Apple is announcing new products this week, but not until Tuesday (be sure to check the TidBITS site for full coverage). In the meantime, we have a feast of Mac news and features, starting with Matt Neuburg’s look at why you may want to spend more time with the new LaunchBar 4.3. Adam finally unloads some old hardware using Freecycle, and Glenn Fleishman was last seen playing Bejeweled on his iPhone, oblivious to all else. We also note Microsoft Office 2008 living up to its name by slipping until January, but at the same time the company released a beta of Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) Client 2.0 and a new beta of its XML converters for Windows Office 2007 files. A heap of software updates also passed our desks this week: Security Update 2007-007, Safari 3.0.3 beta, iPhone 1.0.1, AirPort Extreme Update 2007-004, and iTunes 7.3.2 from Apple; Fusion 1.0 from VMware; The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 4.0 from Mark/Space; and BBEdit 8.7 from Bare Bones. Lastly, it has finally happened: Fake Steve Jobs has been unmasked.
A trio of security updates block a variety of problems in Mac OS X, Safari 3, and the iPhone, underscoring the shared code between Mac OS X and the iPhone, and between the Mac and Windows versions of Safari.
Apple releases an update for AirPort Extreme on certain Intel-based Macs but provides no useful details.
Apple releases a new version of iTunes, once again without specifying what changed, although there is some speculation that it's related to the iPhone.
VMware Fusion 1.0 is out of beta and now available in final form with both some unique features and a few remaining limitations.
Office 2008 for the Mac will ship in mid-January 2008 in the United States, a delay from the previous date in the second half of 2007.
Microsoft releases betas of the Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2.0 and the Office Open XML File Format Converter.
BBEdit 8.7 improves text factories, AppleScript, file groups, disk browsers, and both Python and Lua language support.
The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 4.0 adds support for Windows Mobile 6 devices, video transfer and playback, and call and SMS logging for access on the Mac.
Investigative reporter Brad Stone of the New York Times finally does what had eluded so many for so long: he uncovers the mystery of the Fake Steve Jobs.
An iPhone version of the Bejeweled game accessed via the Web, is sure to sap even the most productive worker.
LaunchBar 4.3 makes our favorite launcher even better with Instant Open and Instant Send, along with oodles of other neat tweaks.
Get rid of elderly but still functional hardware by posting a note to your local Freecycle list.
Find out what TidBITS readers are discussing this week!