Regional launches are always interesting. Snow Leopard was definitely low key, and so it seemed in other regions. Back here in Asia, half the Keynote presentation was about Windows 7. Hell had definitely frozen over as journalists and bloggers shifted in their seats when Apple’s regional marketing guy went into an in depth comparison with Snow Leopard and Microsoft’s upcoming operating system. Half the presentation. In fact the comparison was so meticulous, that the audience naturally asked why Apple had moved into talking about their competition — something they’ve never really done in the past. I guess it was because Asia was still primarily a Windows-centric playing field.

No wait, scratch that. A bootleg Windows playing field. “Apple does not treat its customers like pirates” so they don’t initiate any copy protection efforts on disks. But it also makes you wonder why in other Asian countries, the iTunes store still isn’t available for music.

That’s Apple’s Vatican II I guess. They’re going colloquial.

You can get iLife ’09 for only $9.95 plus tax.

All you have to do is complete the order form and provide a photocopy of a dated, itemized sales receipt or packing slip that indicates you have a qualifying machine.

The program ends on March 28, 2009. Click Here for full details.

If these videos are truly shots of Snow Leopard then you can see that it appears that you’ll be able to customize which Spaces your Apps open into from the Dock itself as well as few other minor things.

With Leopard’s release, that kind of thing would have been in the tally of over “300 new features” that Apple claimed the OS had. Most of those “features” however, were minor tweaks to things like the DVD Player.

You can see more videos here.

This morning Apple has released a software update for OS X to enhance MobileMe compatibility on the desktop.

The Mac OS X Update For MobileMe is recommended for users running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 and includes general system fixes that enhance your Mac for MobileMe.

For detailed information about MobileMe, please visit this website: http://www.apple.com/mobileme/

You can get it through Software Update now.

AppleInsider thinks so. According to their report the newest build, “9E17″ has no known issue and that only two fixes have been in the last 10 days.

The article suggests that we’ll see 10.5.4 before July 11th, because of a need for the system to integrate Mobile Me support into OS X.

I think its highly likely we’ll see some kind of update in the very near future. I seriously doubt Apple is going to go through this much trouble to rebrand the .Mac service without issuing an update to change it throughout OS X as well.

Today’s Show: Snow Leopard isn’t going to happen on Monday, but that doesn’t stop the rumors.

You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or…

you can listen to the episode right here: right here

In addition to that, you can also download the Apple Gazette Daily Widget and listen to every episode of the show right on your Dashboard. Click Here to download.

Apple has finaly enabled Java 1.6 on the newest Mac OS X Leopard release by offering the “Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 1 for 64-bit Intel Macs” update.

This Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 1 adds Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_05 to your Mac. This update does not replace the existing installation of J2SE 5.0 or change the default version of Java.

You can find more information at Apple’s official site.

Long time site reader and frequent commentor, The Wizard, sent me an email last night about a problem that I don’t have a solution to. Since I know that there are many of you that have had problems with 10.5.2 (and yes, I understand that there are also many of you that haven’t had any problems – that’s great – but we’re looking for a fix here.), I thought I would post a segment of his email to see if anyone can help come up with a solution for this problem.

From The Wizard:

After upgrading my first generation mac mini to 10.5.2 my usb bluetooth dongle (an MSI) suddenly stopped working. I can see it in the system profiler but I can never get to turning the bluetooth on. I tried another one with no success. I tried resetting the PMU on my mini but it didn’t resolve the problem.

Any ideas folks?

I’ve had 10.5.2 on my Macbook Pro for about 48 hours now, and they have been nothing short of miserable. On four separate occasions now the computer has frozen for no reason, and I’ve had to do a hard restart to get it going again.

My Samson Q1U USB Microphone now no longer works in Garageband for some reason. Now it sounds like someone is crumpling tinfoil everytime I speak into it. The mic works fine in Audacity, but each time I attempt to use the mic the computer freezes up after a minute or two of recording.

On top of all of the Safari is still crashing like crazy if I have more than 3 tabs open at once.

So…needless to say…I’m not happy.

How about you? Any problems since the upgrade?

After you update to Leopard 10.5.2 you might think you’re done getting the most current software updates, but no – there’s still one more that you need to grab. After your 10.5.2 update is complete, go to the Software Update and you’ll find a ‘Leopard Graphics Update’.

The 48.6 Mb update, however, isn’t very specific, stating only that it ” is recommended for all users and improves the stability and compatibility of your Mac”.

If you notice any changes after the update, feel free to leave comments below.

Thanks to Ben for sending this in.

Apple has officially released Leopard 10.5.2 – you can read all about the update here. To update now, click on that little Apple in the upper left hand corner of your Mac, then select “Software Update…” and prepare to wait…

Some highlights of what this releases fixes include:

Updates Stacks with a List view option, a Folder view option, and an updated background for Grid view.

Improves [Airport] connection reliability and stability

Addresses legibility issues with the menu bar with an option to turn off transparency in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.

Adjusts menus to be slightly less translucent overall.

Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine features (the menu extra can be enabled in Time Machine preferences).

One it DOESN’T fix include allowing us to use a non-Time Capsule external drive for remote back-up. Rats.

Thanks to Dwight Silverman for tweeting about it and giving me the heads up.

Last week the 10.5.2 update of Mac OSX Leopard was quietly released to developers and testers – and this thing weighs in at almost 400Mbs, and featuring 100 bug fixes and well over 40 application fixes as well. Mac Scoop has the details, but you can see the complete list below:

New issues fixed in this seed, as listed on the seed-note, are the following:
- Border now draws correctly when 2-up printing
- Preview Image and scrolling horizontally with keys
- CFNetwork and Proxy error messages
- NTFS Volume and System UIServer fix
- DVDPlayback and second display hookup
- Preview PDF and Mail Document fix
- Resolved tabbing issue with PDFView

- Fixed issue with Time Machine Preferences
- Icon Services and file attachments
- Time Machine and resumed backups
- Images captured in tethered mode fixed
- CoreAudio Toolbox and EstAudioFileRead
- ImageCapture and file creation
- SharedFileLists and SMB guest issue resolved
- BackupCore and backup preparation
- Japanese localization and CUPS
- NSTextView and scroll bar thumb scrolling direction
- SMB File Server and name resolving order
- CFNetwork and Windows proxy ISA server fix
- Fixed deinterlacing issue with DVDPlayback

In previous seeds, the following fixes had been made:
- CoreData Framework and NSFetchRequest
- AD DS Plug-in
- HLTB Menus
- Memory leak with Rosetta
- X11.app and customized menu commands
- AirPort shared printer fix
- Disk Utility and FAT32
- HFS and allocated space
- Fix to Process Manager and VISE
- NSNavigationServices and NavServices from a Cocoa application fix
- Reprinting Hold jobs and CUPS
- Fixed issue with Text Input Sources
- Mail Message Body Display issues with certain font types
- DAVKit and iCal redirects
- Calendar Store Framework and CalRecurrenceRule fix
- CoreText Font and PUA unicode characters now work correctly
- rsh jobs no longer waits for backgrounded processes to complete
- Fixed issue HLTB and Finder
- Fixed issue with AppleEvents
- ImageIO preiew issue in Finder fixed
- HIClock now accepts user entries
- smb now handles “%” in password field
- Fixed issue with CUPS and reverse page ordering
- NSTableView and special keys now works correctly
- AF_UNSPEC& null address Networking issue fixed
- Resolved issue with Xquartz and CPU cycles
- Fixed exception issue with KeyChainAccess
- Quartz Composer no longer brings up an error when saving a composition
- Fixed ScreenCapture issue
- Addressed issue with Web Content Filter and Parental Controls
- CUPS no longer prints a blank page when 2-up print setting is selected
- CoreData Framework fix to XML data creation
- Fixed Quick Look plug-in loading issue
- Mail to iCal Data Detectors now work correctly
- Fixed issue with Finder and column view
- Core Audio fix now allows empty m4a files to behave correctly
- Fixed horizontal scroll issue with Finder and Spotlight
- Fixed iChat audio issue with fast user switching
- Core Data apps now save correctly when no document changes have been made
- Fixed issue with Firewall customization settings
- Fixed Active Directory binding issue
- NSTable View -selectAll setting now works correctly
- HLTB Dyhmanic Menus now behave correctly
- Resolved issue with HIImageView
- Fixed issue with ATSCreateFontQueryRunLoopSource
- Mail now treats flags correctly
- Fixed day selection issue with NSDatePicker
- Invalid RR queries problem now resolved
- Input issue with NSTokenField fixed
- Archive & Install problem with Sync Services Translators resolved
- Fixed Spotlight issue with arithmetic expressions
- Fixed problem with Podcast Producer and Wiki running via SSL
- HLTB ApplyTHemeBackground memory leak fixed
- Fixed Numbers printing issue with CoreGraphics
- Fixed permissions problem with NFS
- NSManagedObject now implements dictionaryWithValuesForKeys correctly
- Fixed memory leak in CoreData Framework
- Bitmap-only fonts now work correctly in QuickDraw
- Issue with MusicSequenceSaveSMFData fixed
- SMB File Server reboot issue resolved
- Fixed issue where running a MAC application from a NTFS volume may not work correctly
- NSXMLNSNumberTransformerName now handles NSDecimalNumbers correctly
- Addressed issue with ToDo recurrences and iCal Synchronization
- Issue with NSNavigationServices and kNavCBTerminate resolved
- Fix to AppKit and popup menus
- CTFontCreateCopyWithFamily() now works correctly
- Fixed issue with Tamil IM
- Networking issue with records over sockets fixed
- HIShape symbols in HLTB fixed
- Fixed window flicker issue with PrintManager
- NSArrayController and Lazy Fetching issue resolved
- Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder now works correctly when there’s a / in the title
- Fixed issue with “Find Next” and the spelling panel
- Issue with NSTreeController resolved
- Resolved issue with local SOCKS proxy and iChat
- Logged iChats now open quickly

When you create a document with iWork ’08 (Numbers, Pages, or Keynote) you can take an extra step to ensure that the document will display with proper formatting in Quick Look by selecting the “Include Preview in Document” check box when you save.

Alternatively you can set this feature to be checked by default in the General Preferences pane.

Do you have a Leopard Quick Tip? Visit the contact page and send it in! Don’t forget to include your website URL if you’d like a return link.

If you’re looking for help developing an Application for Leopard, look no further than Apple’s own Dev Center. With introductory video, step-by-step lesson guides, and even sample code in an Xcode project, there Coding Headstarts will show you how to create new features in your apps using the latest additions to Leopard.

You can view the introductory videos for free, but if you want to take a closer look at these tutorials and tips you’ll need to be an ADC Premier or Select member.

Click Here to take a look.

Security Update 2007-009 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:

Core Foundation
CUPS
Flash Player Plug-in
Launch Services
perl
python
Quick Look
ruby
Safari
Samba
Shockwave Plug-in
Spin Tracer

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website.

UPDATE: The update is also for OSX 10.4 Tiger.

AntiVirus software?!?

Really?

Ok, look – I’ll be the first to say that no computer Mac or PC will ever be 100% virus proof – but, to me anyway, virus protection software for your Mac is like buying an extended warranty plan for a book. It’s just plain unnecessary.

This Yahoo article almost makes it sound like there are Mac viruses running loose in the wild out to get us. But there aren’t. It’s one of those articles that acts like it has some really damning evidence from Apple’s official site – when really all the text is saying is “viruses might be possible.”

If you have $49.95 to spend on anti-virus software for your Mac, please do me a favor. Take that $49.95 and drop it in a Salvation Army bucket, buy some Toys for Tots, or just give it to someone who’s having a rougher time than you are right now.

There is no reason to spend that money on this product.

If you’re a Leopard user and preferred the hierarchical popup menus from Tiger, then you’re going to want to check out Quay. Quay menus run right inside the dock, and bring back the old pop up hierarchical menus along with several new features.

The application is built in Cocoa, and does not hack the Dock in way. It cost $10, but you can try it for free by clicking here.

Ever since upgrading to Leopard, I’ve been having a problem with my wireless network. I’ve tried switching to an Airport Extreme – and I switched back to my Netgear Router – I’ve tried everything I can think of – but it’s still a problem.

What happens is that the wireless connection just seems to stall or die momentarily – then it fires back to life. Sometimes it feels like I’m on dial-up. It sucks.

Turns out I’m not alone as this, this, and this Apple support forum show.

I find the whole thing incredibly frustrating, and I’m getting tired of waiting for a fix. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for something as essential as networking to function properly. There appears to be no solid connection of any kind from hardware to hardware to identify the problem…which I’m sure makes things more difficult…BUT COME ON APPLE – get this thing fixed already.

Have any of you had this issue – if so, have you been able to get it resolved?

iSmiley has a way to spice up your iChats if you’re already getting bored with the handful of special effects that made their way into Leopard’s iChat.

More iChat Effects is a piece of software that does EXACTLY what it says – it gives you More iChat Effects. From the ever popular hologram effect previewed in Leopard, to stranger modifications like that creepy looking cowboy in the image above, there are lots of fun effects here. You can star in your own iPod commercial styled video, pretend to be a monkey, cover your video with holiday cheer – the possibilities are endless. As long as your version of endless is 24 effects.

More iChat Effects is a free download that you can get by clicking right here.

I’ve had Leopard on a Macbook Pro for a while now, and I haven’t had this problem yet, but apparently it can affect any Intel based Macbook or Macbook Pro regardless of age.

Has this happened to you? If so, do you have any ideas on how to fix it?

You make this…

You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or…

you can directly download the episode right here.

In addition to that, you should be able to play every episode of the podcast directly in your browser by using the widget which is now located in the side column of the site. Just click on the headphones to play the podcast inside the widget with full audio controls.

I’ve never really found Dashboard useful. I understand that some people do, but for me, its never been something I wanted or needed on my Mac. I thought that was going to change with Leopard.

The webclips button in Safari is one of my favorite “ideas” of Leopard. I say ideas because the thing doesn’t work. Not in the slightest.

I have tried multiple sites, and I can’t get any positive results. I clipped the stats tracker for this site, and it worked for a day or so, then it stopped loading. I tried turning my Dashboard in a comic strip page, but after the first update the images above are all that will load from the sites.

I love the idea of Dashboard Webclips, but they would be even better if they…you know…worked. Am I the only one having this problem?

You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or…

you can directly download the episode right here.

In addition to that, you should be able to play every episode of the podcast directly in your browser by using the widget which is now located in the side column of the site. Just click on the headphones to play the podcast inside the widget with full audio controls.