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Apple technology drives a new fully-autonomous vehicle developed for a major US competition. Team Banzai is one of just 40 teams (selected from 118 entrants) from around North America to have made it through to the semi-finals of the 2005 DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge. DARPA is the central research and development organization for the US Department of Defense (DoD). Tiger is the tank The team has developed it's Tiger-powered customized Touareg car (dubbed "Dora") using Mac OS X technologies for the entire development and race management for the attempt. Power Mac G5's running OS X inside...

The speed of Mac OS X running on Intel hardware is impressing some developers who've been privy to one of Apple's first Intel-based developer transition systems. The systems started shipping to Mac OS X developers three weeks ago, each equipped with a 3.6 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with 2 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz front-side bus, 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 Dual Channel SDRAM, and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. Developers are renting the $999 hardware from Apple for a period of 18 months in order to get a head start in porting their applications to run on the Intel...

Apple today released Mac OS X 10.4.2, which the company says delivers overall improved reliability and compatibility for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users. It includes fixes for file sharing, authentication, autologin, AirPort/wireless access, several graphics updates, .Mac fixes, Apple's core applications, and more. The company also included security fixes for a TCP/IP denial of service attack and Dashboard, which may install widgets that override Apple-supplied widgets. It is available via the Software Update for Mac OS X Tiger users. Both a Delta update for Mac OS X 10.4.1 users and a Combo Update for Mac...

Gee, maybe we Mac users really are as snobby as the hoi polloi Windows world thinks. (I'm kidding about the hoi polloi, by the way....) But this piece over at Apple Matters (see Reply #1 below) -- which looks at Apple's recent marketing efforts and how it's selling Tiger to the masses -- makes some very good points about the snob appeal of Macs. Chris Siebold argues that Apple isn't really selling to the masses anymore. Forget that whole "computer for the rest of us" business. Siebold's view, and I'd generally agree, is that Apple now seems to be catering...

If Apple ever decides to let its Mac OS X operating system outside of its confines, the company can count Dell Inc. founder and Chairman Michael Dell as a possible customer. With the recent news that Apple plans to become a fellow customer of Intel Corp. for x86 processors, Dell has expressed interest in selling Mac OS X-based PCs, he said in an e-mail to Fortune published on the magazine’s Web site Thursday. “If Apple decides to open the Mac OS to others, we would be happy to offer it to our customers,” Dell wrote in the e-mail. A Dell...

Dell Says He’d Sell Apple’s Mac OS For the first time, a PC player publicly welcomes the notion of selling machines loaded with Apple’s software. I've mentioned several times in the past few months that executives from several PC companies have told me of their interest in Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Sadly my sources would not let me attribute these assertions; PC executives are pretty leery of offending Microsoft, which holds enormous power over their businesses. So, many readers have challenged me on this point. But Dell (the company) has for several years fearlessly—and lucratively—sold servers loaded with...

A few years ago I wrote "Network Security for Dummies" for the intent purpose of explaining computer security to home users, small office/home office (SOHO), and anyone else who wanted a basic primer on the subject. In that book I focused on the three major OSes: Linux, Windows, and Macs. Probably 86% of the book is about Windows security (or lack thereof) simply because that's where most the problems come from. That's not a judgement call; that's the truth. I was very hot to evaluate the Macs for security because OS X had just shipped and I had heard that...

Thinking MacTel. On an airplane, over Montana perhaps? I read it too, and I knew about it as a rumor months ago. Hell, this is the Internet! REPEAT: 1. I do not hate Windows. 2. I do not hate Intel. 3. No one else for that matter. I just said that I felt that Mac was more security attuned than WinTel for all sorts of reasons that we are talking about here. One of the main reasons is that the Mac integration of OS, HW and BIOS provides additional security over the open architecture approach of many different vendors attempting...

Apple & Intel: What you need to know Frequently asked questions about the move to Intel Apple’s startling announcement that it will begin a transition away from PowerPC chips to Intel-made processors has left Mac fans’ heads spinning, and not just because a former “enemy” of the Mac is now counted among its allies. Many details about the transition are unclear or flat-out missing — after all, Apple said it won’t be shipping any Intel-based Macs until next year. And let’s be honest — computer chips are not exactly the simplest topic under the sun. To help you sort out...

About Security Update 2005-006 This document describes Security Update 2005-006, which can be downloaded and installed using Software Update, or from Apple Downloads.For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred, and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn more about Apple Product Security, visit the Apple Product Security website.For information about the Apple Product Security PGP Key, see "How to Use the Apple Product Security PGP Key."Where possible, CVE IDs are used to reference the vulnerabilities for further information.To learn about other Security Updates,...

Apple Computer's switch to Intel chips is no reason to raise the security alarm, experts say. Yes, Macs will have the same hardware at their core as Windows PCs, but it is the operating system, not the hardware, that has made those Microsoft-based computers vulnerable to attacks, analysts and security researchers said. "Mac OS has generally a better track record and reputation than Windows for security. I don't think taking Mac OS to Intel silicon would change the robustness of the operating system," said Dana Gardner, a senior analyst at research firm the Yankee Group. The Mac OS enjoys a...

Apple Computer Inc. plans to announce on Monday that it will switch to using Intel Corp's microprocessors and phase out its current chip supplier, International Business Machines Corp., CNET News.com reported late on Friday.

Apple will use dual-core PowerPC G5s... contrary to reports that they will switch to Intel... Link to eWeek article per request not to post

Apple Computer plans to announce Monday that it's scrapping its partnership with IBM and switching its computers to Intel's microprocessors, CNET News.com has learned. Apple has used IBM's PowerPC processors since 1994, but will begin a phased transition to Intel's chips, sources familiar with the situation said. Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007, sources said. The announcement is expected Monday at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, at which Chief Executive Steve Jobs is giving the keynote speech. The...

New Intel CEO Paul Otellini has flashed a level of marketing savvy unseen with his predecessor by making the unusual suggestion that consumers buy Apple's Mac computers if they wish to avoid immediate security risks. Confused? You're not alone. Otellini had attendees of a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Carlsbad, California scratching their silicon this week, as they puzzled through his pro-Mac statements. The paper recounts the episode as follows; Pressed about security by (a reporter), Mr Otellini had a startling confession: He spends an hour a weekend removing spyware from his daughter's computer. And when further pressed about...

This document describes the security enhancements included with QuickTime 7.0.1, which can be downloaded and installed using Software Update, or from Apple Downloads. For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn more about Apple Product Security, see the Apple Product Security website. For information about the Apple Product Security PGP Key, see "How To Use The Apple Product Security PGP Key." Where possible, CVE IDs are used to reference the vulnerabilities for further information. To learn about...

It’s May 31 and I’ve had my Mac for one month. This is my report. I HAVE: 1. Upgraded OS X from 10.3 to 10.4. I slept thru it. a. Done no OS X configuration other than screen saver and wallpaper. Moved the ‘Dock’ or task bar. b. No security add ons. c. Upgraded to 10.4.1. Seamless. Painless. But, yes, it does require a reboot. 2. Installed a "legal copy" of MS Office for Mac. a. Macros in Office apps. From everything I have seen and heard from my new 108,745 close personal friends, OS X viri in the wild...

Mad As Hell: Metaphor 1.42 --------------------------------------------------- The reason Windows people think they're just as safe is because they're the victim of a propaganda war about the existence of Security By Design. Microsoft tries to play both sides of Security By Design, and most people don't even notice. When Microsoft (and their apologists) want to explain why they're OS seems to be a miserable piece of technology ridden with problems, they *deny* the existence of Security By Design, and say that the problem is because they are so wonderfully popular. They tell everyone that Security By Design doesn't exist and they'd...

Last week, I wrote about some of the changes Microsoft has in store for the next version of Windows, which is slated for the end of 2006. Interestingly, very few of you responded to that column, probably because so much may change in the next 19 months. But a few of you fired off diatribes about how I'm either a Microsoft "shill" or an Apple "apologist" (or maybe it was the other way around). It's not just me, either; it's a running sardonic joke among tech columnists that you can't even USE the word "Apple" or "Microsoft" without getting hate...

Even though I am a security guy, my day-to-day work is pretty much like everyone else’s. I live on laptops and use my desktops at home and the office for geeking and experimenting. My pair of day-to-day laptops (Mac and Vaio XP Pro) are religiously backed up and so are my business machines. I don’t need them to do a whole lot – except reliably work, and that is why I am so damned aggravated with WinTel. (My Dell/Linux is for fun when I have the time, and to determine when it would be safe for OO.o to go Prime...