Mac OS X

Apple's Mac App Store will officially open for business on January 6th (along with CES in Las Vegas). But some developers are still unhappy with some of Apple's terms including a prohibition on free demos, beta software, and some types of content.

Worrying about the security of their computers isn't something Mac users do very often. Partly because there are fewer threats out there but also because Apple has built a fair amount of security features into Mac OS X. Here's a list of those features (including the commonly used and well-known as well as some of the more arcane in-the-background ones).

The good news: The new Snow Leopard patch fixes a lot of problems. The bad news: It also introduces one.

I recently had a chance to do a manual install of Adobe's CS5 Master Collection on my Macbook Pro. Anyone who knows me knows that I am particularly hard on installers, because as a sysadmin, I deal with them a lot. I have to say for 99% of the experience, I was reasonably pleased. Compared to CS installers of yore, the install went well, and Adobe finally waits until the absolute last minute to flash the infamous "please quit your browser" notice. You still have to, but instead of making you do so for the entire installation, you only have to deal with this annoyance for a few minutes at most.

Some simple tips to help Mac developers ensure their applications fit in well with the widest range of Mac IT tools.

Juggling operating systems is becoming the norm. If you have less than three of them available at just a click, then you're not working hard enough.

There were literally hundreds of them from huge companies down to busy people with laptops: operating systems. Some found their way into microdevices, watches, refrigerators, mobile phones, cars, motorcycles, jets, even the International Space Station. Occasionally, they worked, and perhaps they worked well. Others, sadly, didn't-- or weren't the right thing at the right time. We name names.

And you probably didn't even know it was broken!

OS X point update day makes your blogger feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

Why is Microsoft's CEO promising improvements in products his company doesn't make?

I know I should leave Steve Ballmer's ravings alone, but...