Last night, Apple released a Windows update for MacBook machines running Boot Camp. It's not clear yet whether you can or should install this on all MacBook/MacBook Pro models, or just the newest (unibody) versions. If you've been running Windows on these new MacBooks, then you know how fickle the Multi-Touch trackpads are. This update will hopefully help matters, as we've received quite a few tips about trackpad problems in Windows (not to mention the numerous postings on the Apple discussion boards).

Apple tell us that the update "Improves the performance of the Apple Multi-Touch trackpad when running Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista on a Mac computer using Boot Camp."

You can download this update from the Apple Support Downloads website. It is a Windows executable, so you will need to be running Windows to install it. It is available for both Windows XP & Vista.

On a side note, the download page for the update shows an... interesting, and previously unknown version of Vista, at least to anyone browsing right now (it will probably be fixed shortly). We can only imagine that "Widows Vista" is coming soon to a computer near you.

Thanks to Ryan, and others who sent this in!

There is more fallout from the current Leopard update to version 10.5.6. Many users are flocking to the Apple support forums to share their tales of woe about Time Machine failures after the update. (Ironically, Time Machine was on the list of items that received bug fixes).

Upgraders are seeing Time Machine stall, fail to identify the target hard drive, lock up while Time Machine is 'preparing' to backup, and other assorted glitches. There is no guarantee that these issues were caused by the update to 10.5.6, but users are seeing a lot of problems in parallel to the software changes.

MacFixit has quite a bit of guidance on the Time Machine issues. One of the most interesting observations is the long pause while 'preparing' to backup. It seems TM needs to do a deep traversal of the data because it sees a lot of file changes to copy, as would be expected with a major software update. The advice is to wait it out and and eventually TM is likely to get going. I had the same issue and eventually stopped the process, erased my TM drive and started again. That was after more than 2 hours of 'preparing'. It looks like I might have been better off to wait.

I had hoped 10.5.6 would fix the occasional TM error I get telling me that the backup failed, but then when I try again, everything is fine. I spent a good hour on the phone with Apple support on this problem some months ago, but didn't get anywhere. Many others have seen this rather arcane message and reported it. Hopefully it will be fixed in the next OS update.

It's good to keep in mind that most people updated without any dire consequences, but there are enough people grumbling that it merits a closer look by Apple.

• I tried to upgrade to 10.5.6 yesterday and I left the computer on to do the upgrade while I went back to work. When I came back, it has the normal window up that says "configuring installation" and from there it just starts and hangs.
• I have just downloaded the latest update (10.5.6) and then rebooted my iMac, next the software Update box appeared on screen as usual, saying: Installing 1 item, configuring Installation. Then the Blue progress bar started to move to the right, went about 1/4 of an inch and stopped there, I left the iMac running for two hours and the progress blue bar had not moved.
• My Mac gets to preparing installation then nothing... Left it there all night in case I was being impatient but this morning still preparing install?

• An overclocked 3.8GHz Core 2 Quad
• 4GB of RAM
• A GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card in an Antec P180 case
• The dongle that fools your machine into installing OS X

The thing about clones is, they keep regenerating. The latest manufacturer we've noticed, Argentina-based OpeniMac, has begun selling Mac clones.

As if using the word "iMac" wasn't adequate bait for Apple's lawyers, who are probably en route at this very moment, OpeniMac has begun selling two computers that run Mac OS X Leopard. The OpeniMac features a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor, support for 2GB of RAM, a 320GB SATA drive, SuperDrive and an ATI Radeon HD PRO video card for $990US.

The OpeniMac PRO sports a 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, support for 4GB of memory, a 500GB SATAII drive, a SuperDrive, and a Nvidia GeForce GS video card for $1,710US. But wait, there's more! They both come with a built in 6-in-1 memory card reader.

As for their looks ... no one said clones had to be pretty.

While the Psystar case waits in legal limbo, it would seem that opportunists are jumping on the bandwagon. Begun, this clone war has.

[Via Engadget]

Call it the Touchable Penguin. OK, the touchscreen drivers aren't there yet, but the simple, scrolling shell output of a Linux kernel running on the iPhone represents a big achievement for the iPhone Dev Team and dev lead 'planetbeing.' The build is far from complete -- no wireless networking, no sound, no writeable support for the NAND flash memory -- but it's still very cool, and the effort involved was substantial (the team had to reverse-engineer the iPhone's boot loader so they could write their own).

Having a working Linux kernel on jailbroken iPhones and iPod touch handhelds might seem frivolous, but imagine the ability to run other touch phone OS platforms on top of an iPhone (like, perhaps, Android)... very tempting. You can see more of the rationale behind the Linux-on-iPhone project here, or you can skip to the second half of this post to see the video.

[via Engadget & Erica]

• If your Mac is new: Boot up the new Mac and go through the setup screens. When the setup assistant asks if you want to migrate information from your old Mac, choose "From Time Machine backup or other disk."
  
• If your Mac has an existing account, don't fret. Just open "Migration Assistant" located in /Applications/Utilities.
  

Gallery: Migrating to a new Mac

Cocoatech's Path Finder is the Mac OS Finder replacement that many users love (including us). If you haven't used it, you are missing out on something. A tabbed interface, insane customization options, powerful search (you can completely override Spotlight if you like) and so much more will have you ditching the Finder in no time. Path Finder can be run in conjunction with the Mac OS X Finder or on its own.

Today, it gets even better with the release of version 5.0. There are cool new features like a dual-pane file browser, which lets you display two folders simultaneously in one window and move files between them. Other new features include sidebar, Favorite Places and shared network places.

Many so-called "power users" complain about the Finder's limitations. If that's you, chances are Path Finder has the fix. It requires Mac OS 10.4 Leopard 10.5, and costs $34.95$39.95 for a single license. (Cocoatech let us know that they're working on the server issues that blocked access to the PF5 pages earlier.)

Steve Ballmer is imitating his CEO predecessor by suggesting that Apple separate its iPhone hardware from OS X, according to Ars Technica.

Nokia leads the smartphone market today with about a 30 percent share, he said. "If you want to reach more than that, you have to separate the hardware and software in the platform," he said in an discussion forum with the Churchill Club, a Silicon Valley business and technology group.

In 1985, Bill Gates approached Apple (and its then-CEO, John Sculley) with prospects in hand to convince it to license Mac OS to third-party vendors. As we all know, that didn't happen (at least not with Microsoft as a partner), keeping the bond tight between Apple hardware and software. Microsoft wound up doing it themselves with Windows.

The idea that Ballmer thinks other companies should be more like Microsoft isn't shocking at all; in fact, what else was the man supposed to say? Like Jobs with Apple, Ballmer's talks and interviews wield a great deal of influence on Microsoft's stock price. If he said anything other than what he did, MSFT would have taken a hit. As CEO, that's unconscionable.

Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.5 update (and Security Update 2008-006) fixes a critical DNS vulnerability that could allow attackers to trick victims into visiting malicious Web sites using what's known as a "cache poisoning attack." We wrote about the vulnerability in August.

Although Apple's release notes say BIND was updated "to address performance issues," the update also delivers the promised address port randomization that protects users from such cache poisoning attacks. The original patch offered protection for Apple's servers but did not completely protect client systems.

Apple's updates fixed flaws in several applications and system components, including some that attackers could use to run unauthorized software on a user's computer.

[Via IDG.]