We have a cornucopia of content this week, with Joe Kissell giving us the lowdown on the new and potentially drool-worthy beta of Parallels Desktop, Glenn Fleishman explaining Apple’s latest Security Update, and Adam looking in detail at the Magellan RoadMate 3000T/6000T car navigation GPS devices. Plus, Adam passes along news of PopChar X 3.1’s release and an entertaining MacNotables podcast he did with Andy Ihnatko about Microsoft’s Zune music player. We also have a slew of Take Control news this week, including the second edition of “Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide,” an update to “Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac,” and the announcement of our holiday sale.
We're wrapping up the suggestions for holiday gift ideas, so if you've been holding off so far, drop us a note with your ideas by 06-Dec-06. As always, we're collecting ideas in TidBITS Talk, so send your picks to [email protected]> or submit them in the TidBITS Talk Web forum, and please use plain text format rather than HTML
Microsoft's Zune music player has barely seen store shelves, but it's already taken so much flak that I'm starting to feel a little sorry for it. But only starting, and in my most recent MacNotables podcast with Andy Ihnatko and Chuck Joiner, we expressed our incredulity that Microsoft could have released such a collection of compromises, confusions, and crashes, all bundled into a plain brown package
Ergonis Software has released PopChar X 3.1, adding automatic font detection for Apple's Pages 2.0 or later (see "PopChar X 3.0 Improves Usability," 2006-07-03)
Apple patched a security flaw in the drivers for the company's original AirPort card last week. Among other fixes, Security Update 2006-007 for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.8 corrects a flaw that could enable a nearby attacker to cause a kernel panic and crash a Mac in the right set of circumstances
Last week, Parallels announced a new beta version of their Parallels Desktop virtualization software, which lets owners of Intel Macs run almost any version of Windows within Mac OS X
As those of you who have read my previous reviews of car navigation GPS devices know, I'm a fan of the technology in general. I would happily recommend one to anyone who plans to do a lot of driving in an unfamiliar area
Holiday Discount on Buying Guides for Cameras, Macs, and TVs -- If your holiday shopping list includes a digital camera, new Macintosh, or digital television, you may be scratching your head over which model to purchase, or gearing up for a stressful trip to a consumer electronics superstore
Xbox 360 vs. PS3 vs. Wii -- The next generation of gaming consoles are now finally available, and readers weigh in. Game play isn't primarily the topic of discussion, though, but rather how each system is performing, the amount of money the parent companies are losing, and parallels with the computer and music player markets