There was a report this week that Mac OS X 10.6.2 will block Atom support, leaving Hackintosh owners stuck at 10.6.1. Intel's Atom processors have been used in netbooks by MSI, Dell and ASUS for their low cost and modest energy consumption. Hackintosh owners were disappointed.

Shortly after that report was published, Electronista noted that a newly-released build of 10.6.2 (10C535) brought it back. Of course, we're talking about "support" for hackintoshes in a developer build of the OS, so keep that in mind.

The moral of the story: Apple can kill this when ever they please, so have fun while you can.

[Via Engadget]

Reports of an odd bug affecting downloaded files in Snow Leopard have been circulating Apple's discussion boards recently. As reported by TidBITS, the issue appears to be affecting all computers running Snow Leopard.

While different users have reported varying symptoms and differing circumstances, it essentially boils down to this: if you download a group of files, and then attempt to open the entire group of files at once (rather than opening each file individually), chances are either some or all of the selected files will not open.

My initial response to this was that it could possibly be one of those "it's not a bug, it's a feature" ordeals. We have already seen some indications that Apple is working on enhanced security and virus protection in Snow Leopard, so it stands to reason that the operating system may be simply trying to prevent what it thinks is malicious activity by imposing restrictions on what you can and can't do with a newly downloaded file.

Of course, that's just my theory, but I'm apparently not the only one who has explored that possibility -- a reader on the Mac OS X Hints forum discovered some hard evidence supporting that theory. In OS X, newly downloaded files are flagged with a "quarantine" attribute, which remains until the file is opened. If this attribute is set when the file is launched, and the file is an application, you would receive the typical "This application was downloaded from the Internet" confirmation before the application is allowed to continue launching. This is nothing new in Snow Leopard, but it would seem that the additional protections and scanning that were added to Snow Leopard most likely prevent opening multiple files so that each file can be individually checked before it is launched.

Whether or not this is a serious bug or a minor inconvenience depends entirely on your workflow. Personally, I find that I don't often open multiple files from Finder, as most of the applications I use have the ability to select multiple files from their Open dialog. I can easily see where this might pose significant problems, however. For example, if you do a lot of work with graphics, you might download a several photos from a client, highlight them and open them with a custom tool that automatically resizes and processes for you. With this bug in play, that task would become much more difficult if you had to open each file individually.

So what about you? Is this bug bugging you, or is it a non-issue? If you are affected, feel free to chime in with your experiences on the discussion boards, and be sure to let us know in the comments!

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we have questions about arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows via Boot Camp, AirPort networks, iMac rotation support, replacing the video card in an iMac, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Leah asks:

Is there a better way to arrange icons on my iPhone than by trying to drag them around on the phone itself. I can't seem to get it to work very well and usually mess it up.

Apple provided a better way of organizing iPhone icons in iTunes 9. In the past, I always tried to arrange my icons on the iPhone the same way you do, by dragging them around on the device itself. This isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you have larger hands.

Now, with iTunes 9 or higher installed and your iPhone connected to your Mac or PC, launch iTunes, click on the Applications tab, and you will not only see the apps you have installed on your iPhone, but the iPhone screens and the placement of the icons as well.

Simply drag the icons around in iTunes and put them in the desired order. The next time you sync, the icons are arranged identically on your iPhone as well. It's so much easier.

Most of us here at TUAW jumped aboard the Snow Leopard bandwagon immediately after receiving our upgrade disks -- and I mean immediately. We didn't bother to check out what apps would or wouldn't run, and could have cared less about compatibility with scanners and printers or anything else important like that. No, we just dived into the lake before determining whether or not it was shallow, full of piranhas, or contained hydrochloric acid. That's just us, though -- we like to be able to tell TUAW readers what to expect, good and bad, when a new OS version is delivered. Our friends at Download Squad, however, must still be a little queasy about making the leap, since they posted a quick app review today for SnowChecker.

SnowChecker is a free Mac application that does one thing -- it tells you whether or not your applications will run under Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. SnowChecker performs a scan of your hard disk for apps, then compares the list of found apps against compatibility info stored at snowleopard.wikidot.com. It displays the the results, noting which apps are OK, which might have slight compatibility issues, and which will be totally hosed under Snow Leopard. SnowChecker uses a simple green, yellow, red color scheme to pass along the information to you, and often provides quick notes telling you about workarounds or updates that will help get all of your apps working smoothly.

If you're a bit on the shy side when it comes to doing upgrades, SnowChecker can make you feel a lot better about making the jump to Snow Leopard.

In a move sure to rile up the crowds of people (including our very own Erica Sadun) who have converted cheap Intel Atom-powered netbooks into tiny MacBook-like hackintoshes, several sites are reporting that Apple will kill support for the battery-sipping CPU in the next release of Snow Leopard.

For most netbook manufacturers like MSI, Dell, and ASUS, the Intel Atom line of energy-efficient microprocessors has been the perfect CPU due to its low cost. Cheap prices on these netbooks, often below US$300, have made them the choice of many Mac users who want a very portable and affordable laptop solution that they're not currently getting from Apple.

The word from many developers who are testing the most recent build of Mac OS X 10.6.2 Snow Leopard is that support for the Atom CPU is gone. Either the hackintosh owners will have to run Mac OS X 10.6.1 for the foreseeable future, or some enterprising hacker will build a patch to add Atom support back to the upcoming OS release.

Like the current syncing struggle between iTunes 9 and the Palm Pre, this may turn into a tit-for-tat battle between Apple and the hackintosh community -- or it might be the end of the road for Mac OS X on the featherlight PCs.

[via Engadget, OS X Daily]

If you experienced some odd performance problems on your Snow Leopard-running Mac early this morning -- say, right around the time of the Daylight Saving 'fall back' to standard time -- you're apparently not alone. The Apple support boards are hopping with reports of 100% CPU spikes coinciding with the switchover from DST between 1 am and 2 am, mostly associated with having the menu bar clock enabled and/or having the clock automatic set feature turned on.

The workaround is apparently simple (if it hasn't already resolved itself after the cutover); just turn off the menu bar clock in System Preferences for a moment, and the problem should go away. On the other hand, the philosophical question of whether a system version that was billed as having no major new user-facing features outside of improved performance and stability should have arrived with so many fascinating quirks... well, good thing we got an extra hour of sleep last night.

Thanks to Gordian and everyone who sent this in.

The betas of the next Snow Leopard update continue at a fast and furious pace. Apple has reportedly begun seeding a new build of Mac OS X 10.6.2 to developers, just one week after the previous beta.

The new potential release focuses on graphics issues, specifically relating to drivers, QuartzCore, and ColorSync, as well as hitting issues with the Dock. Apple has identified no outstanding issues with the build, though the company is asking developers to pay special attention to graphics drivers, TrackPad preferences, and virtual machines.

The company says 148 components have been addressed in 10.6.2 betas so far, including issues in Dictionary, Expose, File Sync, Front Row, iPhoto, MobileMe, Parental Controls, QuickTime, Screen Sharing, Spotlight, Time Machine, and USB.

[via MacNN, Apple Insider]

Walt Mossberg, the curmudgeonly, smooth-pated personal technology blogger at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital, has released his fall computer-buying guide. And when Walt talks, people listen.

Mossberg is usually very kind to Apple products, which probably explains why he gets the latest and greatest equipment sent to him by the guys in Cupertino prior to release, and we don't. In his latest guide, he says some surprisingly nice things about Windows PCs. That's mostly due to the progress in usability and friendliness brought about by the recent release of Windows 7. But he also goes on to say some very interesting things in his lead-in post, titled "Operating Systems Provide New Choices in PC Shopping."

While Walt points out the obvious -- that Windows PCs are usually less expensive than Macs and that Windows 7 has closed the gap between the operating systems in terms of user-friendliness -- he also goes on to say some very nice things about Macs:

But Apple's hardware is stylish and sturdy, and, in my tests, Macs usually boot faster than Windows machines. Plus, Apple's chain of retail stores offers a better buying experience and strong post-purchase support. Also, in my view, Apple's built-in software still has the edge. Snow Leopard is fast and reliable. And it comes with a full suite of excellent built-in programs, including email, photo and video software. Microsoft has stripped Windows 7 of such programs. Some PC makers have restored some or all of these in certain models, although I consider Apple's counterparts better. Another huge plus: The Mac isn't susceptible to the vast majority of viruses and spyware.

That's high praise again from the Prince of Personal Tech, and a list of good arguments for us "Apple Fanboys" to bring up when we're faced with Windows-lovers.

If you're rocking the Mac mini -- or any other Mac, for that matter --as a media center, then chances are pretty good that you've had some tough times following the upgrade to Snow Leopard. Anticipating such problems, some of us held off upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6. Now the wait is over.

Shortly after Elan discussed the details of a workaround for Plex, a new release has been let loose on the web. Plex 0.8.3 was announced earlier this week with improved Snow Leopard compatibility as well as several other fixes and new features. For users of Apple's latest OS, the biggest new feature is probably the integration of the Candelair driver which returns Plex to the days of Apple Remote compatibility.

Other notable improvements and new features include:

• Fixed an issue with MKV playback over the network
• A problem with the media server crashing has been fixed
• Video playlists work again
• A new feature where downmixing 5.1 surround audio to 2.0 stereo audio has multiple dynamic range compression options. In other words, surround audio will not be as "quiet" when played through headphones.
• New handling of quitting/suspending commands that includes a new scheduling feature.

The new release of Plex means I can finally stop holding my breath and upgrade my Mac mini to Snow Leopard. It is available now, for free (!!!) right here. Anybody else ready to upgrade to SL now that the Plex release is out? Once my mini is upgraded, rest assured that Plex will be the first thing I install.

[via Macworld]

Update 5:30p: VMware's Pat Lee has acknowledged the problems on the serial-number system and has posted a universal 30-day trial license code and download link to allow users to install the new version.

I never was able to upgrade to a paid version of Fusion 3.0, so I downloaded a demo version and 2.5 hours later received a 30-day serial number.

Installation was trivial, but now I can't find my old version 2.06. That would be bad for people who are trying 3.0 and decide to go back to an older version. I tried a Spotlight search, and my older version is nowhere to be found. That's not good. Has anyone else making the upgrade experienced this? Update: Commenters make it clear that 2.0 will automatically be removed when you move to 3.

I'd already upgraded to Windows 7 on version 2.06, so the same OS came up fine under version 3.0. One of the advantages of 3.0 is that you can assign multiple cores to the app, and since I'm running on a 2 x 2.66 Dual Core Xeon I assigned 2 cores.

Start-up was faster than the old version. About 45 seconds to the Windows 7 desktop, and a few more seconds to bring up a couple of gadgets and settle down. Launch times of apps seem pretty fast, but I don't find the difference dramatic.

Most of us have really crappy, insecure passwords. Sure, we tack a couple of numbers or punctuation characters at the end of our cat's name, but that's a far cry from secure -- especially since we also have the equally nasty habit of using the same password on every single site/service/machine/device with which we have regular contact. We're not just asking for trouble, we're offering it a delectable stolen identity sandwich.

As most of us Mac folks know, a solution exists and it's called 1Password. If you've owned your Mac for more than an hour or so, chances are pretty good that you've been admonished to acquire this lovely app (maybe even by more than one person). Several of us at TUAW are big fans of 1Password, and today our pointy party hats are standing taller than ever thanks to the opening of the public beta for 1Password 3.

This new version brings with it a massive list of changes, improvements and new features -- a couple of which have helped me to realize the dream of being able to utilize 1Password data on OSes other than OS X. You see, like many other Mac enthusiasts, I use Windows at work. Obviously, this precludes me from fully embracing Mac-only software like 1Password, but thanks to a brand new feature called 1Password Anywhere, my pain is dulled.

1Password Anywhere allows you to take your 1Password data and open it using any modern web browser. I've tested this with Chrome, Firefox and IE under Windows XP and they all work wonderfully. Your data is still absolutely secure and stored behind the same master password that protects the data in 1Password proper. They didn't spare any detail, either -- 1Password Anywhere looks and feels remarkably similar to the native OSX application. The data is read-only in your browser, but being able to easily the strong passwords and paste them is worth the admission price. The truly enlightened will see the application of a service like Dropbox here -- just move your keychain file into your Dropbox and your passwords are now with you whenever you go.

Today is release day for VMware Fusion 3.0. The app has more than 50 new enhancements including:

• Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit Snow Leopard kernels.
• Integrated Migration Assistant guides you through migrating from the PC to a virtual machine.
• First virtualization product to support for Windows Aero, including Flip 3D and Aero Peek.
• Support for DirectX 9.0EX with OpenGL 1.4 with new WDDM graphics driver.
• Greatly reduced memory usage when using Windows Vista and Windows 7 virtual machines and newly created Windows XP virtual machines
• Faster disk and graphics performance on Snow Leopard.
• Banish the Start Menu with Always-on Applications Menu on the Mac menu bar.
• Access to Windows taskbar tray items in Unity view in the Mac menu bar.
• Run 3D games and play 1080p video in Unity view.

I started trying to upgrade my copy to 3.0 late last night and into the early morning hours, but the VMware servers insisted I wasn't in the database. I noticed an increasing number of similar complaints on the VMware forums, so I can't tell you about my installation experience, or how it all works with Windows 7.

Stay tuned for more info as we get that sorted out, and hopefully your upgrade experience will be better.

Ever since I installed Snow Leopard, I've been dealing with a particularly annoying bug. Terminal keeps forgetting my shell preferences.

I generally prefer to use tcsh rather than bash. This is mostly because I'm a technological dinosaur. I also have a lot invested into my ancient and extensive .cshrc that has taken years to grow and develop.

Normally, I set the default shell inside the Terminal app preferences. But there's a problem. Snow Leopard keeps losing my preferences for reasons I do not begin to understand. With this Snow Leopard bug, I had to find another approach for choosing my shell. Terminal preferences were no longer going to work for me.

There are actually two very good ways to handle this problem.

First, there's chsh, as pointed out by Richard Buckle and Brian "Shmit" this morning. A command line utility, chsh edits the OS X user database, allowing you to change a user's default shell. chsh is built into OS X, and you can pull up a man page to read details about its use. Supply the shell you want to use, authenticate, and you're set. There is, however, an easier solution.

It's System Preferences. As Bill Bumgarner and Jordan Breeding reminded me today, you can access advanced user settings by right-clicking (or Ctrl-clicking) a user name in the Accounts settings; then choose Advanced Options. (Please note that you must first unlock the settings before this trick becomes available.)

When selected, an Advanced Options screen appears. You can set the new login shell in this screen. A simple pop-up list offers easy access to all installed shells. Select the one you want to use and, once selected, click OK to dismiss the screen and return to the Accounts settings pane.

This solution works a lot better than the bash .profile approach I had been using for a few weeks. Running tcsh through the .profile initialization file had caused an extra layer of interaction each time I wanted to close a terminal window. The application warned me that I was about to kill a running process (i.e. my tcsh subprocess). Changing my default shell meant I could create and close windows on demand without that extra dialog, a welcome respite.

In conclusion, while I'm not sure why Terminal keeps losing its preferences, I'm pleased that I at least learned a way to bypass the shell issue. Hopefully, Apple will get this bug fixed soon.

Psystar, that pesky little thorn in Apple's side, has released Rebel EFI. According to Psystar, the app, available for $49.99 through the company's site, "allows for the easy installation of multiple operating systems," including Mac OS X, on a vanilla PC. Besides bypassing EFI requirements, Rebel EFI can also detect for Mac OS X compatible and incompatible hardware, and automatically download appropriate drivers. Skeptical? No worries: the app is free to try (as an ISO download), with a two hour time limit.

To each their own, and if running Mac OS X on non-Apple specified hardware floats your boat, then you should also be aware of the risks involved. In other words, back up your data if you are attempting such a thing. Second, and more importantly, there's the issue of licensing: Apple prohibits the installation of Mac OS X on non Apple-branded machines.

Psystar giveth and Psystar must also taketh. One wonders how Psystar will react when people illegally use Rebel EFI, just like Psystar is allegedly misusing Mac OS X, as pirated versions inevitably circulate around the Interwebs.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[via The Loop]

Snow Leopard introduced many welcome changes to Leopard and one huge annoyance. When copying an email address from Mail, Snow Leopard wraps the address in "< >" brackets, for example, "<annoying@email.com>". When pasting, you've got to go back and remove the brackets.

Mac Daddy World has identified the preference setting and posted the simple Terminal commands that will eliminate the brackets. I tried it and it's working perfectly! Thanks, Mac Daddy World. That was very simple and most welcome.

While most users are happy with Snow Leopard, there are these annoyances. Is there something bothering you?