Update NOW: OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 and Security Update 2014-001

Apple released OS X 10.9.2 and Security Update 2014-001, which includes a fix for a major SSL security flaw that first came to light on Friday, after the release of iOS 7.0.6. 

You can test if your OS has been patched by visiting https://gotofail.com.

OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 Update (Combo) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1726

Security Update 2014-001 (Mountain Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1729

Security Update 2014-001 (Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1727

Security Update 2014-001 Server (Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1728

OS X Mavericks 10.9.2: Using FaceTime Audio on a Mac

Everything We Know About The Huge Security Flaw That Affects (Nearly) All iPhones, iPads, And Apple Computers

 "A software bug called "Gotofail" currently affects every single Apple device, whether it's an iPhone, iPad, or desktop or laptop computer. If you have not updated your machine in the last few days, your Apple device is currently vulnerable.

Apple revealed that the security flaw in its iOS operating system for iPhone and iPad affects encryption. That's how data gets sent over the Internet without you having to worry about people reading your emails or stealing your credit card number when you buy something from Amazon. 
The name "Gotofail" is a reference to the "goto" computer command.

A fix recently went out to iOS customers that renders this bug a non-issue, so if you haven't updated your iPhone or iPad's software recently, be sure to do so. There's a full guide right here, but you'll want to plug your phone in as if you're charging it, open the Settings app, select "General," then "Software Update," and follow the instructions that appear.

OS X users are still waiting for a fix. Official word from Apple is that it will come "very soon."
"

Continue reading the Business Insider Story by Dylan Love

Macs dig in as standard business PCs

Enterprise backup of Macs is the latest in a string of products that show OS X is becoming part of the IT landscape By Galen Gruman

In the last year, I've witnessed a sea change in Macs' acceptance in business. To be sure, Macs have been the standard PCs for designers, layout artists, and the like since the mid-1980s, and Silicon Valley developers adopted the Mac as the preferred dev platform years ago (because it runs Unix, Linux, and Windows, too). MacBook Airs became senior execs' preferred status-symbol PCs a couple years ago as well.

But for bread-and-butter computing, it has been a Windows-only world. Those creative, dev, and exec Macs were the "other" handled outside the normal IT processes. That's changing -- fast. Gartner says IT will consider Macs to be as valid as Windows PCs next year. The tools to enable that are already coming.

Continue reading: Macs dig in as standard business PCs

Apple's Java sabotage is bad IT business

Apple's Java sabotage is bad IT business

Apple's handling of the Java vulnerability provides a textbook example of what not to do in a production environment

In case you weren't paying attention, last week Apple decided to disable all but the most recent Java browser plug-ins on just about every Macintosh everywhere, without telling anyone. The Java vulnerability that led to the decision is very real. It was coupled, though, with the assumption that its customers -- forgive me, its licensees -- lack the judgment necessary to make this decision for themselves.

To be fair, many of Apple's consumer licensees probably lack the expertise needed to make an informed decision. For many, that's why they bought Macs instead of some form of Windows PC in the first place.

But its enterprise licensees? That's a different matter altogether.

Continue Reading: Apple's Java sabotage is bad IT business

Windows 8 Beats The Mac, Appsolutely

Windows 8 Beats The Mac, Appsolutely well at least according to InformationWeek Editor At Large, Paul McDougall

"Microsoft's new operating system looks how a modern OS should--big, bold, and centered around apps. Suddenly, it's Apple's turn to catch up.

Windows 8 apps are true apps, as I would define the term: Full-screen, specialized purpose, touchable, and always connected. And they can run on PCs or tablets, and have close cousins that will run on Windows Phone 8, which also uses Modern UI. For functions not suitable for touch, Windows 8 can be used with traditional input tools. And the classic Explorer desktop can be accessed on Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise with a single click.

 OSX Mountain Lion? Despite some new fit and finish, it remains a traditional PC operating system that is a bridge too far from Apple's iOS-based mobile products. It sticks with old-style applications (window-based, general purpose, manipulated through mouse and keyboard) and the browser as the gateway to information and services." Read about it at InformationWeek

 How People React to Windows 8 by SweetLabs with Chris Pirillo

Apple Safari 5 Launch Announcement Spotted in the Wild

Apple Releases Safari 5

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today released Safari® 5, the latest version of the world’s fastest and most innovative web browser, featuring the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30 percent performance increase over Safari 4,* and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service powering Safari’s search field. Available for both Mac® and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites. With Safari 5, developers can now create secure Safari Extensions to customize and enhance the browsing experience.

“Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices.”

Safari Reader makes it easy to read single and multipage articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.* Safari 5 loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

Pricing & Availability

Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS® X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard® 10.6.2 or later. Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 5 can be found at www.apple.com/safari. The Safari Developer Program is free to join at developer.apple.com/programs/safari.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted by Apple in May 2010 on an iMac® 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Mac OS X 10.6.3, with 4GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript Performance test.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Apple Safari 5 Launch Announcement Spotted in the Wild

Apple delivers record monster security update

Apple today patched 92 vulnerabilities, a third of them critical, in a record update to its Leopard and Snow Leopard operating systems.

Security Update 2010-002 plugged 92 holes in the client and server editions of Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6, breaking a record that has stood since March 2008 . The update dwarfed any released last year, when Apple 's largest patched 67 vulnerabilities .

More than 40% of the vulnerabilities patched today, 37 out of the 92, were accompanied by the phrase "may lead to arbitrary code execution," which is Apple's way of saying that a flaw is critical and could be used by attackers to hijack a Mac. Apple does not assign ratings or severity scores to the bugs it patches, unlike other major software makers, such as Microsoft and Oracle .

Read the full Computer World story

Download the patches from Apple:
Apple OS X 10.5.X users
Apple OS X 10.6.X users
Microsoft Windows Bonjour users

Survey: Macs cost notably less to support than Windows PCs

"Macs are often the black sheep in the many enterprise environments which have been dominated by Windows for nearly two decades, but the growing consumerization of IT is slowly changing that perception. Though Macs often have a higher up-front price than many business-class PCs, Macs are usually believed to have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) due to lower support costs. A recent survey of IT professionals in large enterprise environments that have a mix of Macs and PCs overwhelmingly agree that Macs cost less than PCs to support.

The Enterprise Desktop Alliance, which seeks to make it easier to integrate Macs in Windows-centric IT deployments, surveyed IT admins from companies that made large deployments, including universities and government agencies. Responses included in EDA's analysis include those from environments with a mix of Macs and PCs that had a total of 50 servers or over 100 Macs.

A majority of respondents said that Macs cost less in terms of time spent troubleshooting, user training, help desk calls, and system configuration. Admins generally agreed that costs related to software licensing and supporting infrastructure were the same between the two platforms."

Continue reading the full story by Chris Foresman

Apple's Mac OS X is less secure than Windows (or not)

One of the main problems with many technology writers is that they don’t understand the technology they write about. Apple seldom says anything about Mac security and only points out the facts about Windows security. Did I mention that 99.99 percent of all exploited vulnerabilities occur on Windows PCs?

Read the full story

InfoWorld: Snow Leopard beats Windows 7

PC vs. Mac deathmatch: Snow Leopard beats Windows 7

"Windows 7 was built to fix the problems that plagued Vista, and it unquestionably succeeds in doing that. It's a bit less bloated, and it runs a bit faster. The annoying security alerts from User Account Control have been quieted. And the compatibility issues with third-party software and hardware device drivers have largely been ironed away; after all, it's been two and a half years since Vista debuted. Windows 7 even includes a virtual "XP mode" for running legacy programs.

[ Which is better? The Mac OS and Windows 7 UIs face off. | GetInfoWorld's 21-page hands-on look at the next version of Windows, from InfoWorld’s editors and contributors. | Find out what's new, what's wrong, and what's good about Windows 7 in InfoWorld's "Windows 7: The essential guide." ]

Windows 7 goes a few steps beyond merely repairing Vista. It borrows --and improves on -- tricks from the Mac's playbook to make it easier and faster to organize files and launch programs. Like Apple's operating system, Windows 7 not only looks good, but it has tools and shortcuts that help you work more efficiently. If there were ever a Windows that could challenge Mac OS X, Windows 7 is it.

Still, once you've had Mac, can you ever go back?"

Read the full story at InfoWorld

How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 10v Into the Ultimate Snow Leopard Netbook

Here's the pitch: a 10-inch, almost-pocketable computer running Snow Leopard, the latest, greatest version of OS X. It costs just $300. Sound good? Here's how to make your own.

Last time we threw together a guide like this, things were different. Snow Leopardwas but a glint in Steve Jobs' eye, and in terms of hardware, the Mini 9 was the best thing going—it was pretty much the only netbook you could guarantee would work perfectly. Not to mention the hackintosh process was much, much more complicated. And riskier! And yet, despite all this, it was easy to recommend loading a Mini up with OS X, because to put it bluntly, the results were fantastic.

But the Mini 9 was a bit too small for regular use, and even if it's still pretty easy to buy one, it's not officially part of Dell's product line anymore. Fast forward to now: the Mini 10v is a (quite similar) replacement for the 9, with a slightly larger screen, 160GB HDD standard, and 1GB or RAM. Most importantly, the keyboard is a bit larger, and the price is wonderfully low: $300 for a netbook that's completely ready for hackintoshing. Or to put it another way, the 10v is a $300 Apple netbook.

Read the full story at Gizmodo

New Apple ads

Top 15 Terminal Commands for Hidden Settings in Snow Leopard

"Every time Apple brings out a new version of OS X, we compile a list of our favourite Terminal commands for enabling hidden features and changing hidden settings (here are the lists for Tigerand Leopard).

For those who are new to Terminal Commands, here's a quick run down of how to use them. Don't worry, it's really easy. Start by opening up Terminal, located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. In the window that appears, paste in one of the lines provided below, and then hit return. For the changes to take effect, you need to restart the application concerned. For applications like the Dock or Finder, it is easiest to just type killall Dock or killall Finder into the Terminal to restart them. To reverse the changes, you just need to change the last word of the command and run it again. If the last word is YES, change it to NO, change 1 to 0, and change TRUE to FALSE and vice versa for all."

Read the full Story at Mac OSX Tips

Performance showdown: Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard

"In time-based tests, Snow Leopard consistently outdid Windows 7. It took only 36.4 seconds to boot up, while Windows took 42.7 seconds. In a shutdown test, Snow Leopard took only 6.6 seconds, while Windows needed twice the amount of time: 12.6 seconds."

Read the full Story by Dong Ngo

Snow Leopard Critical Bug Found -- Guest Login Can Delete Account Data

A "critical flaw has been found in Snow Leopard. Reportedly, Snow Leopard users have been making the unpleasant discovery that logging into a guest account and then logging out can delete user information on all accounts. Apple computers store user info such as pictures, documents, and downloads in a common location, much like Windows "My Documents".

Describes user "parshallnet" to Apple, "When I logged into my MacBook Pro this morning, it was as if I had logged into my Guest Account and not my standard user profile. No icons on the desktop, the desktop wallpaper was the default 'space' photo and not the one I had assigned, no documents in the docs folder, apps behaved as if I'd never opened them before.”

Continue reading the full story by Jason Mick

Data losses in Snow Leopard bug

Users of the new Apple operating system Snow Leopard are experiencing massive data losses when logging into their machines under a guest account.

The problem appears to affect those who had a guest account enabled before upgrading to Snow Leopard.

The problem appears to affect those who had a guest account enabled before upgrading to Snow Leopard.

Users have in some cases lost their entire main profile, including sites, pictures, videos and documents.

The problem, reported by more than 100 users on discussion forums, surfaced shortly after the OS's August release.

Indications are that the Snow Leopard bug simply treats the principal account like a guest account - meaning that the account profile is wiped clean when logging out.

Users who first log into a guest account and then into their normal account have found it to be completely reset to factory default settings, with none of their personal data or files visible.

Continue reading the BBC story

Snow Leopard data-munching bug predates Snow Leopard

Howls of Jobsian distress date to November 2007!

Fanboi complaints of a mystery data-munching Mac OS bug began well before the arrival of Snow Leopard, Apple's latest desktop operating system. Similar tales of woe date back to at least November of 2007, when Jobsian cultists were still using the previous Mac OS version, just plain Leopard.

"Nooooo!!! This morning I had access to Guest Account and than all my data were lost!!!" wrote one user over the weekend. "I had 250GB of data without backup and I lost everything: years and years of documents, pictures, video, music!!! Is it possible to recover something? Please help me!!!!"

But it appears the same bug predates Snow Leopard (aka Mac OS X 10.6). Sebastian Mondial, a Hamburg-based journalist with the German News Service, reported what would appear to be an identical problem with a postto the Apple support forum on November 13, 2007. Mondial was hit after a clean install of just plain Leopard (version 10.5.1).

See the full story by Cade Metz in San Francisco

Danger. Your Mac can be hacked. Again. How?

"Did you catch the headlines? Macs get viruses. Macs can be hacked. Your Mac is in danger. You should buy virus protection software. Mac security is not as good as Windows. Will this nonsense ever end? The number of lies, distortions, mistruths, fabrications, and fear mongering makes the Mac seem like the Silicon Valley version of the health care hot potato in Washington. Who and what can you believe? Is your Mac in danger?

An education often results in a competition between facts and truth, and fear through misinformation. In any war, truth is often the first casualty. So it is in the desktop wars."

Read the full story