Apple Updates iWork ’08 and Core 2 Duo Mac Firmware

Continuing its recent update spree, Apple released incremental versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers (collectively iWork ’08), as well as firmware revisions for Intel-based Macs. The updates are available via Software Update or as stand-alone downloads. Unsurprisingly, the company doesn’t offer much detail about what’s changed other than performance improvements: Keynote 4.0.1 (31.1 MB download) also addresses issues with builds; Pages 3.0.1 (27.8 MB download) updates the change tracking feature; and Numbers 1.0.1 (26.1 MB download)
addresses issues with tables.

The EFI firmware updates “improve the performance and reliability of Intel Core 2 Duo processors and fix issues with Boot Camp” and are available for iMac (3.9 MB), Mac Pro (2.8 MB), MacBook (1.7 MB), MacBook Pro (2.8 MB), and Xserve (1.5 MB) computers. Each installs an application in the Utilities folder (which is
located in the Applications folder) that will update the firmware. Remember that doing so can lead to a dead computer if something goes wrong, so be sure you have a backup of your data; downloading Apple’s Firmware Restoration CD 4.1 utility and making a disc from it isn’t a bad idea either (although I had no trouble on my MacBook Pro).