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Some Intel-based Macs can become unresponsive while being used as a host in FireWire target disk mode. This may occur if the second computer is left connected for over 24 consecutive hours to the Intel-based target Mac.
Products affected
* Mac Book Pro
* iMac (Early 2006)
Parallels has announced, by way of a blog posting, the release of Parallels Desktop Beta 3036, a “free” update of the currently available version. Parallels allows you to switch back and forth between Mac OS X and XP without rebooting
New and / or improved features are said to include:
• New look and feel, improved usability
• Virtual machines catalogue
• One-click virtual machine aliases:
• Automatically created by OS installation assistant
• Clicking on alias automatically starts the VM
• Shutting down a VM automatically closes Parallels
You can only use this to restore the firmware after an interrupted or failed update. If your computer is already in this state, you’ll need to download the software and create the CD on another Macintosh computer, or you can take your computer to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider to restore your firmware. This CD can be created on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers.
This CD cannot be used to return an Intel-based Macintosh computer’s firmware to a previous version if a successful update has already been performed. More …
Apple has released a quintet of firmware updates that address Boot Camp, start up and wake-from-sleep issues with the company’s iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and Mac Pro product lines, essentially the whole enchilada.
Here are the links:
• iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.1
• MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.2
• MacBook EFI Firmware Update 1.0
• Mac mini EFI Firmware Update 1.1
• Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.1
Apple’s offering the following info each of these updates:
This EFI Firmware Update fixes several Boot Camp, start up, and wake-from-sleep issues on [model name] computers.
Apple KB article: iMac and MacBook LCD panel brightness may brighten up to the maximum level when you connect or disconnect an external display. More …
In a post to his blog, Adobe Senior Product Manager John Nack attempts to justify the company’s decision to make Soundbooth an Intel-based Mac-only product. “Here’s the reality: Apple’s migration to Intel chips means that it’s easier to develop for both Mac and Windows, because instead of splitting development resources optimizing for two different chip architectures, you can focus on just one. That’s all good, and it makes Mac development more attractive. Users benefit from having developers’ efforts go elsewhere (features, performance tuning, etc.), rather that into parallel, duplicate work. In the case of Soundbooth, the team could leverage Adobe’s expertise in building great audio tools for Intel chips (namely Audition) to bring the app to market faster and with a richer feature set. Now, if you were Adobe and had started developing a new application at exactly the time when Apple told you, ‘This other chip architecture is dead to us,’ would you rather put your efforts into developing for that platform, or would you focus elsewhere?’” More …
CNET posted computer ratings with a link on the front page entitled “Best desktop PCs we’ve ever seen.” It leads to ratings in five categories, three of which Apple took top honors:
Mainstream PCs - 17″ iMac
Media Center - 24″ iMac
Business - 17″ iMac
In “Budget PCs” the Mac Mini came in second but with a caveat that “… if you want a small, innocuous computer for sending or receiving media or other files between rooms, no other computer offers the deal that Apple has with this one.”
In “Performance PCs” the Apple Mac Pro tied for second place with an “Excellent” rating at 8.0, with a Dell costing $1,500 more grading out at 8.1. More …
CodeWeavers has issued a public beta release of CrossOver for Mac OS X, virtualization software that allows Windows applications to run within Mac OS X on Intel-based Macs without an actual copy of Windows.
Release information states:
“CrossOver Mac will be the very best way to run your Windows applications on your Intel based Mac. It will let you install and run Windows programs as though they were native, all without having to buy or run a copy of Windows itself.
“This beta version will give you a taste of the promise of CrossOver, but should be considered an early test release — we intend to make substantial further improvements before we ship a production version. If you’re not interested in experimental software, you should skip this and wait for notice of the production release.” More …
Just think of it. Running those games and applications without threat of virius or other infections.
Apple has cut prices on select iPod and Mac refurbs. Apple’s spinning this sell down as an opportunity to “save” up to $100 on iPods and as much as $900 on Macs.
These are Apple Certified Refurbished products and ship with a one-year warranty that can be extended via AppleCare.
CrossOver, Northstar Run Windows Apps on Macs—without Windows: New programs from CodeWeavers and True North Technology give Mac users access to Windows applications without running the Windows operating system. More …
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