August 2006 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Boot Camp update, now version 1.1
by Doug Hamilton 15 Aug '06

15 Aug '06

Hello, If you missed it, Apple updated their Boot Camp beta to version 1.1. The download has grown considerably, from 84MB to 202MB. The majority of this considerable download is comprised of improved Window XP drivers for Apple computing hardware. Apple strongly recommends that those using previous versions of Boot Camp download this up date. http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: 2.66GHz Mac Pro sets the speed mark
by billing 14 Aug '06

14 Aug '06

...from: http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/firstlooks/macprobench/index.php? lsrc=mwweek-0814 Quad-core Xeon-based desktop easily beats G5-based predecessors By James Galbraith The standard configuration of the Mac Pro outperforms its PowerPC- based G5 predecessors by a wide margin, helping to justify Apple’s 2005 decision to switch to processors from Intel. What’s more, the system powered by two dual-core 2.66GHz Xeon chips narrowly missed becoming the first machine to ever record a Speedmark score of over 300. Still, tallying a Speedmark 4.5 score of 299 in Macworld Lab testing is nothing to sneeze at—especially in light of the fact that a few of the tests that make up Speedmark involve applications that don’t yet run natively on Intel chips. That means the Mac Pro was able to improve upon the Speedmark score of the Power Mac G5 Quad by 14 percent, even though the collection of tests that comprises Speedmark includes several which require Apple’s Rosetta code-translation technology. [...] As the results chart above shows, in addition to having our highest Speedmark score, the Mac Pro posted the best results in five of the seven individual tests we've listed here. On some tests, such as rendering a scene in Cinema 4D, applying a video effect in iMovie, or using Compressor to encode a movie into MPEG2, the Mac Pro beat out its predecessor by just a few seconds. Other tests, such as creating a Zip archive and running the Unreal Tournament 2004 Botmatch, the Mac Pro’s lead widened—10 percent faster at archiving and 47 percent more frames per second in UT2004 than the fastest Power Mac G5. [...]

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Windows Genuine Advantage: "non-genuine, " what happens next?
by billing 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

Let me answer the question, "Why is this important to know?" before we get into the thick of things. The following information will be of interest to any Macintosh user who is planning on also running Windows on their Apple hardware. It will be very important to anyone planning on running two copies of Windows on their Macintosh hardware (for example, one copy in Parallels and another under BootCamp) because you will stumble into WGA problems when you attempt "Windows Activation" for the second copy. This is easily dealt with by doing a telephone activation of the second copy of Windows during which (after you have informed the Microsoft representative that you have Windows installed on your Macintosh under Parallels and now you are attempting to install it under BootCamp) you will be given a second activation key for your machine. It is important to record this activation key in case you need to reinstall that instance of Windows due to hardware failure/ replacement or the like. Wayne --------------------------------- ...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=98 July 18, 2006 MS says WGA has caught 60 million Windows cheaters Posted by Ed Bott @ 6:44 am Digg This! Two weeks ago, I reported on a terse e-mail exchange with Microsoft, in which a spokesperson acknowledged that 80% of all computers that fail the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check do so because they are using stolen or pirated volume license keys. [...] Microsoft’s Alex Kochis, a member of the WGA product management team, published a blog entry trying to add more details to the discussion. In "When a 'False Positive' isn't a false positive" (http:// blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2006/07/16/667063.aspx), he passes along one staggering statistic: “About 1 in 5 of the 300 million [computers running Windows] that have run WGA validation fail.” [...] He goes on to point out four scenarios: Scenario 1: High-quality counterfeit copies of Windows. Apparently this number isn’t very large at all. As Kochis notes, “So far we've provided hundreds of free copies of Windows to users who've been ripped by high-quality counterfeit…” Scenario 2: The user installs the same copy and key to more than one PC at a time. I don’t understand why this scenario occurs at all. Is the Validation utility really looking at individual keys and identifying people who are reusing a retail or upgrade copy? In this case, shouldn’t activation fail when the user tries to install the second copy? Scenario 3: A friend or acquaintance offers to “fix” your computer and installs a pirated or “cracked” copy of Windows. I can definitely see this one happening, especially when a system is compromised by a spyware or virus infestation. Scenario 4: You take your PC in to be repaired and the repair shop takes a shortcut by reinstalling a volume-licensed copy of Windows. Again, I can see exactly why this happens. How many customers bring in their official restore media? Not many, I’d wager. How many repair shops want to take the extra time (and charge the customer) to restore from the official media? What happens when the media that came with the PC is out of date and the shop has to install a service pack and several dozen patches? In that scenario, should the customer have to purchase a brand-new license when they already paid for one? ------------------------------- ...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=113&tag=nl.e622 Busted! What happens when WGA attacks Posted by Ed Bott @ 4:45 am When Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage software kicks in and identifies your copy of Windows as "non-genuine," what happens next? On the surface, at least, Microsoft is all tea and sympathy: "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting," says the official message that takes over the Windows start up screen. [...] With Microsoft’s assistance, I’ve just installed two illegal copies of Windows XP on a test system here. The idea was to show Windows customers what the WGA experience is really like. (I’ve documented the experience with a series of screenshots and accompanying notes in this image gallery. [...] What if you own a legitimate license, but your copy of Windows was replaced with a bootleg version by a repair shop or a well-meaning friend? You shouldn't have to pay for a new copy. The option, last on the list and confusingly labeled "Update your product key," actually explains how to replace a phony key with one you legitimately own.

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WWDC - Apple Design Awards
by Doug Hamilton 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

If you would like to know what's new and interesting in the software world on Mac OS X, these are the individuals winning awards at WWDC this year. http://developer.apple.com/ada/ Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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VMware for Mac OS X - Official
by Doug Hamilton 08 Aug '06

08 Aug '06

Just thought those of you in a mixed environment would like to know that VMWare has officially announced support for Mac OS X, and have begun pre-registration for those interested in participating in their beta-test program. http://www.vmware.com/ Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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FYI: US-CERT announcement of OS X update
by billing 03 Aug '06

03 Aug '06

The US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team - http:// www.us-cert.gov/) has issued the following Alert. Obtaining the updates your machine requires is as simple as selecting "Software Update..." from the Apple menu. Wayne Billing IST ------------------------------------- National Cyber Alert System Technical Cyber Security Alert TA06-214A Apple Mac Products Affected by Multiple Vulnerabilities Original release date: August 02, 2006 Last revised: -- Source: US-CERT Systems Affected * Apple Mac OS X version 10.3.9 and earlier (Panther) * Apple Mac OS X version 10.4.7 and earlier (Tiger) * Apple Mac OS X Server version 10.3.9 and earlier * Apple Mac OS X Server version 10.4.7 and earlier * Apple Safari web browser * Apple Mail Overview Apple has released Security Update 2006-004 to correct multiple vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Safari web browser, Mail, and other products. The most serious of these vulnerabilities may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. Impacts of other vulnerabilities include bypass of security restrictions and denial of service. I. Description Apple Security Update 2006-004 resolves a number of vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X, OS X Server, Safari web browser, Mail, and other products. Further details are available in the individual Vulnerability Notes. This security update addresses vulnerabilities in a range of different components, including the handling of a number of different image file formats, ZIP archive files, and HTML web pages, among others. II. Impact The impacts of these vulnerabilities vary. For information about specific impacts, please see the Vulnerability Notes. Potential consequences include remote execution of arbitrary code or commands, bypass of security restrictions, and denial of service. III. Solution Install an update Install Apple Security Update 2006-004. This and other updates are available via Apple Update. Workaround Disable "Open 'safe' files after downloading" For additional protection, disable the Safari web browser option to "Open 'safe' files after downloading," as specified in "Securing Your Web Browser." Note that this workaround will not mitigate all of the vulnerabilities described in the Apple Security Update, only those which are exacerbated by the default behavior of the Safari web browser. Appendix A. References * Vulnerability Notes for Apple Security Update 2006-004 - <http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/byid? searchview&query=apple-2006-004> * Securing Your Web Browser - <http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/securing_browser/#Safari> * Apple Security Update 2006-004 - <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304063> * Mac OS X: Updating your software - <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106704> _________________________________________________________________ The most recent version of this document can be found at: <http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-214A.html> _________________________________________________________________ Feedback can be directed to US-CERT Technical Staff. Please send email to <cert(a)cert.org> with "TA06-214A Feedback VU#566132" in the subject. _________________________________________________________________ Produced 2006 by US-CERT, a government organization. Terms of use: <http://www.us-cert.gov/legal.html> _________________________________________________________________ Revision History August 02, 2006: Initial release -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) iQEVAwUBRNEIu+xOF3G+ig+rAQKbvwf+N6TRnpwqcmrlUfA7k1yuRCLCf3yo854x JVy2Uq7Zs5WEqWK1qusPl3thyUS5JYCZzzPQI6pKq5zOOzyu5dqmHLFzstoZAhaz pMTVX4PmMalFEFQV0o4pOi1/pGgu+2PXN8qo2LjSsFwr6xP9FfBQTI8Jov33cLsb WjQyfxj/J8+nMQnCUlL84p7CuK4TdPRwuMVNMGYb8b9pB3SQ1XJ0EFt4UvO8VNqp J32UCJw+LwSKpcBzjQRpw3ZBUpmFgOkZzLux/SiP8+1cyjmbWxxGjW21EfNExOXS C2UpM+CQmoPMLAhTTPbKWs18qSdwcmeRLTeOW4Ao3oUj0QRD5QCFpA== =RByX -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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