
How many?!
What do you mean, "four dozen"?!!!!!
Apple has released an update to Mac OS 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, that aims to fix issues with QuickTime X, OpenGL, Windows compatibility, printer and USB-device problems and more. The update, version 10.6.3, is now available through Software Update, or can be downloaded here. A full listing of the 48 updates and bug-fixes in 10 …
Mac OS updates usually contain bug fixes and compatability improvements as well as security improvements and Java script updates to keep that particular version compliant with the net.
The big ones e.g. 10.3.0 (panther), 10.4.0 (tiger), 10.5.0 (leopard) and 10.6.0 (snow leopard) are paid for as major new versions of the OS at £30-80 a time. Any minor OS update inbetween is free and only changes the last number in the system identity: 10.6.0 to 10.6.1 is free, as is 10.6.1 to 10.6.2 and so on till 10.7.0 is eventually released. It's always remarked on when Apple, one of the greedier Tech companies, does something for nothing. It's been doing this particular free thing for the last 22 years or so.
Microsoft behave just the same way with versions of Windows, you pay for the major updates, 95 to 98, 98 to ME, ME to XP, XP to Vista, Vista to 7, but the Service Packs are free inbetween. The only difference being that 7 seems to finally be worth actually paying for. Pretty remarkable in itself.
Anything that does not majorly affect the running of the OS and generally only enhances security by preventing malware is referred to as a Security Patch and not a Service Pack. Yeah they are all free too
Windows has a hell of alot of Security Patches due to the amount of malware it attracts, being the world's most popular OS for idiots.... I mean computer users.
Why Paris? Cos she doesn't know an update from a security patch either i guess.
@Ritchie: Your comment re: Edwards completely misses his point, although it is always nice to read a basic explanation of release iteration policies.
Edwards is asking:
Windows Free Updates are referred to as "Security Patches" regardless of whether "security" issues are being addressed.
Apple Free Updates are referred to as "Free Updates" regardless of whether "security" issues are being addressed.
Edwards wonders: Why don't we call Microsoft patch releases "Free Updates", too?
The answer is that Microsoft calls their patches "Security Patches" because Windows users are concerned about security, seeing as it is a critical issue with Windows systems that has been traditionally damaging to the user simply by them purchasing and using the products. Calling the patches "Security Patches" provides some comfort for the Windows user, as they imagine such an update could make their system more secure once installed.
Apple calls their patches "Free Updates" because Apple users are concerned about money, seeing as it is a critical issue with Apple systems that has been traditionally damaging to the user simply by them purchasing and using the products. Calling the patches "Free Updates" provides some comfort for the Apple user, as they imagine such an update could really be without cost to them ... as in "free beer" ... which is a CRAZY idea in the Apple world, and so is extremely compelling to the Apple user, who can't wait to take advantage of what must surely be an aberrant moment in time when Apple lost its ever-lovin' marbles and gave something away for free.
Simple.
@James Butler: I suspect only the original poster can confirm exactly what he meant, but your conception is as equally valid as mine.
I would say that Mac users are not so concerned about the price of their tech. If they were, they would baulk at the premium cost of Apple's hardware and by a PC.
Likewise if Windows users were truly concerned by security they would buy a Mac, especially as they can run Windows on it as well with an extra option for a less used and less targetted platform along side it.
It isn't Apple that refers to the updates as "Free" that is the media's handle, but I agree with your point of semantics on the Securty Patches, in a paranoid world M$ know how to jerk folks chains.
The concept of Apple giving away stuff started with OS 7 in the early 80's when they gave out free upgrade tokens in the OS box and continued through out the 80's and 90's with OS updates released for free to MacFormat and other magazines for inclusion on their cover discs. This was replaced by online downloads in the latter half of the 90's with the advent of broadband.
So, to date the "free beer" has flowed from Cupertino for a very long time indeed.
Paris again? She likes a drink on the house as much as the next man/woman/insert mammal of choice here.
Apologies if you've tried this already, but having just upgraded to Snow Leopard from Leopard I was somewhat taken aback to find all of the Security prefs greyed out. Turns out that they are locked by default in SL: you have to click the padlock at bottom left and enter your password to change them (click the padlock again after you've finished to lock them). Actually, it's a good idea: means any security changes need a password. Just confusing if you're not expecting it: it took me a few secs to notice the locked padlock icon.
Workers at an Apple Store in Towson, Maryland have voted to form a union, making them the first of the iGiant's retail staff to do so in the United States.
Out of 110 eligible voters, 65 employees voted in support of unionization versus 33 who voted against it. The organizing committee, known as the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE), has now filed to certify the results with America's National Labor Relations Board. Members joining this first-ever US Apple Store union will be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
"I applaud the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for achieving this historic victory," IAM's international president Robert Martinez Jr said in a statement on Saturday. "They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election."
Another day, another legal claim against Apple for deliberately throttling the performance of its iPhones to save battery power.
This latest case was brought by Justin Gutmann, who has asked the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to approve a collective action that could allow as many as 25 million Brits to claim compensation from the American technology giant. He claims the iGiant secretly degraded their smartphones' performance to make the battery power last longer.
Apple may therefore have to cough up an eye-popping £768 million ($927 million), Gutmann's lawyers estimated, Bloomberg first reported this week.
Apple has introduced a game-changer into its upcoming iOS 16 for those who hate CAPTCHAs, in the form of a feature called Automatic Verification.
The feature does exactly what its name alludes to: automatically verifies devices and Apple ID accounts without any action from the user. When iOS 16 ships later this year, it will eliminate the frustrating requirement to select all the stops signs in a photo or decipher a string of characters.
The news was mentioned at Apple's 33rd annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) along with the usual slew of features designed to enhance the functionality of iPhones.
Not many people are talking about Apple's recent WWDC from an enterprise standpoint. But identity and machine management tool maker JumpCloud says a "shim" to connect "the login to the device through to the Safari browser" is a notable development.
JumpCloud provides identity services, which is why chief strategy officer Greg Keller zeroed in on the feature, which his company details further in its latest IT trends report.
The result, said Keller, was "an even more powerful login experience into these devices."
Analysis For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Apple's move to homegrown silicon for Macs, the tech giant has admitted that the new M2 chip isn't quite the slam dunk that its predecessor was when compared to the latest from Apple's former CPU supplier, Intel.
During its WWDC 2022 keynote Monday, Apple focused its high-level sales pitch for the M2 on claims that the chip is much more power efficient than Intel's latest laptop CPUs. But while doing so, the iPhone maker admitted that Intel has it beat, at least for now, when it comes to CPU performance.
Apple laid this out clearly during the presentation when Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, said the M2's eight-core CPU will provide 87 percent of the peak performance of Intel's 12-core Core i7-1260P while using just a quarter of the rival chip's power.
A security flaw in Apple's Safari web browser that was patched nine years ago was exploited in the wild again some months ago – a perfect example of a "zombie" vulnerability.
That's a bug that's been patched, but for whatever reason can be abused all over again on up-to-date systems and devices – or a bug closely related to a patched one.
In a write-up this month, Maddie Stone, a top researcher on Google's Project Zero team, shared details of a Safari vulnerability that folks realized in January this year was being exploited in the wild. This remote-code-execution flaw could be abused by a specially crafted website, for example, to run spyware on someone's device when viewed in their browser.
Democrat lawmakers want the FTC to investigate Apple and Google's online ad trackers, which they say amount to unfair and deceptive business practices and pose a privacy and security risk to people using the tech giants' mobile devices.
US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and House Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) requested on Friday that the watchdog launch a probe into Apple and Google, hours before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, clearing the way for individual states to ban access to abortions.
In the days leading up to the court's action, some of these same lawmakers had also introduced data privacy bills, including a proposal that would make it illegal for data brokers to sell sensitive location and health information of individuals' medical treatment.
A woman in the US has been charged with murder after she allegedly tracked down her boyfriend using an Apple AirTag and ran him over after seeing him with another lady.
Gaylyn Morris, 26, found her partner Andre Smith, also 26, at Tilly’s Pub in an Indianapolis shopping mall with the help of the gadget in the early hours of June 3, it is claimed.
A witness said Morris had driven up to him in the parking lot and inquired whether Smith was in the bar, stating she had a GPS tracker that showed he was inside, according to an affidavit [PDF] by Detective Gregory Shue. Morris, the witness said, subsequently spotted Smith within the establishment.
The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday said it intends to launch an investigation of Apple's and Google's market power with respect to mobile browsers and cloud gaming, and to take enforcement action against Google for its app store payment practices.
"When it comes to how people use mobile phones, Apple and Google hold all the cards," said Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, in a statement. "As good as many of their services and products are, their strong grip on mobile ecosystems allows them to shut out competitors, holding back the British tech sector and limiting choice."
The decision to open a formal investigation follows the CMA's year-long study of the mobile ecosystem. The competition watchdog's findings have been published in a report that concludes Apple and Google have a duopoly that limits competition.
Apple's Intelligent Tracking Protection (ITP) in Safari has implemented privacy through forgetfulness, and the result is that users of Twitter may have to remind Safari of their preferences.
Apple's privacy technology has been designed to block third-party cookies in its Safari browser. But according to software developer Jeff Johnson, it keeps such a tight lid on browser-based storage that if the user hasn't visited Twitter for a week, ITP will delete user set preferences.
So instead of seeing "Latest Tweets" – a chronological timeline – Safari users returning to Twitter after seven days can expect to see Twitter's algorithmically curated tweets under its "Home" setting.
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