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Attack code that exploits a flaw in Apple Computer's Mac OS X was publicly released Wednesday, increasing the urgency to patch. The code's arrival comes just a day after Apple made an update available for its operating system. The malicious program takes advantage of a locally exploitable vulnerability in an operating system component called "launchd". "Attackers may exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges," Symantec said in a security alert to customers that was updated on Thursday. On Tuesday, Apple delivered Mac OS X 10.4.7. The operating system update repairs a total of five flaws. Four of...

The 10.4.7 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies. It includes fixes for: - preventing AFP deadlocks and dropped connections - saving Adobe and Quark documents to AFP mounted volumes - Bluetooth file transfers, pairing and connecting to a Bluetooth mouse, and syncing to mobile phones - audio playback in QuickTime, iTunes, Final Cut Pro, and Soundtrack applications - ensuring icons are spaced correctly when viewed on desktop - determining the space required to burn folders - iChat audio and video connectivity, creating chat...

Normally, we expect new Linux desktop users to come from the ranks of disgruntled Windows users. After all, they're the ones who have to deal with high-prices and endless security problems. Now, it seems that some Mac gurus are also making the switch to Linux.

"The definition of a civilized computing platform: the time requiredto learn how to use it is less than the time required to complete a major simulation on it." - Bill Buzbee, Arctic Region Supercomputing Center The Beginnings It was the summer of 2003, and university staff members in the computer science department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia had just heard Steve Jobs announce the G5 at WWDC. The new Power Mac G5 had a rather masculine, sharp edged enclosure, and it contained not one but two IBM PowerPC 970 processors running at 2 GHz. The Virginia Tech people...

Apple tells hacks to stay out of its kernel Since before its release, Apple's OS X for the Intel platform had been circulating the Internet in many places, and many had been running the operating system for months ahead of Apple's own release schedules. Thanks to cunning hackery by famed OS X hacker Maxxuss, many were able to install the protected operating system on generic machines. Apple had implemented a check for a trusted platform module (TPM) chip that was integrated on specific Intel motherboards, which when detected, allowed the installation of OS X. When Apple had finally released a...

There are many differences between the Isle of Man and the rest of the UK - even in ICT. Jack Kenny discovers why the island's schools prefer Apple Macs to PCs There are not many secondary schools in the UK where Apple computers vastly outnumber PCs. ICT at St Ninians in Douglas, Isle of Man, is one such school powered by Apple computers. The overall impression you get at the school is of ICT being used confidently and creatively: blogs, music creation, teachers integrating ICT into their work, podcasts (video and audio). In his role as Head of ICT at...

Apple on Thursday released Security Update 2006-003, fixing vulnerabilities in Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server. In addition to fixing core technologies, the update also includes changes to several of the company's applications. An issue with Apple's Safari Web browser running in Mac OS X 10.4 that allowed an automatically expanded archive containing a symbolic link to be moved to the user's desktop and launched has been fixed in this update. Apple Mail received two fixes. The first deals with the handling of invalid color information in enriched text email messages that could cause the allocation and initialization...

"Organizations are looking to network access control solutions that leverage endpoint intelligence to deliver continuous protection against worms, spyware, malicious behavior and endpoint configurations that slip out of compliance," said Eric Ogren, security analyst at the Enterprise Security Group. Mac users are facing an onslaught of security threats -- and reacting to the malware is no longer considered a good strategy. Taking proactive measures agains phishers, spyware, ID thieves and other Web threats, like downloadable rootkits which infest operating systems, is the new norm. During a conference call with reporters, experts affiliated with the SANS Institute indicated that there has...

SummaryLinux is found to be much faster than Apple's OS X for statistical computing. And although Linux is 5 to 10 percent faster than Windows XP, both are markedly faster than OS X. For example, in one benchmark both Linux and Windows XP are more than twice as fast as OS X. The results on this page were conducted on a MacBookpro with a 2.16Ghz Intel Core Duo chip and 2GB of RAM. I had previous conducted Linux vs. Mac OS X and Windows XP and Opteron vs. G5 and Pentium benchmarks. Those results were terrible for OS X and...

Fresh news reports of nasty bugs aimed at Apple computers have rekindled the age-old debate: are Macs safe? Here's the lowdown The latest round of Apple (AAPL) ads aimed at convincing consumers to drop their Windows PCs and join the millions of people happily using Macs kicked off this week. . . . . . RAISING AN ALARM. Naturally, this campaign -- especially the virus-themed spot -- served as the starting gun for another round of the endless debates in computer-security circles over how secure the Mac actually is. So far, it has been pretty smooth sailing with a few...

The recent ruckus about the claimed growing vulnerability of Mac OSX from certain sources has caused an indignant outcry from Mac advocates who claim the stories are mostly media hype. According to an expert in Unix and Linux systems, the outcry is not without justification. Con Zymaris has been working with Unix systems for nearly three decades and for the past 15 years has been running a consultancy on open source software implementation. Zymaris says that, while it is true that a Mac can get infected with a virus, it is not easy and it is not likely to cause...

Recently there has been a growth industry in pundits whining about the security of the Apple Mac OS X operating system. To read some of the coverage, you would think someone deciding to use OS X instead of Windows would have to be dumber than a fence post. Methinks the security worries are rather misplaced and may be the result of hyperventilating, nontechnical reporters and some gloating on the part of Windows users. One would have to be dumber than a fence post to assert any set of software as complex as a computer operating system and all of its...

I'll leave a fuller examination of Vista's broken promises for a later date. For now, let's look at the most current builds we do have--build 5308 and 5342--and see where Vista just completely blows it. As with the broken promises, Vista's failures are legion, but I'll just focus on a few examples here and leave the full list for a later time.

Apple has posted early program information about what developers will learn at the Worldwide Developer's Conference 2006. Apple's intention to demo Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) at this year's WWDC has been no secret. Steve Jobs announced it last year at the WWDC 2005 Keynote, and Apple's BootCamp page indicated that "Developers can learn all about the sixth major release of Mac OS X [Leopard] this century at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference." WWDC takes placed between August 7-11th of this year. Join the thousands of Mac developers who will be attending WWDC 2006, and be one of the first to...

An avid Mac user has managed to install and boot Windows Vista an on Intel Mac, according to report on the OSx86 Project website. The site says that despite Apple's beta release of its Boot Camp software and several previous successful attempts at getting the installer to work, actually making Vista run on an Intel Mac has still proven to be quite a challenge. The user has taken screenshots of his success, but says he had to delete the Mac OS X partition to get Vista running. The OSx86 Project, which says it is a good start and congratulated the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News), the maker of the Macintosh computer and iPod music device, on Wednesday rolled out a first-ever software patch to run Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system on its PCs, a move that could draw millions of new buyers. By enabling the move to Windows, the world's No. 1 operating system, Apple hopes to draw people who want Macs, considered by many as easier to use and more stylish, but prefer the Windows operating system. Apple shares rose 5.7 percent in early trade on Nasdaq. Apple said the "Boot Camp" software, available...

Yesterday, Apple Computer Inc. turned 30 years old. But an equally significant anniversary occurred two Fridays ago: March 24 marked Mac OS X's fifth birthday. Four major updates later, that operating system ranks as one of Apple's greatest successes. First, it broke the company's long streak of unfinished operating-system projects. Second, OS X has shown that it's possible to fix three of the worst parts of computing: adding programs, removing them and keeping everything in good working order... ...Mac OS X lives by three basic principles, which together make it easier to live with than any competitor. The system is...

Avadis "Avie" Tevanian, Apple Computer's Chief Technology Officer, is leaving the firm to "pursue other interests," the company confirmed Monday. Tevanian, who came to Apple in 1997 from his previous post working for Steve Jobs at NeXT, played a key role in developing Mac OS X, the company's widely adored operating system. Although Apple wouldn't say what Tevanian's plans are, Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton wrote in an e-mail that, "He plans to take some time off in the interim. He hasn't left yet, though. His last official day is March 31." Tevanian, who is considered an...

Here's the original, official Apple press release:CUPERTINO, California—March 21, 2001—Apple® today announced that beginning this Saturday, March 24, customers can buy Mac® OS X in retail stores around the world. Mac OS X is the world’s most advanced operating system, combining the power and openness of UNIX with the legendary ease of use and broad applications base of Macintosh®. “Mac OS X is the most important software from Apple since the original Macintosh operating system in 1984 that revolutionized the entire industry,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait for Mac users around the globe to experience its stability,...

Hackers boot a Dell with Mac OS X (Intel). March 24, 2006 -- Unidentified programmers have hacked the Intel version of Mac OS X to enable it to boot a Dell PC. A file called the "JaS4.2b patch" can be used to create a customized installer DVD for installing on a Dell PC. A website called MacaDell describes the patch. The MacDell site has also has a page that describes how to use the JaS4.2b patch to create a customized installer disc for Mac OS X. Using the hack is illegal because it breaks Apple’s Mac OS X license agreement,...