Hasta La Gadget!

If the online chatter is to be believed, Apple’s very soon to be released Snow Leopard has in its code new protection for fighting malware. According to the picture above corroborated by other online reports, a DMG downloaded by Safari was checked by the OS and found to contain the “RSPlug.A” Trojan. The system promptly suggests you eject the disk image to avoid damage. Should Apple really be treading down this path, it begs the question of how often and how comprehensive / aggressive the company will be updating its antivirus logs. If nothing else, it’s a certainly a notable symbolic gesture that the one-time underdog might be gaining enough market share to catch the attention of the darker side of the internet — and all of a sudden, David Puddy isn’t looking nearly as bad.

[Thanks, David]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Snow Leopard packing antivirus software? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s not September, but we’re not going to hold an early launch of its performance-focused Snow Leopard OS against Apple. The Apple store has come back online bearing an order page for OS X version 10.6 in Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Pro… oh wait, it’s just $29 as an upgrade from 10.5. August 28th, that’s when, now go ‘n get it.

While you wait for that order to ship, Apple wants you to know that Snow Leopard’s Finder is more responsive, Mail loads messages twice as fast, Time Machine will complete initial backups 80 percent faster, and a 64-bit version of Safari 4 is 50 percent faster than its predecessors. There’s even QuickTime X with a redesigned player that lets users view, record, trim and share video. Of course, this release also includes Grand Central Dispatch, a new way for devs to take advantage of multi-core processors as well as OpenCL support to accelerate apps with the help of that idling graphics processor. Oh, and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange too. All in all, a worthy update, especially for the price.

P.S. Requires Intel-based Mac.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Snow Leopard shipping August 28th for $29, order now originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether or not Snow Leopard build 10A432 is really the ready-for-shipment “golden master,” Apple’s own site is giving hope to the masses that its next platform iteration is gearing up for a launch sooner rather than later. MacRumors is reporting that a Mac Box Set containing OS X 10.6 , iLife ’09, and iWork ’09 popped up on Apple’s online store today priced at $169 for single users and shipping within 24 hours. The page itself no longer exists, although not before Google’s spiders managed to pick up on it. It’s probably wishful thinking to think this is indicative of a release before its projected September launch window — and really, at this point, that’s only a couple of weeks away — if you were gonna hope for it anyway, here’s some fodder for ya.

Read – Snow Leopard box set briefly appears in Apple Online Store
Read – Google entry for now-defunct page

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Snow Leopard box set makes short-lived cameo in Apple’s online store originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

I originally started this column on my take on what an Apple tablet might be (I literally dreamed about it and started to write it down when I woke up). I was really into it, which explains why I didn’t save it as I wrote. I think you can see where this is going.

Like a cartoon character who notices that he’s no longer standing on solid ground and suddenly begins to fall, I reached over to save, but was too late. My trusty XP install suddenly blue screened. Muttering just a few choice words, I rebooted, only to blue screen again. No problem, there’s always “safe mode.” Too bad safe mode blue screened as well. With little hope of getting anything recovered, I gave up, fired up my Mac and started from scratch. It’s not the first time this has happened to me, where for some reason or another I’ve lost work on my computer. I suspect it’s happened to a few of you out there too.

But this latest bad experience changed my thought process from Apple tablets to what’s wrong with the whole PC landscape and today’s operating systems.

Continue reading Entelligence: Stains on the sleeve of my operating system

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Entelligence: Stains on the sleeve of my operating system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The saga of Microsoft vs. the European Commission just keeps on keepin’ on. MS was accused of harming the browser competition by including IE with Windows, and as part of its pledge to play nice proposed a Europe-only version of Windows 7 that would completely lack Internet Explorer, dubbed Windows 7 E. Last week the company came up with an alternative: a so-called ballot screen version that would allow users to pick (nearly) any browser they like upon start-up — or just stick with the already installed IE. Buoyed by generally positive feedback from the move, Microsoft has indicated it’s going to go ahead and kill off Windows 7 E — despite the lack of an official agreement from the Commission as of yet. So, the whole, wonderful world will get the same flavor of the OS, and everyone browsed happily ever after. The end…?

[Via ComputerWorld]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Microsoft’s browserless Windows 7 E gets EUthanized originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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