• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon PowerShot G10
• Pentax K2000/K-m
• Leaf AFi-II 6
• Leaf AFi-II 7
• Leaf Aptus-II 6
• Leaf Aptus-II 7
• Leica M8.2

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!

Following up on the 10.5.6 upgrade: The most common issue people seemed to have upgrading to Leopard 10.5.6 was that the install would get stuck at 'configuring installation'. It happened to me, and judging by the Apple support boards and others, it was a pretty widespread bug. We reported the problem Tuesday.

Apple has now responded and acknowledged the issue with a support note. It says that the problem can be caused by getting an update that "was only partially downloaded". Of course, what was not explained was how Apple provided only a partial update, and why and how this got past Apple QA?

For most people, installing the combo update solves the install freeze. Apple is recommending that people use Software Update, so most likely the bad package has been removed from the servers. There are still some nagging issues with Mail, mounting network volumes, Safari, and the other all too usual issues following an OS update.

Of course, for many, the update went just fine.

Thanks to all who wrote in and shared their experiences.

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?

Apple's support page and Software Update appear to be a little bit hammered --- you know what that means: A new OS update!

Mac OS X 10.5.6 has just been released to Software Update. The ~190 MB update (assuming you are already running the latest version of OS X) offers up the following, according to Apple's Support Page:

• Various improvements to performance and stability in Mail.app, iCal, Airport and Safari
• Graphical improvements
• DVD player performance improvements
• A new Trackpad panel in System Preferences for portable Macs
• Time Machine and MobileMe improvements
• Other various fixes.

The whole support page lays out the improvements with more accuracy than we often see from Apple and there are security updates too.

My download has just finished and my dock is bouncing, so I'm off to update my system. Post your results in the comments!

Thanks Tyler and Mike!

Apple has released Pro Applications Update 2008-04, which includes updates to Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Color, DVD Studio Pro, Cinema Tools, Motion, Soundtrack Pro and Shake. The update, according to Apple, "addresses general performance issues and improves overall stability."

No specific details were provided about what the update improved about each software component, other than to say each update "addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues." The updates are recommended for all users of the software.

The update includes the following versions:

• Final Cut Pro 6.0.5
• Compressor 3.0.5
• Shake 4.1.1
• DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1
• Cinema Tools 4.0.1
• Motion 3.0.2
• Color 1.0.3
• Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2

The update is available from Apple's website.

Thanks, Clancy!

Apple also released a firmware update for iPod touch, bringing it in line with most version 2.2 updates for iPhone released a little while ago. It doesn't appear, however, that iPod touch users get the enhancements to the Maps app that iPhone users do. (Thanks, Guillermo!)

The update contains enhancements to Mail, fixes connection issues with WPA-secured wireless networks, improves Safari stability, and includes a new preference to turn off auto-correction for typing.

Also, podcasts are now available for download from within the iTunes app, and pressing the Home button from any home screen will now take you to the first home screen.

Several security enhancements are included, too, updating CoreGraphics, ImageIO, networking, Office Viewer, Passcode Lock, Safari and Webkit. A complete list of security updates is available on Apple's website.

The update is available by clicking "Check for Update" with your iPod selected in the Devices area of the sidebar in iTunes.

• Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
• Fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X.
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.

Apple has just released software update 2.3 for the Apple TV. Right now, we don't have the change log, but we'll update the post as soon as we get more information.

It is important to know that as with all other Apple TV firmware updates, running the update WILL remove any non-Apple TV software. So if you have installed the USB boxee hack you might want to wait on running the update.

Apple TV will eventually prompt you to run the automatic update, so boxee or XBMC users might want to check out the XBMC.org forums for information on disabling automatic updates.

If you are not using any additional software and would like to download this new update, you can do so by visiting Settings > General > Software Update from the main Apple TV menu. If you notice any new features, be sure to let us know in the comments.

Update: Apple has now posted a change log on their website. According to the knowledge base article, the following aspects of Apple TV have been updated:

• AirTunes Streaming from Apple TV - Music can be streamed via AirTunes to Airport Express speakers or other Apple TVs in your house.
• Third-party Remote Controls - Apple TV can now learn other remote controls and use them in addition to the Apple Remote.
• Playlists - Playlists in iTunes that contain Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and Music Videos can now be seen on Apple TV.
• Music Volume Control - Support for volume control in Music.

Thanks for the tip, Jeff.