TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 14 May 2012
Security Update 2012-002 (Snow Leopard) — Alongside Mac OS X 10.7.4 and to address roughly the same set of vulnerabilities, Apple has released Security Update 2012-002 for Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard Server. The fixes revolve around the open source components of Mac OS X (including curl, Ruby, and Samba), directory services, and dealing with maliciously crafted files in ImageIO, QuickTime, and various other internal libraries. Unlike some other recent Apple updates, we haven’t seen any widespread reports of problems.
(Free, 238.73/258.11 MB)
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EasyFind 4.9 — DEVONtechnologies has released EasyFind 4.9, an update to the company’s freeware utility that can be used as an alternative to or supplement of Spotlight to find files (see “EasyFind 4.0: It’s Easy, It Finds, It’s Free,” 11 October 2007). This update adds an Active Finder window option to the Location pop-up menu plus the capability to drop files or folders on either EasyFind’s Dock or Finder icon to search them. It also promises more reliable and faster content searching, as well as improved handling of Quick Look on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow
Leopard and later. (Free from DEVONtechnologies or the Mac App Store, though the latter hasn’t yet caught up with 4.9, 2.0 MB)
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BBEdit 10.1.2 — Getting into the spirit of spring cleaning, Bare Bones Software has released BBEdit 10.1.2, which contains nothing but fixes for reported issues. The extensive list includes over 40 items that focus on improving stability and compatibility, and dedicated BBEdit users might want to read the release notes for a comprehensive look at all the changes. Aside from the abundance of bug squashes, the release also updates the About BBEdit window with a corrected link for the Caffeine Production credit and an addition of a Black Blood of
the Earth credit (which is a good reminder to always check out the About window in your software). ($49.99 new from Bare Bones or the Mac App Store, free update, 7.3 MB)
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CloudPull 2.0.3 and 1.5.7 — Golden Hill Software has updated both of its versions of CloudPull (2.0.3 for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and 1.5.7 for 10.6 Snow Leopard). Both releases of the backup program for Google data (see “Back Up Your Google Data with CloudPull,” 6 March 2012) put the brakes on the speed at which they request photos for contacts when backing up Google Contacts, as the apps were exceeding Google’s limits, causing some backups to fail. You can download or purchase both versions of CloudPull directly from the Golden Hill Software Web site (where you can take
advantage of a 20-percent discount for TidBITS members), or purchase version 2.0.3 from the Mac App Store. Additionally, Golden Hill notes on its blog that the recent changeover from Google Docs to Google Drive (see “Google Drive and SkyDrive Take Aim at Dropbox,” 24 April 2012) is transparent in both the current Lion and Snow Leopard versions of CloudPull, but that the next releases will update the user interface text to reflect the change in nomenclature. ($24.99 new, free update,
7.4/6.2 MB)
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Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.2 and 2008 12.3.3 — Microsoft has released Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.2 and Office 2008 12.3.3, both of which fix “extremely important issues” and improve overall security. In particular, the updates patch vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. (Free updates as a download from the Office for Mac Web site or through Microsoft AutoUpdate, 110
MB/218 MB)
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PDFpen and PDFpenPro 5.8.1 — Giving the people what they want, Smile has updated both PDFpen and PDFpenPro to version 5.8.1 to add an oft-requested viewing option. With the new Zoom to Width feature, you can zoom to fill the available width of your screen, as well as set Screen Width as your default view in the app’s preferences. The release also improves accuracy of OCR and text selection and blends in some additional (though unspecified) enhancements and minor fixes. ($59.95/$99.95 new with a 20-percent discount for TidBITS members, 43.3/44 MB)
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Evernote 3.1 — Evernote has updated its eponymous note-taking and snippet-keeping software to version 3.1 with a number of user interface changes, new features, and fixes. At the top of the list, Evernote replaces its thumbnail view with a notecard view, which was previously seen only in Evernote’s full-screen mode on the Mac. (The notecard view will also be familiar to users of the Evernote iPad app.) You’ll still see small thumbnails of images on the cards, but if you’ve added notes to any image, you’ll see the opening lines of text accompanying the thumbnail. Evernote 3.1 also adds a Save Attachment feature that
enables you to export all files placed within a note (or multiple notes) to a folder on your Desktop, header printing capabilities (title, dates, tags, and notebook), and date and time stamps that can be placed within the body of a note. Fixes include improved highlighting accuracy in search results within PDFs and preventing notes placed in Evernote’s Trash from appearing in Spotlight search results. (Free from the Mac App Store, 21.5 MB)
In addition to the Mac app, Evernote has updated its iOS app to version 4.2.0 with a redesigned note editor for iPhone users. The release now places attachment options at the top of the note editor, moves text styling options to a new tab, and adds tagging capabilities to the updated note info screen. See the Evernote blog for more details on new features and improvements.
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