os

The next version of Microsoft's Office productivity suite for Mac has been much anticipated, and last Wednesday Microsoft edged one step closer to it's release with the availability of Messenger 8 beta for Mac users. This is a test version of the release that will be included with the Office 2011 suite, which brings audio and video chat support to the program.… Read more

You may encounter a problem where iMovie will not display movies in the iMovie "Event Library" browser if they were were imported with iPhoto. While movies created in other applications or that you otherwise have on disk may work, those that you have stored and managed in iPhoto will not show even when you click the "iPhoto Videos" section in the iMovie Event Library.… Read more

On Apple's keyboards you have the option to use the function keys either as F-keys, or for the functions Apple has assigned them by default. These include changing the screen brightness, invoking dashboard and expose, controlling iTunes, and adjusting the volume.… Read more

Aperture has seen a few recent updates, and Apple is steadily addressing fixes with the latest major release (version 3.0) with the 3.0.2 update that fixes numerous issues including problems with importing and upgrading libraries from iPhoto and previous versions of Aperture. In addition, a small patch to iMovie '09 (version 8.0.6) has been released to address problems when working with videos from Aperture.… Read more

When you set up print sharing in OS X, you have the option to limit which user accounts have access to specific printers. This is convenient for preventing network users from using a specific printer; however, it does not apply these limitations when users are logged in locally. By default, as long as users can log on, they can use any printer that is listed in the system preferences, but despite this it is possible to enable restrictions.… Read more

Apple has released two software updates today. One is for the pro application suite that includes Final Cut Pro, Motion, Color, Compressor, and Cinema Tools, and the other is for the latest printer drivers from Canon. These updates are relatively large at several hundred MB each, and are available via Software Update and from the following links:… Read more

The third-party video codec pack for QuickTime "Perian" has been updated to version 1.2.1, which adds support for more codecs and fix a number of bugs that caused crashes. The application is a popular plugin for QuickTime that allows many non-standard and obscure codecs to be played in Apple's default media player.… Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature from MacFixIt in which we answer questions e-mailed to us by our readers. This week we have questions asking for clarification on our previous article about account and group associations, the system displaying the wrong printer icon in the system preferences, and a common problem where upon deleting a file you will be prompted to delete it immediately instead of putting it in the trash.… Read more

Apple has released a few knowledgebase article updates which include information on some features of the latest Logic Pro update, managing iPod and iPhone features and connectivity to your Mac, and a small how-to on backing up your iTunes media.… Read more