Steve Jobs has written an open letter to put an end to speculation that his health was failing and to ask for support from the Apple community.

If you'll be in San Francisco for Macworld Expo, you can catch not just the MacHEADS movie, but also a special screening of the new documentary "Welcome to Macintosh."

Notable software releases since the last issue of TidBITS include Audio Hijack Pro 2.9, Firefox 3.0.5, Camino 1.6.6, Norton Internet Security for Mac 4.0, Snapz Pro X 2.1.3, Hazel 2.2.4, PDFpen 4.0.3, Typinator 3.3, and Lightroom 2.2.

Those attending Macworld Expo can watch Adam and many other Mac personalities in the world premiere of "MacHEADS: A Fanboy Documentary."

Neil McAllister at InfoWorld examines what could be Google's most audacious plan yet - to download and run native x86 code within a Web browser on a Mac or PC. The goal is increased performance and security, but note that code will need to be written specially or recompiled for Native Client, so it's not as though your favorite apps will suddenly be accessible within Firefox.

In a recent report comparing U.S. computer makers, Macs were ranked as the most reliable, though the ranking may say more about Apple's support options than the reliabilty of Macs.

Forget the oh-so-rational business analysis of Apple's move to pull out of future Macworld Expos. Even Apple has to listen to its mother, so read on as Tonya Engst gives Apple a speaking-to.

Apple said that Steve Jobs won't be presenting the keynote address at the 2009 Macworld Expo trade show - and that Apple won't be an exhibitor at future shows. Goodness. We're a bit shaken, but the word is that Macworld Expo is still on for 2010.

Notable software releases so far this week include BBEdit 9.1, SOHO Labels 4.0, DiscLabel 5.4.1, Sandvox 1.5.3, Keyboard Maestro 3.5, and PowerMail 6.0.

Looking for an easy way to manage your to-do list? Google has recently released Tasks, a simplified task list manager that works with Gmail.

Microsoft has released yet another set of updates to Office 2008 and 2004, this time fixing two important security issues, improving general Office stability, and addressing a number of bugs.

Two online backup providers have made modifications to the pro versions of their services.

The latest entrant in the world of online backups, Backblaze, has slick new Mac software. Private beta invitations are available to 100 TidBITS readers.

Are you a fan of Google Earth but bemoan its sluggish launch speed? Mac users can now access Google Earth directly from their Web browser with the Google Earth Browser Plugin.

Notable software releases this week include BusySync 2.1.9, Bento 2.0v3, and QuickTime 7.5.7.