Apple

If the Mac OS X 10.5.6 update caused you problems earlier this week, try, try again.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple has acknowledged an issue encountered by some Leopard users trying to install the company's latest update released Monday.

In a support document posted to its site, Apple described an issue in which a Mac would hang on a "Configuring installation" window when trying to install Mac OS X 10.5.6. That was apparently the result of an incomplete update getting seeded into the Software Update process, and Mac OS X will freak out if it tries to install a partially downloaded update.

Apple recommends that if you encounter this problem, or have already, that you force Software Update to quit, remove the partial update from your library, and re-download the update. If you chose to download the standalone update from Apple's site rather than the combo update, you might also have had this problem; when in doubt, choose the combo update option.

If you've had a separate problem in trying to install the update, check out our sister site MacFixIt for tips and troubleshooting guidelines.

Fire up Software Update to get the latest update to Mac OS X Leopard.

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

MobileMe syncing improvements and security fixes headline the list of changes unveiled with the release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 update Monday.

The file should be appearing in the Software Update window at any moment now, depending on how often you've set Software Update to check for new software. The sixth update to Leopard, originally released in October 2007, comes with the usual range of tweaks, bug fixes, and security improvements.

One update of note concerns MobileMe, which is now capable of pushing updates made to calendars or contact information from the Web or an iPhone to the primary Mac within a minute. Apple had numerous problems with the launch of the MobileMe service earlier this year, and the latest update should help fix one of the more pressing issues still outstanding with the $99-a-year service.

A full list of the issues addressed with 10.5.6 can be found here, while a list of the security improvements should appear here relatively soon. If you want to download the update from Apple's Web site, go here, but the Software Update function is the easiest way to get updated.

Apple has released the latest version of Leopard, with bug fixes and security updates accompanying the fifth update to the operating system.

The company sent over a list of improvements about 30 minutes ago, and the full list of fixes and improvements should be up on Apple's Web site any moment with the update itself popping up in Software Update. Two notable updates from the "General" section were a fix for the video playback problems that affected some MacBook Air owners, as well as a puzzling bug "in which some Macs could unexpectedly power on at the same time each day," which would be the first time I've heard that one.

In any event, let us know if you have any problems installing the new update. It's hard to believe, but it's getting close to a year since Leopard was first released.

Time to update those Leopard laptops to 10.5.4.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.5.4, the fourth update to Leopard since it was released last October.

The new version contains the usual mix of bug fixes and security updates, with iCal getting the most attention. iCal won't delete events without telling you as a result of the latest update, for example, and Apple said the update "improves overall iCal reliability." Airport and Spaces & Expose also received some updates.

MacRumors.com notes that the update paves the way for Apple to release the MobileMe service, the successor to .Mac unveiled by Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

There are also a couple of security-related fixes for Safari and other issues that my colleague Rob Vamosi will cover in more detail. Mac OS X 10.5.4 should pop up through Software Update any moment now, or you can force the issue by visiting Apple's site.

For what it's worth, 10.5.4 did not appear in the list of available updates when I ran Software Update on my Open Computer from Psystar, as expected. As of about 2 p.m. PDT, Psystar hadn't posted a version on its site, although it might take the company some time to get the Open Computer version of the update up and running.

The newest version of Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.3, is ready for Mac owners.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple has released the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard, just weeks before its annual developers' conference.

Mac OS X 10.5.3 is now available for downloading from Apple's site or through the Software Update process. Dozens of bugs are fixed with the new release for products like iCal, Mail, Time Machine, and others.

Apple is getting set to host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco the week of June 9, where we might learn more about the yet-unnamed Mac OS X 10.6, assuming they aren't skipping ahead to Mac OS XI, or Mac OS 11, or whatever naming convention gets chosen.

Another boring desktop for sale on eBay, except that this one runs Apple's Mac OS X Leopard.

(Credit: Chris555 (via eBay))

Another entrepreneur is trying their hand at selling unsanctioned Mac OS X desktops.

AppleInsider spotted an eBay listing on Tuesday for a generic desktop tower running Mac OS X Leopard, weeks after Psystar made a very public show of defying Apple's licensing agreement for Leopard with its Open Computer. "Chris555" is selling the unbranded desktop for a fixed price of $549.99, plus $50 shipping and handling.

Is this the latest in a wave of Mac clone makers emboldened by Psystar? Apple has remained silent on the issue to this point, but lawyers think the company would have a good chance of enforcing its end-user licensing agreement against companies trying to make a profit on Mac OS X computers. The agreement says the operating system can only be installed on a single Apple-labeled computer.

Apple has left the OS X hacking community pretty much undisturbed, but it will be interesting to see how long it waits before taking action against commercial providers of its operating system.

Psystar's Open Computer, which appears likely to face a legal challenge from Apple in due time.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

How much longer can Psystar get away with selling Open Computers?

Now that Psystar has satisfied any doubts that it's a real company making real products, the propriety of those products seems bound to be tested. In case you missed it, Psystar is currently selling Open Computers with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled, in what appears to be a clear violation of Apple's software license agreement for that product.

There's a running joke about the number of consumers that actually read the licensing agreements that come along with new software. But these types of agreements have been upheld by several U.S. court rulings as valid contracts between a software maker and a customer, even if the customer didn't have a chance to read the licensing agreement until after they purchased the product.

What makes this case interesting is that many believe so-called shrink-wrap or click-wrap licenses are ripe for a new challenge on the basis that EULAs (end user licensing agreements) allow software companies to put almost anything they can dream up in the agreement. An attempt earlier this decade to unify the various ways states treat the issue around the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, which would have once and for all made shrink-wrap licenses binding contracts, never really got off the ground after heated opposition to the business-friendly terms of that proposal. Specific provisions of EULAs have been deemed unlawful, but the general concept that software customers license software, rather than purchase it, has endured.

If Apple decides to take action, Psystar will be on the defensive. According to legal experts, the company will need a significant amount of cash to fight off Apple's likely challenges on several different fronts. While Psystar might be able to make some headway, their only apparent hope of scoring a decisive win is to go for the antitrust home run and convince a court that Apple's domination of the market for computers running Mac OS X is harming consumers.

Rudy Pedraza, the head of Psystar, said that on the advice of his lawyers he was unable to comment on the legal issues potentially facing Psystar, although he did say that the company has yet to receive any contact from Apple. An Apple representative declined to comment on Psystar.

License to drive

The looming Psystar-Apple battle centers on the licensing agreement that Apple requires Leopard users to accept if they want to use the product, in much the same manner as almost every piece of software sold in the world. The most pertinent line is probably this one: "This License allows you to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so."

Apple's licensing agreement for Mac OS X Leopard says you can only install it on Apple-labeled hardware.

(Credit: Apple)

There's little doubt Psystar is installing Apple software on non-Apple-labeled computers, said Richard Vermut, a lawyer with Rogers Towers in Florida who specializes in software licensing and technology patent matters. "Generally speaking, a software developer has the right to sell software with these shrink-wrap licenses, or end-user agreements, and they are enforceable" unless the terms of the license would harm the consumer or otherwise violate existing laws, he said.

The precedent for enforcing these types of licenses dates back to a 1996 case called ProCD vs. Zeidenberg, Vermut said. Back in the early 1990s, ProCD sold a specially organized compilation of a phone directory on a compact disc that Matthew Zeidenberg copied onto his hard drive and made available over the Internet for a cheaper price. ProCD sued Zeidenberg, claiming he was violating the terms of the license that came along with the software by redistributing the software.

To enter into a contract, the terms of the contract have to be "offered and accepted," Vermut said. The lower district court said the licenses were not enforceable because the terms were on the inside of the package, and therefore couldn't be accepted before purchasing the product. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit overturned that ruling, determining that "shrink-wrap licenses are enforceable unless their terms are objectionable on grounds applicable to contracts in general (for example, if they violate a rule of positive law, or if they are unconscionable)."

In the ProCD case, Zeidenberg had the opportunity to review the license prior to installing the software on his computer, and his decision to click "I agree" constitutes acceptance of the terms of that license, the appeals court ruled. If you can back out of the deal after reading the terms, by declining to install the software or returning the box, you've asserted your right-of-refusal under that ruling.

This isn't exactly the most forthright way of doing business, but it's been the way software sales have worked for a long time, said Chris Ridder, a fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "There are a lot of problems with shrink-wrap licenses, but there's a good chance the court would find it enforceable."

Vermut agreed. "For the most part, looking at more recent cases, courts are following ProCD," he said. "There still isn't any appellate court decision that is giving wholesale refusal to recognize this type of licensing."

One argument that Psystar could try to advance is that when you purchase software, the company is actually selling it to you, not leasing it with certain rights granted the way things exist now, Ridder said. This would allow Psystar to invoke the "first-sale doctrine" that allows owners of copyright works to sell or redistribute that product without running afoul of copyright restrictions.

You can't invoke the first-sale doctrine if what you purchased was a license. However, a 2001 case involving Adobe ruled that in some circumstances, courts will accept the notion of software having been sold, rather than licensed.

Big fish, little pond

Psystar's best shot--albeit a long one--at keeping its doors open for business would be to argue that Apple is illegally tying the purchase of its operating system to the purchase of its hardware because it has a monopoly on the sale of Mac OS X-based computers, said Jim Burdett, an attorney with Venable in Washington, D.C.

Burdett, a lawyer at Compaq during what he jokingly called the "First Clone Wars," said Psystar would have to convince a judge that the relevant market in this case is limited to just Mac OS X-based computers, not personal computers in general. Obviously, Apple has a very small share of the general personal computer operating system market but a rather large share of the Mac OS X market.

Do you buy a Mac because of the software, or because of the hardware?

(Credit: Apple)

"People want Mac clones for the operating system, not the hardware," Burdett said. Apple will try to argue that its hardware is just as important a factor in making a Mac vs. PC buying decision, but Psystar will try to prove that with the response to the Open Computer, there is significant demand for Apple's operating system on non-Apple hardware.

"It would be an interesting situation to argue from the Sherman Act side, if you had the money," Burdett said. "I don't think it's too insurmountable, it's just a very costly issue to raise." Apple, with billions in cash, could easily fend off Psystar appeals for years if it can get a favorable ruling on its licensing agreement, or convince a judge to view the applicable market as the personal computing market in general.

This is the heart of the Psystar matter, and why the company has drawn so much attention over the past two weeks. Apple has been able to argue convincingly for years that the unique combination of its hardware and software is what makes a Mac a Mac. And now, a company has come along trying to challenge that definition, at a time when demand for the Mac has probably never been higher.

While the early reviews on the Open Computer are lukewarm at best, Psystar isn't trying to craft a high-end PC. It's trying to demonstrate that people want Mac OS X at cheaper prices. In the long run, buying Mac OS X on the cheap may not be a wise investment, but people still buy Kias, eat at McDonald's, and drink Natural Light for some reason.

Psystar seems determined, and we're just going to have to wait and see how the first legal salvos play out. It seems very unlikely that Psystar has the resources to mount a legal challenge to Apple's EULA--in effect, the concept of EULAs in general--but in the right venue, with the right judge, they could at least score some legal points while making a name, and some profits, for themselves.

At least one Psystar customer has received their Open Computer, as I continue to await mine.

(Credit: Psystar)

Mac clones large and small are popping up all over the place these days.

Psystar has managed to get past a tumultuous week earlier this month to get Open Computers into the hands of its customers. The Open Computer is being sold with Mac OS X Leopard as a preinstalled option for Psystar's customers, in what is expected to at some point draw some legal attention from Apple.

Check out this video on Gizmodo of the Open Computer, which sounds like an airplane taking off, in all its glory. I ordered a unit two weeks ago that was supposed to ship on Monday, but I haven't received an updated notice that it has left the factory. My colleague Rich Brown in CNET Reviews is also expecting a review unit for a formal review of the product, so watch for that in the coming days.

Engadget also found video of the Oqo handheld computer running Mac OS X Leopard, the result of a project undertaken by a forum member at Oqo Talk. I wouldn't call the Oqo Leopard model ideal, as it takes a full 2 minutes and 30 seconds for the system to boot. But if you wanted a preview of a future Mac mobile Internet device, this might be it.

The New York City school system has refused to accept any more iMac shipments until Apple fixes a Wi-Fi flaw, according to a report.

MacBook shipments are on hold to Big Apple schools until the other Apple fixes a Wi-Fi problem.

(Credit: Apple)

MacNN is reporting that the city's Department of Education has instructed Dell Managed Services, which is apparently the DOE's IT partner, to stop all iMac shipments until Apple fixes a Wi-Fi connectivity issue. The exact nature of the issue wasn't explained in MacNN's report, which cited an e-mail from Apple to school faculty apologizing for the problems.

It's unclear how long this problem has been going on, but AppleInsider reported that some shipments have been on hold for almost two months, which was right around the time Apple shipped the 10.5.2 release of Leopard. A News.com reader directed us to several discussions on Apple's user forums regarding Leopard Wi-Fi problems that go back as far as November.

AppleInsider also believes that Apple is getting set to fix the Wi-Fi flaw in the next release of Mac OS X Leopard, which will be 10.5.3. That's expected sometime in the next few weeks, although signs have appeared that the update will be here sooner rather than later, as Apple also works to correct a QuickTime flaw with that release.

An Apple spokesman said the company is looking into the issue. If you have been running into any kind of Wi-Fi connectivity problems with your Leopard machine, let us know.