Seems that Apple has released Safari 5.0.3 which fixes several things including Flash content coverage, JavaScript-intensive pages, pop-up blocking and more. Sad that I have to reboot to get this, but it's far too important not to.
This morning I got 10.6.5 with a slew of fixes - both big and small, totaling in at a whopping 500+MB download. It's supposed to be full of a lot of little updates and fixes, but it's also been reported that 10.6.6 is already in the hands of developers - presumably with different updates and/or features like AirPlay and AirPrint. In any case, it's been a while since I rebooted my laptop, and this was a good time to clean everything out.
Love the stuff they create.
This morning I noticed that Apple has posted an update on Software Updates to iPhoto that ships with iLife '11. THere's a new feature called Calendars, and I'm not exactly sure what that is - other than something that probably shows pics by date. Sounds OK... but I'm more interested in the other existing views. Still... it's nice they are still working on it.
This morning I noticed that Apple updated the Java deployment on OS X to 1.6.0_22 to bring it current with the latest offering from Sun/Oracle. There have been a lot of little improvements and security fixes for the JVM and it's very nice to see them kept up to date on the Mac.
Like it or not, Java is here to stay and it's an important part of my daily life.
UPDATE: This is not a good development:
As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the version of Java that is ported by Apple, and that ships with Mac OS X, is deprecated.
This means that the Apple-produced runtime will not be maintained at the same level, and may be removed from future versions of Mac OS X. The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products.
Now I can understand the "Back to the Mac" idea of not putting Flash on the newly shipping MacBook Airs, but that's easily fixed - just install it if you want. They aren't trying to stop you on your laptop. But this... this is bad news. I've been using Java on the Mac for a lot of years, and it's been a fantastic platform for that. I just don't know why they'd want to ditch it unless it's about the Oracle acquisition or something.
I just have a bad feeling about this...
First off, I'm very impressed that Apple is continuing with the live broadcasting of it's major keynotes and product releases. I think for a technology company, it's what should be done, as opposed to what can be done. If you invest in massive server farms and huge datacenters, with streaming video, TV, and movies, then if you can't pull off a keynote, you're in big trouble.
That said, I had hoped that there would be something really neat about the things I'd see in the keynote. But there weren't. I can understand that a lot of people like to work their apps full-screen. My wife is one of them. Makes sense for her, as that's how she "sees" the computer - a device that has "multiple personalities". It can do email, it can do web, it can do music, but in her mind, as with many others, it doesn't do these all at once.
And that's where I sit. All kinds of things happening at once. For me, my phone can do one thing at a time, and with the fast app switching, I have to say I'm not upset about the "reconfiguration" time. But for a computer? That would be horrible. So while I can see the keynote going for the more consumer-level audience, it missed me.
Don't get me wrong, I'll upgrade to iLife '11, but not because of the full-screen modes.
But as for Mac OS X 10.7 - Lion, I didn't see anything there that I liked. Not a thing. I'm very comfortable with Spaces and Expose. I don't need them in a different view. I don't dislike the new view, but it's something I'd never have asked them to improve upon in a million years. It's perfect at what it does.
As for the App Store. I'll wait and see. There's a lot to like about it, but I like the way in which my apps now work. They all update, or close enough. They are easy to find with LaunchBar, and I don't have to worry about those ugly screens of apps. That's something for a phone, not a real computer. At least, not for me.
They didn't highlight the little things, and I'm hoping there's more to like about Lion than what I saw. The new iOS-like scroll bars will be nice. I don't want to see them if I'm not needing to see them. Scroll bars on Terminal.app have been something I wish they could remove for ages. Glad to hear that the rumors say they'll be updated in Lion.
I'm sure I'll get Lion for my machines. It's the future. But I hope there's a lot more to like about Lion than what we saw in the keynote. That's awfully thin, in my book.
Finally, the MacBook Air. Nice looking notebook, but too small and too underpowered for me. It'd be nice to see a higher resolution screen on my 17" MacBook Pro... along with faster processors and more memory. I'm already excited about the SSD option, but just need to wait for a nice update to the MacBook Pro line to get a new one.
In all, it's interesting, but not earth-shaking.
Well... I found out that iOS 4.1 is out for my iPhone and it includes a lot of the nice little things that we've all been hearing about for the last several months: Game Center, the improved proximity sensor, lots of bug fixes and the new camera features.
While I certainly can remember my life before the MacBook Pro and the iPhone, I can't imagine going back to that old world of desktop computers and cell phones that I turned off and only made calls on. It's a different world, and I like where it's headed.
The update isn't going to be quick, I'm betting there are thousands upon thousands of people trying to get that 500+MB file from Apple right now, but I can wait. It's enough for me to know that it's coming, and it'll all take care of itself in time.
This morning I noticed that I had updates from Apple - Safari 5.0.2 and iWeb 3.0.2. Very nice! I looked at the skimpy release notes with Software Update, and there are a few things for Safari - like the extensions being updated over SSL now, but for the most part, both of these are the "security and stability" update category. Someone reported the holes, and they responded by patching them.
Seems reasonable.
Well... the 'media event' was interesting to me primarily because it was a wonderful example of streaming done right. The stream was very fast to start, and while there were a few hiccups in the middle there, it was, by and large, a fantastic display of Apple technology, and I loved it.
Am I going to buy a new iPod? Nope. But I did like the new Apple TV, and at $99, am honestly considering getting one for the movie and TV rentals. It also supports Netflix streaming, so I can see that they are getting to the point that it's more of a display device as opposed to a gateway to the iTunes content. Nicely done. Add Hulu and you're in business.
I'm interested in the addition of 'Ping' to iTunes, but I'm not sure how many "friends" I'll have, or who in the world would be interested in what I've got in my library, or what I'm listening to. But there are certainly aspects of the public that are all about this - I know of three - all teenagers. So that's nice.
In all, an interesting keynote, and I'm looking forward to the new iTunes 10.
This morning I saw that Apple had an update to iWork '09 (9.0.4) on Software Updates, so naturally I had to get it. While I'm not sure I'll be doing a lot of ePub work, it's nice that they have closed the loop on the iBooks and content creation. Now it's simple to write something, put it in ePub format, and get it into iBooks. Very slick. But then again, that's what we all expect from Apple. Nicely done.
This morning there was another round of security updates from Apple - covering PHP, PDF, etc. It's not a lot, but hey, when there's an exploit in the wild, you have to fix them, and I'm going to make sure I get the very latest updates. Just makes good sense.