TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 5 September 2011

Mailplane 2.5.1 — We accidentally missed the release of Uncomplex’s Mailplane 2.5 a few weeks ago, which gives the Gmail-specific email client support for full-screen mode in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, along with support for the new Preview Pane feature from Gmail Labs. Otherwise, the Mailplane 2.5 release fixed bugs relating to Boomerang and Rapportive, addressed some Lion-specific bugs, and automatically adds the Evernote toolbar button when the Evernote application is installed. The just-released Mailplane 2.5.1 adds a Window > Enter Full Screen menu item and keyboard shortcut for Lion users, removes the conflicting keyboard shortcut from Mail > Forward, and fixes some problems with sending messages, uploading attachments, and two-finger swipes in Lion. ($24.95 new, free update, 22.5 MB)

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Nisus Writer Express 3.4 — Nisus Software has released Nisus Writer Express 3.4, a major upgrade to its “light” (compared to Nisus Writer Pro) word processor for Mac OS X. The new version of the software includes literally hundreds of improvements and bug fixes, anchored by support for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion’s new full-screen mode. Highlights include better handling of images, a large number of new preferences and settings, new text editing and analysis features, and many improved user interface components. Other areas of improvement include file format handling, styles, spelling and autocorrection, image manipulation, lists,
tables, find and replace, footnotes and endnotes, and a large number of performance improvements and bug fixes. ($45 new, free update, 50 MB, release notes)

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Boot Camp Update 3.2 and 3.3 for Windows — Apple has released updates for its Boot Camp virtualization software. Boot Camp Software Update 3.2 for Windows 64-bit, designed for 64-bit versions of Windows, adds support for the ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, Apple’s own USB Ethernet Adapter, and the MacBook Air SuperDrive. It requires Boot Camp 3.1. Then Boot Camp Software Update 3.3 for Windows, which requires Boot Camp 3.2, includes unspecified fixes for critical bugs and hardware support enhancements. Apple recommends that all users upgrade to the latest version of Boot
Camp to ensure the maximum stability of Windows. (Boot Camp Update 3.2: free, 121.25 MB; Boot Camp Update 3.3: free, 199.75 MB)

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Skype 5.3.9.1093 — Skype has released version 5.3.9.1093 of its popular video- and audio-telephony client for Mac OS X. As the very minor version number increase from 5.3.0.1074 suggests, this is purely a hotfix that addresses an occasional crash during video calls, as well as a problem with the Norwegian localization that can lead to the app freezing. If Skype’s built in auto-update feature doesn’t see the update, you can download from the company’s blog. (Free, 22.3 MB)

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Default Folder X 4.4.4 — St. Clair Software has released Default Folder X 4.4.4, a minor update to the company’s Open and Save dialog enhancement utility. This release adds support for Gmail and other plugin-based file dialogs in Safari 5.1 and corrects several crashes that were occurring under Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Word, Handbrake, TextSoap, and other apps. Finally, Default Folder’s menu bar menu now works with the right mouse button as well as the left. ($34.95 new, free update, 10.7 MB, release notes)

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Airfoil 4.5.7 — Rogue Amoeba has released Airfoil 4.5.7, a minor update to its popular network audio streaming app for the Mac. Most notably, the new version adds support for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion to the Instant On component, which helps capture both system audio and audio from already-active applications. It also fixes several bugs and memory leaks, including one that prevented AppleScript scripts using the System Audio device from working. ($25 new, free update, 11.4 MB, release notes)

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SpamSieve 2.8.7 — Developer Michael Tsai of C-Command Software has released SpamSieve 2.8.7, an update to his award-winning spam filtering software. The new version improves compatibility with pre-release versions of Mac OS X and now runs as a 64-bit app to optimize resource optimization and performance. SpamSieve now also features several bug fixes and crash prevention techniques to maximize stability, and several areas of SpamSieve’s documentation have been enhanced to simplify the setup process, especially under Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. ($30 new, free update, 8.5 MB, release notes)

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Art Text 2.4 — BeLight Software has introduced Art Text 2.4, their application for creating textual graphics, headings, logos, icons, and the like. The new release provides compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, adds over 60 new templates and shading materials, and introduces two new transition types. BeLight has also improved the way Art Text handles shading and corrected bugs with the app’s assistant, shape editor, and layer management functions. ($39.95 new, $19.95 upgrade from 1.x, free update, 61.9 MB, release
notes)

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iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 — Apple has quietly released the iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0, saying only that it “fixes a graphics issue that may cause an iMac to hang under certain conditions.” It’s conceivable that this will play a role in resolving the video-related crashes new iMac owners were experiencing under Mac OS X 10.7.0 Lion, though most of those seem to have disappeared with 10.7.1 (see “Video Viewing in Lion Freezes New iMacs,” 4 August 2011). Apple does indicate that this latest firmware update requires Lion, though the company doesn’t say which iMac
models are affected. Frankly, though you can download this from Apple’s Web site, we recommend letting Software Update get it for you, since then the download will appear only if it’s relevant for your iMac. As with all firmware updates, be careful not to power down your Mac during the update. (Free, 482 KB)

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Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.8 — Apple’s Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.8 extends Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’11 support to eight new camera models, including the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200, Olympus PEN E-P3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF3, Samsung NX11, Samsung NX100, Sony Alpha NEX-C3, and Sony Alpha SLT-A35. Apple also publishes a full list of supported cameras. (Free, 6.91 MB)

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Firefox 6.0.1 — A fraudulent SSL certificate has been issued for some public Web sites belonging to Google by the certificate authority DigiNotar. Although DigiNotar has now revoked the fraudulent certificate, which should protect most users, it’s conceivable that users on a compromised network could be fooled into using a fraudulent Web site masquerading as a Google service. Because the extent of the problem isn’t yet clear, Mozilla has released Firefox 6.0.1 (along with updates to all other currently supported Mozilla software)
to revoke trust in the DigiNotar root certificate, which you can also disable manually. There are no other changes, but it’s worth getting the update to avoid potential problems related to the fraudulent certificate. (Free, 28.1 MB, release notes)

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Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 — After Joe Kissell’s detailed look at the myriad changes in Nisus Writer Pro 2.0 in “Nisus Writer Pro 2.0: The Review” (8 June 2011), it shouldn’t be surprising that Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 would have plenty of fixes for issues related to the many major new features. That update is now available, and the release notes do indeed make for lengthy reading. Notable fixes for problems Joe discussed include improved importers for Word documents, working intra-document hyperlinks in EPUBs, a resolution for
drag-and-drop of rulers inserting the character “a” erroneously, and proper display of adjacent paragraphs with similar shading but different padding amounts. Not surprisingly, there are also changes for compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, including support for Lion’s full-screen mode. Other notable improvements include better compatibility with Bookends and MathType, working image insertion via the “Link to a file on disk” option, a Compare Duplicate Text macro, and sharper tag icons, among much else. It’s also worth noting that Nisus released Nisus Writer Pro 1.4.2 for users of the previous version to provide Lion compatibility, improved Word importers, and other general
fixes. ($79 new, $49 upgrade from 1.x, free update, 165 MB)

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PDFpen and PDFpenPro 5.5 — For those wanting to add page numbers to existing PDFs, Smile has released new versions of PDFpen and PDFpenPro, their PDF manipulation software. Version 5.5 adds the capability to put page numbers in either the header or the footer of the page, and the page numbers can start on any page. Visually, page numbers can be aligned left, right, or center, or even inside or outside for facing pages, and they can be formatted as Roman numerals, letters, or Bates Numbering. Also new in this update is
initial support for full-screen mode in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, along with some unspecified bug fixes. ($59.95/$99.95 new, free update, 41.5 MB)

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Simon 3.2 — Dejal has released Simon 3.2. This update to the company’s remote system monitoring and reporting app improves support for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and adds compatibility with Lion’s new full-screen mode. Simon 3.2 also adds more variables for testing remote Web sites, improves logging, and fixes a number of bugs. ($49–$499 new, free update, 16.6 MB, release notes)

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