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.

Mac OS X has been pretty much a dream for me. I can't ever remember getting the Apple blue or gray screen of death. My Mac Pro is up 24/7 and only reboots when I've done a software update. Most of the time it happily chugs along. The same is true for my MacBook Pro. It's been problem-free except for one bad battery that started to swell. Apple eagerly replaced it.

That makes it all the more vexing when minor things go wrong that seem pretty unexplainable. One little problem is Apple Mail notification sounds. They seem to work about half the time. I have 3 email accounts, and the one that is the most unreliable is the MobileMe account. Even though mail sounds are turned on, I usually don't get any sound when mails comes in. I use the 'glass' sound, but it fails on any selection. My POP mail accounts seem to trigger the alert properly.

This same problem existed in Tiger, and has survived several Leopard updates. This minor but irritating issue exists on both my computers, and so far has eluded all my detective work to eliminate it. This bug is impervious to permission resetting, changing default mail sounds, playing with the sound control panel, (yes, 'play user interface sounds' is checked) and making sure that Growl and other 3rd party hacks are nowhere on my computers. The guys at the Genius Bar scratch their heads and smile.

The Apple support boards are full of similar complaints, and when you eliminate the people that had their sound turned down, or the other obvious fixes, there is a pretty large residue of people who have this problem. Apple must be aware of it.

Don't get me started on the error I get 2-3 times a week when Time Machine tells me a backup didn't work, and then the next hour everything is fine. This is another error that has survived several Leopard updates. Like a good citizen, I always do the larger combo updates to have the best chance of replacing any bad system components.

Every OS has a long list of issues. Actually, I find the current build of OS X the most reliable system software I have ever used. That said, I'd love to see some of these little bugs cleaned up. I'm sure you have your own lists and will share them.

Maybe Apple will read this and send me a fix for my notification sounds issue. The problem is, I probably won't notice the mail when it comes in. Grrrrr.

Apple released Security Update 2008-007 for Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger users today. The update addresses many specific areas of the Mac OS, including: Apache, ClamAV, CUPS, Finder, and more. A full list of the areas affected by the update can be found on the Apple support website. The update is available for the following systems:

• Client systems running Leopard
• Server systems running Leopard
• Client systems running Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Intel)
• Client systems running Mac OS X 10.4.11 (PPC)
• Server systems running Mac OS X 10.4.11 (PPC)
• Server systems running Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Universal)

You can get the update by downloading the installer package from the Apple support website, or by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update).

Continue reading for a change log for this update.

If you've been a bad nervous Mac user, then chances are that you might not be running the latest updates. If so, you can download the Combo updater for Mac OS X 10.5.5 which includes all important patches up to this point, so you can remain up-to-date even if you skipped a couple of updates.

If you are still running the slightly older OS, Tiger, then Apple has provided an update for you as well. The Security 2008-006 update allows you to stay as safe as your Leopard brethren. Security update 2008-006 is available for both PPC and Intel Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger).

You can download all of these updates by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by visiting Apple's download page.

When Apple made the move from Tiger to Leopard, they decided to throw in more than a few features. One of those new features was the ability to search Wikipedia right from Dictionary.

To start searching Wikipedia, just open Dictionary (located in /Applications). Next, click on the Wikipedia button and enter a search term. Leopard will then browse Wikipedia for the answer.

You can access the dictionary from most applications by highlighting a word, right-clicking and selecting "Look Up in Dictionary."

Want more tips like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 section.

By now, everyone knows about the awesome power/productivity achieved by using Exposé. Well, here is one time saver that Apple built into OS X which you might not have known about.

After you invoke Exposé by using either the Exposé key, F9, or F10, pressing the tab key will cycle through your open windows, one application at a time (all the Safari windows, then all the Mail windows, then... etc.). Keep pressing the tab key until you reach the application that you are looking for.

If you want to return to the previous application while Exposé is still activated, just press shift + tab. You can select a specific open window in the app by clicking with the mouse or using the left/right arrow keys.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and TUAW Tips sections.

Apple has just released a new security update for client and server users of Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). This Security update 2008-005 is "recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X," and includes fixes for a dozen or so features in Mac OS X.

This update fixes a QuickLook bug where loading a malicious Microsoft Office file could lead to "arbitrary code execution." Doesn't sound too good to me! It also fixes a DNS vulnerability that has been highly discussed over the past week (and which many other vendors have already patched).

You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update). You can also find more information on what this update fixes by looking at Apple's support note.

Today Apple released an AirPort Extreme Update for those Mac users running Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4). Here's the information that Software Update gives us:

This update is recommended for all Intel-based Macintosh computers running Tiger OS and improves the reliability of AirPort connections.

You can get this update by either opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer package from the Apple Support downloads site.

Just in case you haven't yet upgraded to Leopard, but still love using Cocktail (that crazy mix of Unix functions for OS X), Maintain has released version 4.0.1 of their Tiger edition. They've fixed some compatibility problems with QuickTime, and added support for clearing font caches in Microsoft Office 2008. The update is now available from their website, and is, they say, "strongly recommended" for all Cocktail (Tiger edition) users.

Cocktail's Leopard edition is at version 4.0.2-- that update fixed these same problems last week, as well as fixing a network optimization bug for DSL (PPPoE) users.

[Via MacMinute]

I used the original Boot Camp beta last year just to see it work. I applied the subsequent updates, but haven't tinkered with it since.

Today, I received an email from Apple that reads, in part:

"...With the introduction of Leopard, the Boot Camp Beta program has ended. The Boot Camp Beta software will expire on December 31, and Apple won't offer further updates of Boot Camp Beta for Mac OS X Tiger."

There's your warning, Tiger users. The Boot Camp beta expires December 31st. Upgrade to Leopard or run unsupported. You don't want that, of course. Windows needs all the support it can get.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Fire up Software Update, Tiger users, Apple has just released 10.4.11 onto an eager world. This point update has a host of feature updates including:

• Safari 3 for Tiger (no longer in Beta)
• Additional RAW support for some camera models
• Support for Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000 (I am sure this makes someone out there very happy)
• Improved iPhone syncing with Yahoo!

And a host of other things that Apple has outlined in a handy table. I wish all Apple updates had such clear release notes. A blogger can dream, can't he?

Here's a rather specific update for iMac users running Tiger (specifically, 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMacs with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8 GHz processors). According to Apple, Update 1.2.1 "...improves the performance and reliability of graphics-intensive games and applications and fixes an issue that some customers encountered when installing Mac OS X Leopard after applying iMac Software Update 1.2."

Check software update if you meet the criteria. Let us know if you have any problems.

First we tweaked the app indicators, and then we tweaked the color, and now we've finally come all the way back in our Time Machine (oh yes, pun very intended) to two weeks ago. Innermind Media, the folks behind WidgetWizard, are probably a little angry at Leopard, considering all that Web Clip functionality, and so they've released a free widget called DockDoctor that will subtract a dimension from your Dock with the click of a button (and bring it back with another click, which is probably just as valuable).

I know it's not for everybody. I know some of you love the new Dock, or at least have gotten so used to it that it doesn't bother you. But this is OS X we're talking about, and so you should have the right to make your Dock look the way you want it to.

I heard a few times that Disney's new casual MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online went live yesterday, but MacWorld reminds us that it's out for both Windows and Mac. Metacritic doesn't have too many reviews up as of this writing, but our friends at Joystiq found it to be a fun, easy to get into MMO when they played an earlier build of it, so if you're craving some pick-up-and-play pirate MMO gaming, it might be just what yer lookin' for, matey.

Unless you're running Leopard, that is. Currently, the game's system requirements only list Tiger, and while MacWorld doesn't know whether Leopard is supported or not, they're not alone-- I called Laurie at "Pirates Online Customer Support" (boy, Disney sure poured a lot of money into this one), and while she was very helpful, she didn't know whether Leopard was supported or not. I threw a note into their system to try and check, and if I hear back, I'll update the post.

Of course, you could just try downloading and running it yourself in Leopard, but then again this is only one day after Halloween, and running unsupported Disney software on your Mac is pretty scary -- might be a little much along with everything else.

Update: Never mind-- our illustrious commenters say it runs just fine in Leopard. Keelhaul away!