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TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 14-Sep-09

Default Folder X 4.3.1 from St. Clair Software is a maintenance update to the Open/Save dialog enhancement utility. Changes include the capability to sort files and folders by date or name in the Recent Folders submenus, support for Safari plug-ins that launch Open/Save dialogs, and capability to view contextual menus in Open/Save dialogs in Snow Leopard as columns, icons, and lists. Also several problems have been addressed including an issue that caused a white square to appear in the Snow Leopard menu bar in place of Default Folder X’s icon, a performance issue that led to the Get Info command to launch very slowly, and a window management issue that affected primarily Final
Cut Pro, QuickTime Player 7, and other applications that use QuickTime to export files. ($34.95 new, free update, 10.6 MB)

Phone Amego 1.0.3 from Sustainable Softworks is a maintenance update to the software that enables users to control a Bluetooth mobile phone from a Mac. Changes include an added Hang Up item in the main menu, display of phone numbers in the Address Book format, Command-clicking the close button to dismiss the call status window without terminating the call, improved recovery capabilities when rfcommChannel closes, an additional AppleScript command to intercept phone numbers before dialing, support for dial prefix, and faster Bluetooth connection opening on startup. Also, Yahoo Search is consistently enabled from the call status window, call information
is logged when Google Voice reports a failed call, and users can now Option-click a Google Voice forwarding number from the menu to select which number will ring. ($20, free update, 963 KB)

PDFpen 4.2.1 and PDFpenPro 4.2.1 from SmileOnMyMac are the latest versions of the company’s PDF editing utilities. The updates fix several Snow Leopard-related issues including problems with opening PDF documents, Quartz filters, click selection behavior, and issues with filling some IRS forms. Also, the Combine PDFs and Split PDF scripts no longer require Rosetta. ($49.95/$99.95, free updates, 11.9 MB/12.1 MB)

PhoneValet Message Center 6.0.3 from Parliant is a compatibility update to the Mac OS X-based hardware/software telephone management package. The latest version adds Snow Leopard compatibility and 64-bit support. ($169.95 per line, free update for 6.x users)

Simon 2.5.3 from Dejal Systems updates the Internet monitoring tool with Snow Leopard compatibility. Other changes include an updated iPhone Report Template which improves the Back button’s behavior, a new hidden preference that outputs debug information from the E-mail plug-in, a hidden preference for the E-mail plug-in that uses the recipient’s SMTP server instead of the sender’s, and a Japanese localization. ($29.95 to $195, free update, 11.8 MB)

Airfoil 3.3.3 and Audio Hijack Pro 2.9.3 from Rogue Amoeba are Snow Leopard compatibility updates to the wireless audio distribution tool and all-around audio recording utility. With these updates the company’s entire software line is now fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.6. ($25/$32 new, free updates, 10.1/6.2 MB)

Cocktail 4.5 from Maintain is a significant update to the general purpose maintenance utility. Changes include added compatibility with Snow Leopard, 64-bit support, speed enhancements to Pilot, updated Automator actions, revised help files, and refreshed Sparkle software update framework. ($14.95, free update, 2.0 MB)

ConceptDraw Updates from CS Odessa bring Snow Leopard compatibility to the company’s line of brainstorming, project management, and business graphics and diagramming software. Updated products include ConceptDraw Office, ConceptDraw Pro, ConceptDraw Mindmap, and ConceptDraw Project. (Free updates for current ConceptDraw product owners)

HP Printer Drivers for Mac OS X 10.6 from Apple “includes the latest HP printing and scanning software for Snow Leopard.” A list of supported printers, as well as additional installation information, is available on Apple’s Web site. The update requires Mac OS X 10.6.1, and is available via Software Update or the Apple Support Downloads page. (Free, 381.5 MB)

iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0.2 from Apple improves system stability in iMacs running Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card installed by updating the graphics card firmware. The update is available via Software Update or the Apple Support Downloads page. (Free, 850 KB)

Apple RAID Card Firmware Update from Apple improves boot and power fail recovery reliability, enhances battery handling and reporting, addresses an unspecified issue with rebuilding a degraded RAID 5, and fixes an issue that caused the on-board flash file system to be filled. The update is recommended for all Mac Pro and XServe systems (Late 2006 or Early 2008) with the Apple RAID card. To install the update, follow the instructions in the updater application that launches automatically after the installer has closed (/Application/Utilities/Apple RAID Card Firmware Update). The update is available via Software Update or the Apple Support Downloads page. (Free, 26.12 MB)

Firefox 3.5.3 from Mozilla is a security and stability update to the popular Web browser. The update addresses several critical security issues that could lead to attackers executing arbitrary JavaScript with elevated privileges, preventing users from seeing the URL of a malicious site, crashing a user’s browser and subsequently corrupting memory and executing arbitrary code. The latest version also introduces an automatic check-for-Flash-Player-updates feature, which ensures users are running the most recent version of Flash Player and are thus protecting themselves from potential security threats. (Free update, 17.6 MB)

QuickTime 7.6.4 for Leopard from Apple is a security, stability, and compatibility update to the multimedia software. Changes include support for iTunes 9 and enhanced audio-device support under Windows Vista. Security vulnerabilities that have been addressed include application crashes or arbitrary code execution when opening or viewing maliciously crafted MPEG-4 videos, H.264 movies, or FlashPix files. The update is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users, and is available via Software Update or the QuickTime Downloads page. (The update apparently does not apply to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users who have installed QuickTime 7 as an option.) (Free, 59.4 MB)

Suitcase Fusion 2.v13.2 from Extensis is a maintenance and compatibility update to the popular font management utility. The latest version adds support for Snow Leopard, Adobe plug-ins powered by Font Sense technology for InDesign and Illustrator CS2, and support for True Type collection fonts. ($99.95 new, $49.98 upgrade, 31.4 MB)

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