TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 15 November 2010

iTunes 10.1 — Just as the first appearance of autumn leaves signals a change of seasons, the appearance of iTunes 10.1 signals the imminent arrival of iOS 4.2. In fact, the release notes cite the capability of this release to sync the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with iOS 4.2. Also added to iTunes 10.1 is AirPlay, which provides the capability to stream video from iTunes to the new Apple TV. Furthermore, this version enables users to disable Ping in the new iTunes Sidebar, and brings with it a changed license agreement that specifies the kinds of information Apple receives from
users when Ping is used. And, of course, iTunes 10.1 contains the customary “important stability and performance improvements” and security fixes. The update is available from Software Update and directly from Apple. (Free, 90.63 MB)

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BBEdit 9.6.1 — Following swiftly upon the release of BBEdit 9.6 (see “BBEdit 9.6 Released; Still Doesn’t Suck,” 26 October 2010), Bare Bones Software has issued a minor update to their flagship text editor. The release notes for BBEdit 9.6.1 list one addition and two changes, along with a number of bug fixes. The addition is an expert preference, set via the command line, to show SCM administrative files in disk browsers and projects when Show Invisibles is enabled. The two changes are a
new location for FTP/SFTP cache files and an expert preference to display multi-file search results in a flat list rather than hierarchically by file. Among the several dozen bug fixes is one that fixes the loss of the final character of a URL that appears at the end of a document when BBEdit tries to resolve it (a bug that Adam Engst first reported); another fix eliminates crashes caused when BBEdit erroneously attempts to load out-of-date language modules instead of ignoring them. ($129 new, free update, 15.8 MB)

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Security Update 2010-007 (Leopard and Leopard Server) — The just-released Mac OS X 10.6.5 includes numerous security fixes that are also relevant to Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard and Leopard Server. For you Leopard users out there, Apple has now released Security Update 2010-007 Leopard Client and Security Update 2010-007 Leopard Server to address 32 vulnerabilities spread throughout the operating system. You can read the details on Apple’s Web site.

Flash Player merits special attention, since Apple’s inclusion of version 10.1.102.64 addresses 56 different vulnerabilities since the previously shipped version. That’s somewhat deceptive, since Mac OS X 10.6.4 shipped with Flash Player 10.0.45.2 even when 10.1.53.64 was current with fixes for numerous security holes. In short, don’t depend on Apple to provide the latest version of Flash Player; it’s a huge target for security exploits and Adobe is constantly releasing new versions to address significant problems.

Four of the security changes are specific to Mac OS X Server 10.5.8, notably fixes to Password Server and Wiki Server, and new versions of MySQL and PHP.

Security Update 2010-007 is most easily downloaded via Software Update, but standalone installers are also available via the links above. (Free, 240.74 MB for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 448.10 MB for Leopard Server)

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1Password 3.5.0 — Good news for Google Chrome users! 1Password, the Web password manager from Agile Web Solutions, has been updated to version 3.5.0, and the big news in this version is an “awesome new extension” for the Google Chrome Web browser, available only to Mac users, that achieves feature parity with 1Password’s Safari and Firefox extensions. Also new is a Dropbox sync status display in the sidebar. Other changes include reduced disk space for stored attachment icon files and usability enhancements for item editing. In all, the release notes list 34 changes. 1Password requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher. ($39.95 new, free update, 19.1 MB)

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Coda 1.7 — Coda, the code editor and transfer application from Panic, Inc., has received an update to version 1.7. New in this version is code completion for the latest HTML5 tags, improved syntax checking for Perl and CSS, and added keyboard shortcuts. The release notes itemize the changes in the latest version. ($99 new, free update, 20 MB)

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HP Printer Drivers v.2.5.2 — Apple has released revised printer drivers for Hewlett-Packard printers. The driver package provides support for hundreds of HP printer models and requires Mac OS X 10.6.1 or later. The update is available via Software Update as well as directly from Apple. A complete list of supported printers is available in an updated knowledgebase article. (Free, 448.7 MB)

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Carbon Copy Cloner 3.3.6 — The popular Carbon Copy Cloner backup utility from Bombich Software has been updated to version 3.3.6. In the latest version, handling of damaged media has been improved so that read errors produce error dialogs more quickly, so the user can decide how to proceed. Other usability enhancements include a task scheduling setting option so that users can choose to be prompted to initiate the scheduled backup task instead of the task automatically starting, and a confirmation prompt that appears when the user tries to stop the verification stage of a block-copy operation. Version 3.3.6 fixes a
bug introduced in 3.3.5. The release notes list all the changes, additions, and fixes. (Free, 4.3 MB)

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