Disks created by all prior PGP Disk products for Mac OS, as well as with PGP Disks created with PGP Disk for Windows 7.0 and later

PStill 2.4.1 converts EPS/PS and other PostScript to PDF. In the new release embedded EPS works even if its Level 3

RB Source Code Printer 1.0 is a new development utility that generates hard-copy printouts of your REALbasic projects. It automatically generates a complete Table of Contents, listing every form, window, and class in your project, as well as an alphabetized Index listing every Sub and Function in your project.

RealOne Player 9.0 is a player for Real multimedia net streams. The new release features a new feature called TurboPlay.

RsyncXCD 1.0d is a tool to use remotely mounted folder images for installation locally. This version is based on the v1.7d release of RsyncX.

Speed Download 1.9.3 is a download manager and accelerator. The new version is updated for better performance under 10.2.2, and has a revised connectivity mechanism.

SSH Tunnel Manager 1.0.2 is a GUI to manage SSH tunnels. The new version fixes a cosmetic bug causing the tunnels list to not follow resizes the right way.

TechTool Deluxe 3.0.2 is an update for the AppleCare Protection Plan version of the maintenance utility. The new release adds support for new Macintosh models as well as compatibility with Mac OS 10.2.x. Also contains new drive repair routines.

Tex-Edit Plus X 4.4 is a versatile text editor with many advanced features. In the latest release, spell checking has been added.

Watson 1.6.1 is a desktop interface to Web services: Weather, TV, eBay. In the latest release, a PriceGrabber tool bundled with the application.

Web Site Maestro X 2.0 is a tool to check, optimize, then upload Web pages. The new version adds an FTP menu with several functions to the menu bar.

Software Notes

FileMaker is making available the following four free Web services for FileMaker Pro 6 users in conjunction with ServiceObjects: Package Comparison; Package Tracking; Address Validation; and Email validation. They are free until September 30, 2003. Read more.

Corel is looking for graphics artists to beta test the latest release of its variable media creation tool, Painter 8. A beta application form, requiring personal and system information, is available. Read more.

Prosoft Engineering has introduced a new version of Netware for Mac OS X - IP Edition, version 1.1, which allows Mac OS X to connect to Novell IP based networks. Read more.

PC Magazine has posted a preview of Macromedia Contribute, a new HTML editor from Macromedia designed to allow "...nontechnical users to update existing Web sites easily, without fear of wreaking havoc on the design." Read more.

The ShareTheMac UsersGroup has released 3 new CDs, each containing a compilation of shareware offerings: an Applications CD, a Utilities CD, and a Fonts CD with several TrueType faces. Each CD is priced at $9. Read more.

Macromedia has announced Macromedia Director MX for Mac OS X, expected to ship in December. This is the first version of Director to appear as a Mac OS X-native application. Read more.

Sun Microsystems is building a Java-based development kit for its StarOffice software to help corporate programmers customize desktop applications. The move is intended to combat Microsoft Office scripts which are written with Visual Basic for Applications. Read more. On a related note, Sony dumps MS Office for Sun Microsystems StarOffice on most consumer desktop PCs sold in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Read more.

Adobe InDesign 2.0.2 update has been pulled without explanation from Adobe. There have been numerous permissions related issues with the update. Read more.

The new Mozilla 1.2 release continues to knock on Microsoft's dominant door, offering a "real alternative to the Internet Explorer steamroller", and performing a number of functions better than any other browser on the Macintosh platform. Read more.

The new version of RealOne Player Gold for Mac OS X lacks the capability to play QuickTime files. Read more.

Shelf copies of Final Cut Pro 3, marked with the version number 3.0.2f1, cannot be properly updated to Final Cut Pro 3.0.4. Read more.

Hardware News

Apple's Xserve Web site reports that the Xserve's companion RAID product will be delivered in early 2003, not at the end of this year as originally announced Apple has yet to offer an explanation for the delay. Read more.

There is a cheaper, bare-bones alternative to Detto Technologies' Move2Mac available. For those looking to save a few dollars. look for the following:
  • CyberGuys offers the "G-UN161 FILE TRANSFER" bi-directional USB cable for $19.95.
  • Emailchemy is a $25 shareware utility that can import mail and other data from Outlook Express 5 for UNIX, and Outlook Express 4, 5 and 6 for Windows.
At a total price of $45, the Emailchemy and bi-directional USB combination is $15 cheaper than Move2Mac. It does lack the integration and easy set-up offered by the latter, however.

867 MHz and 1 GHz Titanium PowerBook G4s cannot engage startup from older Mac OS X 10.2.x startup discs. Read more.

Retail News

Wired News reports that Apple will be opening a retail store less than two miles from Bill Gates' Medina, Washington, mansion. Read more.

According to a Dow Jones Business News, personal computers - including those from Apple - sold well on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Read more.

Wired News assess the value of Apple's brand name: "Ask marketers and advertising experts why Mac users are so loyal, and they all cite the same reason: Apple's brand..." Read more.

Some resellers have stop selling eMacs due to the large number of display problems in machines less than a month old. They cite high service costs, long repair turn-around times, defective replacement parts, overall bad product design, and damaged customer relationships by product failure rates for their decision. Read more.

One intrepid consumer discovered bargain pricing on refurbished eMacs once they come back from Apple. These machines worked without any problems. One reseller explicitly said he would not consider reselling any repaired eMacs until Apple is able to overcome monitor issues.

Titanium PowerBooks that have any add-ons from the base configuration, including additional memory, will take longer to ship. This will cause problems for customers who wish to receive their machines before the holidays. Read more.

Apple is suing a former contractor who allegedly leaked details about the Power Mac G4 MDD systems before their release. Read more.

Apple officials indicate that Mac OS 9, which Steve Jobs previously presented in a coffin to the the WWDC audience, will still be around for a bit longer. The move is to accommodate"...a minority of our pro customers still running Mac OS 9 applications such as QuarkXPress." Apple will continue to offer a 1.25GHz dual-processor Power Mac that will boot into Mac OS 9 until June 2003. Read more.

Issues

Dantz reports that for some reason Retrospect Express is able to properly recognize and perform backups using the EZQuest Boa 12x10x32 CD-RW drive, but not the Club Mac 12x10x32 CD-RW drive although the exact same drive mechanism (CD-W512EB) is used in both models. Read more.

There are several reports that Mac ICA client crashes Citrix servers. The problem occurs when Mac has both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.x installed and runs the ICA client under OS 9, the ICA client app will crash when attempting to display the contents of the client's local hard drive. Read more.

A recently release Apple Knowledge Base article #107277 discusses a Mac OS 9.2.2. compatibility issue between Quark Xpress 4 and the ATI Radeon 7500 video card. The system stops responding when a picture is dragged using the content tool. Read more.

Apple has an attachment size restriction for .Mac e-mail accounts to 3 MB. Some users find this quite restrictive and purchasing more e-mail storage (not iDisk storage) does not rectify this problem. Read more.

A growing number of users are beginning to report problems stemming from a bad power supply in the Power Macintosh G4 Mirrored Drive Door models. Power supplies manufactured by AcBel are the only ones being affected. AcBel has acknowledged the problem and claims to be working with Apple on how to fix it. Read more.

Apple has posted a firmware update that takes care of the excessive fan noise produced by Apple's Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door models. The Power Mac G4 Firmware Update 4.4.8 improves fan control behavior and reduces high speed fan cycling when running in Mac OS 9. Read more.

A large group of users are reporting that the CD-RW drives included with some of the newly shipping 2002 iBook models are not capable of burning discs at full speed. Apparently, it is all a matter of when and how you insert the disc. Read more.

eMac display problems are getting worse. There is now a report of a problem dubbed "raster shift" in which the bottom third or half of the screen goes black while the rest of image shifts upward and out of the top boundary of the display. Serious static also accompanies the problem, rendering the viewable part of the screen virtually useless. One reseller indicated that around 50% of the machines he sold were back for display repairs. Read more.

Mac OS X in Brief

MacFixit has reported that Amazon.com has refused to honor its $50 Mac OS X 10.2 rebate coupon, despite a statement that the rebate was valid from July 29th through September 3rd. Read more. Persistence may be the key, however. Some individuals who have continually contacting the company's customer service department and gradually escalating the issue has resulted in receipt of a rebate or a promise of actual checks. Read more.

An anonymous Tenon Engineer has posted his thoughts on Jaguar at MacFixit. In general, he acknowledges that Mac OS X offers Macintosh users greater flexibility, stability, and multitasking ability than previous versions of Mac OS but that it has a ways to go in a number of areas relevant both to a Unix and server environment. Read more.

Mac OS X 10.2.2 has consistently displayed an inability to properly mount removable file systems on some system configurations. The only successful workaround is to downgrade back to Mac OS X 10.2.1 though some readers have reported fixing the issue with a fresh install of Mac OS X 10.2 followed by the Mac OS X. Read more.

Apple finally admits that there is a problem with iPhoto 1.1.1 under various system configurations and is working on a patch. Read more.

MacFixIt has made available a the Mac OS X 10.2.2 Troubleshooting Report culling bug reports and workarounds for the update. The report can be viewed here at: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20021209074507118

Reuters, quoting a senior Adobe engineer, reports that OS X, disables some of Adobe's copyright prevention functions. Read more.

Users experiencing Palm synchronization failures under Mac OS X 10.2.2 can synchronize with an add-on IrDA unit (such as the one produced by Higoto) with generally positive results. Read more.

Due to an update to the DNS lookup system in Mac OS X 10.2.2, a number of users have problems resolving URLs (The specified server could not be found) and sending email messages (Error involving Domain Name System). There are three possible workarounds:
  • Use of the 'host' command in Terminal - Type 'host -a " (e.g. 'host -a www.macfixit.com').
  • Use your Network System Preference pane to toggle to an alternate setup, and back again, and hit Apply.
  • In terminal, issue this command (and enter password when prompted): sudo kill -1 `cat /var/run/lookupd.pid`.
Read more.

General News

Steve Dagley of Netscape's Technical team denounced Microsoft's decision to make the Windows Media Player plug-in non-standard, crippling its ability to function properly in other browsers. A Microsoft spokesperson replied that "Microsoft doesn't have anything to announce at this time" regarding the release of a Windows Media plug-in that is multi-browser compatible. Read more.

CNET reports that the first many products based on the 802.11g wireless-networking standard will hit the market early next month. Read more. This in spite of the fact that no one is quite sure how businesses and consumers will handle the change. Read more.

Network Associates is the latest major firm to sway its attention toward the 802.11a wireless networking standard. The question is, will Apple jump on the bandwagon? Read more.

A NewsFactor article examines the current state of the MPEG-4 standard, and Apple's persistence in promoting the platform. Read more.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will take the stage during January's Macworld Expo in San Francisco as part of an expert panel according to a CNET report. This upcoming event will mark Wozniak's first speaking engagement at Macworld in at least 10 years." Read more.

Wired News takes a look at the security concerns raised by some new Microsoft initiatives. "...Microsoft Senior Vice President Craig Mundie recently suggested that in the name of security, it may be appropriate to force you to install Microsoft patches or updates, and if that breaks your existing applications, well, it's for your own good." Read more.

An eWeek article reports that while Microsoft may have been victorious in the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Massachusetts is not backing down quite yet. In addition, there are reports that U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz in Baltimore, suggested that Sun Microsystems Inc. go directly to trial on whether to force Microsoft Corp. to carry Sun's Java program, and seek damages. Article 1. Article 2.

Meanwhile, Wired News parallels Microsoft's dominance in the software industry with electric and railroad monopolies of decades past. Read more.

A Wired News article examining the passion of underground Mac promotion indicates that Linux and Unix users are switching to Mac OS X "in droves". Read more.

PCPro reports that Macworld Expo Tokyo, originally scheduled for March, has been cancelled. Apparently, Apple backed out from the show, prompting a number of other vendors to also jump ship. Read more.

Michael Mortilla notes the demise of the Opcode Web site, and potential repercussions for the Macintosh music production industry. Read more.

Forbes has published an interesting commentary on spam aversion tactics, including restriction of who is privy to your e-mail address. Read more.

CNET reports that technology research firm IDC is projecting a cyber terrorism event to occur in the 2003 calendar year. The attack may be "...one that will disrupt the economy and bring the Internet to its knees for at least a day or two." and "...take the form of a denial of service attack, a network intrusion or even a physical attack on key network assets." Read more.

ExtremeTech opines on the state of dual-booting operating systems, portraying the practice as going extinct. Read more.

Cool Stuff

ZDNN reports that engineers are working on the successor to "Flash" memory storage. While it will remain viable in the short term, by the end of the decade manufacturing limitations will force the industry to adopt a new technology. Read more.

Road Tools has developed a rock-solid, adjustable tilt Podium Coolpad for $29.95. The pad increases the air space under any laptop allowing for better heat dissipation. You can find your own comfort zone with the adjustable keyboard tilt feature. They also have a smaller "Traveler" Coolpad. Read more.

The New York Times has a report on Sony's new MPD-AP20U portable DVD/CD-RW/Memory Stick device. It will play and burn compact discs when it is connected to a computer, play DVD movies, MP3 and WAV music on CD, and includes a Memory Stick slot. All this for $300. Read more.

Humor

Christmas
  • Christi's Tree 1.2 - It sits on your desktop or in your dock to give your Mac that extra little bit of holiday cheer. You can add decorations like cranberry garland, red Christmas balls, and even flashing lights.
  • Aqua Christmas 1.0 - Holiday icon set featuring 15 icons.
Joy of Tech
  •  Today is a good day to die!
  •  The Day After
  •  Migration Anxiety
  •  One Geek to Rule Them All

Events

MacWorld Conference & Expo
  • The Moscone Center, 747 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415)974-4000
  • Conferences: Jan 6-10, 2003
  • Expo: Jan 7-10, 2003
  • Fee: Click here for fee and registration information.
  • Topics:
    • Click here for the conference program.
    • Click here for the conference highlights.
    • Click here for the conference feature presentations