macs

Microsoft staffing up Mac unit

Microsoft is hoping that better Windows products and marketing will eventually stem the market share gains that Apple has been making. In the meantime, the company is trying to make the best of things.

The software maker is growing its Mac Business Unit (MacBU), which just had another record year.

"The Mac BU at Microsoft is growing--we're launching our biggest hiring initiative since the inception of MacBU 11 years ago," general manager Craig Eisler said in a blog posting. "We are hard at work planning for products beyond Office 2008, and we are growing our team … Read more

Logitech announces Webcam for Macs

Logitech today announced a Webcam specifically tailored to Macs. The Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro is a spitting image in terms of both specs and design of the PC-friendly QuickCam Pro 9000 I reviewed (and very much liked) last year, but Logitech sees fit to charge the few Webcam-less Mac owners out there an additional $30. The QuickCam Vision Pro will cost you $130 when it's released next month; the QuickCam Pro 9000 can be had for $100 or less.

Like its PC doppelganger, the QuickCam Vision Pro features a 2-megapixel sensor, a Carl Zeiss lens, and Logitech's RightLight … Read more

Apple putting Snow Leopard on crash diet?

One of the "under the hood" improvements that Apple might be planning for Mac OS X Snow Leopard might involve a crash diet for key Mac applications.

Roughly Drafted reports, in a long list of features expected to appear in Snow Leopard, that Apple is working on reducing the footprint required by many of its key applications, such as iCal, Mail, and Preview. The report also says the size of the Utilities applications could be dramatically reduced, from 468MB to 111.6MB.

Smaller applications could make Snow Leopard more snappy and more stable, as Apple prunes out unnecessary … Read more

Psystar's Open Computer the alterna-Mac

After about a month with Psystar's Open Computer, as long as I ignore the big ugly box underneath my desk it's easy to forget that this isn't a Mac.

For about a week or so in April, Psystar dominated the tech headlines with the launch of its Open Computer, a relatively cheap desktop computer with one notable feature: Apple's Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled. That's technically a violation of Apple's end-user licensing agreement for its operating system, and requires Psystar to circumvent Apple's restrictions on Leopard's use by adding low-level software that … Read more

Daily Debrief: Psystar makes convincing Apple clone

It comes as no surprise that a healthy percentage of Apple consumers buy the products for the way they look. But for those of you less interested in the sleek white boxes and black rectangles, and more interested in the software, then perhaps the Psystar Open Computer is the way to go.

The Psystar computer (which looks like a pretty generic tower) comes installed with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard and functions exactly how you'd expect an Apple to function, but for hundreds of dollars less. In Monday's Daily Debrief, my first question for CNET News.com … Read more

mac.column.ted: A Leopard Surprise (Flat) Package

Ted Landau

June 2008

If you've spent time peeking under the hood of Mac OS X, you already know about packages. What you may not know is that Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) offers a new type of package called a flat package.

Packages are Apple's name for what are essentially folders disguised as single files in the Finder. The two most common uses of packages are for applications and installer documents. Applications (with their often hidden .app extensions) are packages/folders, with the "real" application code as well as a collection of related resources … Read more

New comScore figures suggest fewer people believing comScore

comScore has done a wonderful job. Of marketing comScore results.

If the Internet abacus company sees its readings suggest a significant conclusion, it releases the information in an interesting and digestible form.

However, I understand that both comScore and its frats-in-stats at Nielsen Online are having their audits audited by the Interactive Advertising Bureau after mlb.com declared that Nielsen Online's score for its site of 6 million was a "conScore." The real figure, according to mlb.com, was actually 19 million. (the results of the audit's audit are due at the end of this year.)… Read more

Mac vs. PC: Lawyers spar over which is best

Normally, I wouldn't turn to the American Bar Association to tell me which operating system I should use, but I enjoyed this article in ABA Journal which has two attorneys - one a Mac user and the other a Windows user - sparring over which operating system is best.

It makes for good fun, though if the best the Windows world can come up with is "Use Windows because everyone else does and wouldn't you be frightened to go it alone?" then it needs to ratchet up its ad campaign.

On the Mac side, isn't … Read more

Mac OS X Trojan reported in the wild

On Thursday, security vendor SecureMac reported seeing new variants of AppleScript.THT Trojan horse in the wild affecting users of Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5.

The new variations exploit a vulnerability within the Apple Remote Desktop Agent, and can avoid detection by opening ports in the firewall and turning off system logging. The new Trojans can log keystrokes, take screen shots, take pictures with the Apple iSight camera, and enable file sharing, according to SecureMac.

The Trojans are using an AppleScript called ASthtv05 and/or may be bundled as an application. You must download and execute the … Read more

The 404 124: Where Fox News is giving us something good to talk about

In a follow-up to our newest "It came from Fox News" segment, actual Fox news anchor Clayton Morris drops by the studio today and dishes out his views on digital privacy in the workplace, making the switch, the perpetual woes of iPhone ineptitude, and the ancient practice of group shaving. If that isn't enough, we also conclusively prove that living well is the best revenge. EPISODE 124 Download today's podcast