macOS Archive

" This database stuff is clearly the next frontier. If we are ever going to have natural speech interfaces and virtual assistants that collect and display our information in more useful ways, the computer is going to need to know much more about how our files relate to each other and remember what we’ve done to them and who’s done it. Moving all this organization to the system level instead of locking it up in separate applications that are then duplicated in a search index seems like the best way to get there."

"The 10.4.6 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies: login and authentication in a variety of network environments; file access and byte range locking with AFP file sharing; network access when using proxy server automatic configuration files; searching iWork '06 and Microsoft Office documents with Spotlight; creating Automator workflows for iPhoto 6; synchronizing contacts and calendars to .Mac and mobile phones; and much more." There's a delta update for 10.4.5, and a combo update for 10.4.0-10.4.5. Easiest method is to just use Software Update.

As Apple moves from IBM's and Freescale's PowerPC RISC architecture to Intel processors, developers must rebuild their products to support both platforms, into what Apple calls a UB (Universal Binary). And while Apple lists over 1000 UB applications currently available, this process is challenging developers, especially those of some of the largest and most critical applications for the platform.

"Core Data is a powerful data-management framework introduced with Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger. When you take advantage of Core Data, it slashes the amount of custom code you need to write in order to manage application data. Opening, saving and undo management can all be handled by Core Data, freeing you to concentrate on creating unique features for your application. This article is meant to address a somewhat different aspect of the power of this technology: the rapid development capability that is enabled by Core Data, Xcode and Interface Builder."

Informit.com's very own Mac Reference Guide, Owen Linzmayer, again risks the slings and arrows of Apple's most ardent admirers with another look at how Tiger rubs him wrong. Take a look at "Ten More Things I Hate About Mac OS X" to see if you recognize any of your own pet peeves. Elsewhere on the same site, this chapter covers the initial installation and setup of Mac OS X Tiger, either as a fresh installation, or as an upgrade from a previous version. Detailed instructions are given to help you set your Mac up just how you want it.

BusinessWeek explores why the chance is right for Apple to license the Mac OS to 3rd party hardware vendors. "First, the caveats: there's as much chance that Apple will license the MacOS as there is that Steve Jobs will show up to his next keynote wearing a dress instead of the usual attire. Secondly, he's probably right not to change course, because there's plenty of evidence that Apple's proprietary approach is the way to go to win the huge consumer electronics and digital media markets that are now opening up. But humor me anyway, because it's actually an interesting time to consider the question."

"As a long serving citizen of the Internet I have, in my time, accumulated membership to a number of email groups. It was in one of these groups that I first heard reports of a virus (Leap.A) that had started to infect Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. I was not surprised that this had happened; in fact I was quite taken aback that it had not happened before! But I was flabbergasted by the response of the Mac Mafia to this news. The assumption that something is infallible is at best naive and at worst stupid; it can only invite trouble."

In Mac OS X, the root account is disabled by default. The first user account created is added to the admin group and that user can use the sudo command to execute other commands as root. The conventional wisdom is that sudo is the most secure way to run root commands, but a closer look reveals a picture that is not so clear.

This chapter begins with a historical perspective of the Mac OS X graphics system and the evolution of technology behind Quartz 2D. It also explores crucial aspects of the graphics technology that is shaping the graphics architecture of the Macintosh.

Apple released another version of the security patch it distributed on March 13 to users of its OS X operating system software, in order to address a problem reported with the update. The company said it distributed the new patch, dubbed Update 2006-002 v1.1, in order to fix an issue with Apple's Safari Web browser that some users observed after installing its 2006-002 security update. According to a post on the company's Web site, the previous update had caused some Safari users to have problems launching the browser.

Apple on Monday released the second set of Mac OS X security fixes in two weeks. Security Update 2006-002 corrects problems caused by the company's previous patch and fixes newly discovered security flaws, some of which could let an attacker run code on a computer with the same privileges as the user, the company said on its web site.

Here are the results of the challenge launched by the Unversity of Wisconsin to test OS X against hacking. "The response has been very strong; traffic to the host spiked at over 30 Mbps. Most of the traffic, aside from casual web visitors, was web exploit scripts, ssh dictionary attacks, and scanning tools such as Nessus. The machine was under intermittent DoS attacks. During the two brief periods of denial of service, the host remained up. The test machine was a Mac mini (PowerPC) running Mac OS X 10.4.5 with Security Update 2006-001, had two local accounts, and had ssh and http open with their default configurations. There were no successful access attempts during the 38 hour duration of the test period."

An Apple Computer patch released last week doesn't completely fix a high-profile Mac OS X flaw, leaving a toehold for cyberattacks, experts said. The update added a function called 'download validation' to the Safari Web browser, Apple Mail client and iChat instant messaging tool. "While Apple added a checkpoint to the downloading and execution process, they did not eliminate this vulnerability," said Kevin Long, an analyst at security specialist Cybertrust and a Mac user for 11 years. "If a user can be tricked into opening a file that looks like a picture, the user may actually be opening a malicious script."

"In response to the woefully misleading ZDnet article, 'Mac OS X hacked under 30 minutes', the academic Mac OS X Security Challenge has been launched. The ZDnet article, and almost all of the coverage of it, failed to mention a very critical point: anyone who wished it was given a local account on the machine (which could be accessed via ssh). The challenge is as follows: simply alter the web page on this machine, test.doit.wisc.edu. The machine is a Mac mini (PowerPC) running Mac OS X 10.4.5 with Security Update 2006-001, has two local accounts, and has ssh and http open - a lot more than most Mac OS X machines will ever have open."