The updates keep coming from Apple today. Security Update 2009-002 for Tiger is now available, both Intel and PPC. According to Apple, this update "...is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update." It's nice to know what's being installed on your Mac, isn't it?

The Intel download is 165MB while the PPC version is just 75MB. As usual, if you notice anything especially good or bad after installing this update, please let us know.

There's a great tutorial at Apokalypse Software for getting the iPhone 2.2.1 SDK working on a PPC Mac (up until now, doing development for the iPhone meant getting an Intel-based Mac). It takes some work, but nothing that will pose a problem for most developers. Before you begin, remember that you must have 6GB of disk space available. Also, if you've tried to install the SDK on your target volume before, you'll have trouble until you uninstall Xcode with /Library/Developer/3.1/uninstall-devtools.

If you don't want to go through the hassle, you can buy an installer for just $5. As a guy who still uses his G4 iMac, I understand the appeal of using an older Mac.

Our friends over at Ars have discovered a potentially foreboding sign concerning the recently shipping iLife '09. Apparently, GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature, in which various recording artists talk about their songs and "teach" you to play them, will not run on PowerPC Macs.

In the very fine print of the System Requirements section of the iLife '09 page at the Apple online store you'll find: "GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better." One can't help but suspect that this is the start of more of the same to come. When the architecture switch was first announced Apple went out of their way to extol the virtues of Universal binaries. But it was only a matter of time before even consumer software went in this direction. it's yet another sign that Apple sees the PPC Macs as rapidly heading for obsolescence.

Dust off those old iBooks and Powerbooks and give them new life with Linux. Earlier this week, Ubuntu released version 7.04 of their desktop and server distribution, called "Feisty Fawn." While version 6 was the last officially supported version of Ubuntu for PPC, there is a community-supported PPC version of Feisty Fawn that you can download here. Ubuntu is a free (as in speech and beer) download.

Also, Yellow Dog Linux version 5.0.1 for PPC was made available in the Terra Soft store earlier this month, and the download mirrors will be availabe in a few weeks. For now, you can purchase YDL from Terra Soft in one of two bundles, priced at $99.95 and $49.95 respectively.

[Via MacSlash]

Apple just posted a new Security Update (2007-002) at its download site. The update addresses security in CoreServices, iChat and the User Notification Center and is available as a PPC download, a Universal download and a Panther download -- see Mike's post for more detail.

Other software updates today include Final Cut Pro 5.1.3, Web Objects 5.3.3, Java for OS X 10.3 update 5, Java for OS X 10.4 update 5, Daylight Savings Time Update for Tiger, and Daylight Savings Time Update for Panther. Most of these updates are to allow these components to recognize the changes in the way the US and Canada will be observing Daylight Savings Time starting in March 2007; however, the core OS X DST logic has been right on with the new rules since 10.4.5, released about a year ago.

Some corners of the Mac web aren't too happy about Adobe's choice to not support the PowerPC chip with their latest beta offering, Soundbooth. We've received a few comments on our original post, and Macintouch has a few posts from readers who are, let's say, 'somewhat upset.' To help bring some sense to the table, Adobe's John Nack (the product manager of Photoshop, mind you) has stepped in to lay down the company's decision on his blog. Long story short, John explains that support isn't being 'removed' from the product - while it's been dubbed as 'Audition Elements' by some, it's a brand new baby for both Mac OS X and Windows. In this context, Adobe made the choice of streamlining development (supporting one chipset) which favors focusing on things like features and performance, rather than trying to get a team of audio engineers who are used to working with Intel-based chips to start jugging a second architecture (PowerPC) which Adobe believes Apple is treating as "dead to us."

I think this is a really difficult position for Adobe to be in, and given the circumstances, I understand their decision. While the PowerPC architecture is by no means 'dead' just yet, it's getting up from the dinner table and making its way for the coat closet (don't forget, there's plenty of conversation and lingering while putting one's coat on and rounding up all the kids). Readers at Macintouch have cited that a fair portion of the Mac audio industry are still using PowerPC based rigs and probably will for quite some time, and I think that might also have been a significant factor in the decision: Soundbooth isn't competing with Pro Tools and professional workflows, it's a mid-range app (at least from what I understand). I am certainly no software engineer, and I know equally little about the intricacies of audio software, but if a company with Adobe's girth says that now is a bad time to start building PowerPC support into a brand new product - I'll listen. From the non-developer sidelines, it sounds like it's a lot easier for code ninjas who already had a PowerPC app to unite forces with Intel support (thanks in part to Apple's UB efforts), as opposed to getting Intel backgrounds (remember: Adobe's audio guys are coming over from Windows development on this one) to shake hands with PowerPC.

In the grander scheme of Adobe matters, however, they haven't shown this "abandoning" attitude in any of their other existing products, such as the entire Creative Suite (in fact Nack reminds us PPC hasn't gone anywhere in CS3), and even Lightroom Photoshop Lightroom, another recent beta offering for the pro photography crowd, is in fact a Universal Binary. I think Soundbooth was simply caught in the crossfire of this chip architecture migration, and Adobe had to make a hard decision that was ultimately tipped by looking ahead at the Mac platform, and realizing exactly where Soundbooth is going to sit on the ladder of Mac OS X-based audio editing.

The Democracy Player is a cross-platform internet television viewer (or IPTV, for buzzword-compliance) that boasts over 500 built-in channels for your endless entertainment pleasure. It takes a bit of a different approach to internet television with support for a wide variety of aggregation services, including BitTorrent, and a full-blown channel guide.

The player was recently updated to version 0.8.5 for all platforms, and there is now an Intel version of the app available - not to be confused with Universal. Their Mac OS X download page offers two separate downloads for PPC and Intel versions, stating that a Universal version is pending.

Democracy Player is donationware and available from getdemocracy.com.

Adobe released Flash Player version 9 today but it's only for PPC Macs. There's no version for Intel Macs yet. Anyone with an Intel Mac who wants native Flash components should use the preview version of version 8.x available here.

You might want to take a look at the emerging issues being identified with Flash Player 9 before installing on your system(s).

This one is PPC only, so Mactel owners may look away. Apple has released Bluetooth Firmware Update 1.2.1 which, according to Apple:

"...improves Bluetooth performance and reliability issues."

Don't you love the detailed descriptions?

Oh, the poor Power Mac G5. Apple's "Big Kahuna" now looks downright elderly, being the only Mac that isn't sporting a rockin' Intel chip. I'm guessing that Apple's pro level machine won't make its Intel debut until January's Macworld Expo, but it's fun to speculate on what could be in store for that machine.

Perhaps an all-new case design? Will the name "Power Mac" be replaced? Maybe an as-of-yet unreleased Intel processor(s) will power the beast. The mind boggles.

Have at it, TUAWers. Configure the successor to the Power Mac G5.

Of all the people who could create a Universal OS X boot disk (*cough* Apple *cough*), is anyone surprised that MacOSXHints (as far as I know) got there first? Top it off with the fact that they also created a NetBoot image and, well... now they're just making everyone else look bad (*cough!*).

This article at MacOSXHints describes the first half of the process - creating a Universal, bootable image of OS X - and it sounds pretty darn easy. The second step - enabling the Universal image with NetBoot superpowers - is right here. I haven't used either of these (since I don't have a shiny Intel Mac anyway), but they both sound like pretty simple little tricks. Enjoy.

What's the first thing you do when you get your new Mac home? Set it up and start playing around, maybe transfer all of your files? No, you grab some tools and take it apart! If you're itching to rip a new Intel mini wide open, take a look at this fully illustrated how-to at Apple Fritter. Prying apart the case seems to require the same process as the PPC mini (get yourself a very thin putty knife), but the innards are a bit different (two RAM slots...finally!).

Check it out...but don't try this at home.

[Via Make:Blog]

In related news, TUAW reader Tim just received his Intel mini and has posted some nice unpacking pics. Thanks, Tim!

As a Valentine's day present to us all, Apple has released Mac OS X Update version 10.4.5. Run Software Update now to download and install the System Update, but be warned: a restart is required. My Intel-flavored version of the update weighs in at 40.6MBs (Scott reports that his PPC version is only 6.4MBs in size) and "is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies: iChat video conferencing, Safari rendering of web pages, usability of Dashboard and widgets, viewing of QuickTime streaming media behind a firewall, printing to some Epson printer models, iDisk and Portable Home Directory syncing, time zone and daylight savings for 2006 and 2007, VPN connections to Cisco servers when using NAT, compatibility with third party applications and devices" and a slew of other "previous standalone security updates."

You can find more info about the update via this KBarticle. Lock and load.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!