An option in Leopard - literally - lets you get a quick glimpse of your Wi-Fi network connection's speed, signal strength, and other details. And another hidden bit of interface goodness reveals signal strength and encryption method for other nearby networks.
Back to My Mac can work with a little firewall configuration help, and Apple's provided some more detail that we explain how to use. Also, Apple confesses Back to My Mac's security weaknesses - at either end of the connection, not in the middle.
The question of whether Safari 3 would be released for Tiger is answered: yes. Apple pushed out Mac OS X 10.4.11, which fixes a huge list of bugs and security flaws along with the enhanced Web browser.
Fetch Softworks has released Fetch 5.3 with lots of Leopard-specific features along with the capability to use Copy and Paste to upload files and move files between servers.
A new version of Webjimbo provides better remote access to the arcana of ours lives stored in Bare Bones Software's Yojimbo, while offering a separate iPhone-tailored interface.
Google is not building a phone; it's building its vision of the future. A consortium of companies, many of them competitors, are backing a free, open-source cell phone platform that could be customized at will, providing unprecedented options for consumers. We'll see.
Apple touted Leopard's firewall as an improvement over Tiger, but security consultant Rich Mogull found significant problems with how it works and makes some suggestions for better security.
Apple has changed the software license agreement for Leopard Server to allow virtualization, something that was previously forbidden. Read on for news from Parallels and VMware about their plans, an explanation from the field of why virtualizing servers is a good thing, and speculation about what this means for the future of the Xserve.
Last week, Google announced Gmail now supports IMAP connections, making their free Web-based mail client even more useful for Mac users and iPhone users on the go.
Leopard lets you share and share alike, offering your system up for remote viewing and control, as well as letting you take control of others' systems (with their permission). But Tiger can play nice, too, through built-in Mac OS X support and Chicken of the VNC.
Leopard overhauls file sharing for services like AFP (remembered fondly as AppleShare), Samba, and FTP, while bringing back the long-missed shared folders options. The new approach makes it much easier for any user to share files over a network or the Internet.
With the new TwitterWhere service, you can find tweets from people in specific locations, making it an interesting way to track important events like the Southern California fires.
Steve Jobs writes a short note assuring his interest in allowing third-party development of programs for the iPhone (and, by the way, iPod touch), reminding us sternly of how dangerous mobile phone viruses and malware are, and setting a date for release of the software toolkit: February 2008.
To commemorate our 900th issue of TidBITS, we're giving away a free ebook version of the "The Wireless Networking Starter Kit, Second Edition." Enjoy!
Broadcom announces new third-generation cell chip that could be the core of a next-generation iPhone. Kitchen sink? You bet. Couple 3G with ARM processors, Bluetooth, stereo audio, and FM radio - and the fastest GSM-based 3G data protocols on the market.