The Download Blog

Photos: Snow Leopard at WWDC

Editor's note: This review has been updated from its original to include source information.

Among the news and announcements at the WWDC Keynote this morning, Apple previewed the next iteration of Mac OS X Leopard. Snow Leopard, as Mac OS X 10.6 is known, appears to pack a lot of new features and is slated for release in September, though no hard dates were announced during the Keynote.

The goal of Snow Leopard, according to Apple, was not to reinvent Mac OS X, but to refine, simplify, and speed up the overall experience. They were careful to point out Snow Leopard is not a complete OS replacement, but an expanded update to the current system. During the first public preview of the latest version of Mac OS X 10.6 this morning, we got to check out some of the changes Apple proposes will make the system faster and easier to use.

During the Keynote, Apple's Bertrand Serlet outlined a few of the major new features in Snow Leopard. For coverage of Safari 4 and QuickTime 10 features, read this blog post from Seth Rosenblatt.

In addition to QuickTime and Safari improvements, Serlet hit upon several planned enhancements to the latest Mac OS X. Apple claims they have managed to decrease the install time of the operating system by 45 percent. If this turns out to be the case, the OS will take up six fewer GB than before, which might mean a significant storage boost for current Leopard users. It's difficult to determine if this will be true for everyone--people run different configurations on several different Mac models, making it difficult to nail down exact numbers. Any decrease in system bloat is certainly a good thing if Apple can pull it off.

According to Apple, changes to Leopard are mostly small refinements that make it easier to use. We already liked the convenience of Expose to quickly find what we're working on when there are a lot of windows open on the desktop. But with Snow Leopard, an interface enhancement would let you click and hold on a Dock icon to bring up all the windows associated with the application. Apple also demonstrated the ability to drag an item from one program, use Dock access to Expose, and move files where you want them--like grabbing an image to send in an e-mail, for example. Usability refinements like these are small, but might make using a Mac a more seamless experience.

Long-awaited support for Microsoft Exchange makes it easy to create meetings, use global contacts, and more.

(Credit: Apple, Inc.)

We were happy to see that Stacks is slated see an upgrade, including the ability to open and explore folders within the stacks window--the current version opened the Finder when a folder was clicked. The possibility of an added scrollbar to Stacks will be a very welcome addition. With the current version of Leopard, there is a limit to how many programs will fit in the Stacks window, forcing you to go to the finder if you don't see your program. During this part of the presentation, Serlet also showed how Snow Leopard will be able to preview images, videos, and PowerPoint presentations, even if you don't have PowerPoint installed on your Mac.

Support for Microsoft Exchange is a feature many users have been waiting for (for far too long), and with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Exchange support may finally become available. During the demonstration, Apple showed how you will be able to add an account to Mail, choose Exchange, and your Mac will autodetect Exchange information from your address book, or you can enter the information manually. From there, Apple says you will be able to use Exchange's global list of addresses and drag and drop contacts into iCal to easily schedule meetings. They also demonstrated smart technology surrounding meeting locations enabling your Mac to discover time conflicts and change the meeting time and location to work for everyone. These features look great, but we wonder whether Apple plans will line up with reality when Snow Leopard is actually released.

With Snow Leopard, Apple claims they have made all of the Mac's core applications take advantage of the 64-bit architecture. This could mean faster applications, faster loading times, and smoother overall performance. Snow Leopard also should add support for most hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL), which would let any application tap into the GPU computing power previously available only to graphics applications. Apple says they have improved threading across multiple processors using what they call a grand central dispatch to control threads. These tweaks might help improve overall performance, but we'll have to wait for Snow Leopard's release before we can judge the efficiency and speed of these refinements.

With Snow Leopard being more of a service pack than a complete system upgrade, it seems Apple has priced it accordingly, letting current Leopard users pay $29 to upgrade. The family pack, which allows you to install the new OS on five computers in your home, will cost $49. Though Apple didn't announce a specific date for release, we already had some idea it would launch in September. Maybe the improvements will be enough for people to pay out of pocket for this patch-like upgrade.

Microsoft on Tuesday released security updates that fix four critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Exchange Server that could allow an attacker to take control of an affected computer remotely.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-002 plugs two critical holes in IE that could allow remote code execution if an IE user views a Web page that has malicious code, according to Microsoft's notification.

"Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights," the bulletin said.

Security Bulletin MS09-003 fixes two critical vulnerabilities in Exchange Server. One could allow for remote code execution if a maliciously crafted TNEF (Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format) message is sent to an Exchange Server and could allow an attacker to take complete control of the system with Exchange Server service account privileges. The second hole could allow for a denial of service attack if a maliciously crafted MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) command is sent to an Exchange Server.

Security Bulletin MS09-004 fixes an important remote code execution vulnerability in SQL Server that could be exploited if untrusted users access an affected system or if a SQL injection attack occurs. The vulnerability was discovered in December.

And Security Bulletin MS09-005 closes three important vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a maliciously crafted Visio file. An attacker could then steal data and make changes to accounts with full user rights.

The updates affect Internet Explorer 7, Windows XP Professional Edition, Windows Vista, Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003 and 2007, SQL Server 2000 and 2005 and Office Visio 2002, 2003 and 2007.

Andrew Storms, director of security operations for security firm nCircle, predicted that while there were no known exploits for the Exchange vulnerability, attackers were likely working on them.

"All kinds of highly confidential and proprietary information pass through an Exchange server every day," he said in a statement. "Gaining control over it and its content would be a goldmine to any cybercriminal."

Meanwhile, the IE update is less critical because it requires action on the part of the user, Storms added.

As it always does, Microsoft had provided advance notification last week that it would have four security updates on Patch Tuesday.

Updated 12:30 p.m. PST with nCircle comment.

WorldMate is now free for the Nokia S60 series.

(Credit: Mobimate)

It's not uncommon for publishers to start nailing dollar signs on freeware products or release a pro version requiring some financial obligation. It's a little more rare, and always refreshing, to see publishers introduce a free version of a commercial product. PK Ware did it with SecureZIP back in April, and MobiMate is doing it now with WorldMate S60, all-in-one travel software that incorporates a world clock, global currency converter, weather forecaster, and time zone map that tracks night and day around the globe.

The limited-feature release offers users free reign over five WorldMate capabilities, but dangles flight schedule and flight status lookup, and satellite imagery as bait to upgrade for $50. That's a hard lump sum to swallow when mobile browsing and Google services can deliver the same free of charge. WorldMate's free version, however, offers a convenient toolkit that's useful for travelers, especially frequent time zone trippers.

For other ways to enhance your Symbian phone's performance and productivity, see my article with CNET cell phone editor Bonnie Cha on how to make your Symbian smart phone smarter.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The most recent update to the Mozilla Thunderbird (download for Windows or Mac OS X ) mail client shoves the former fledgling out of Mozilla's nest. The goal, if unstated, is clear: get as many people as possible to try the app, and hope that the appeal of a lighter client with similar power to Outlook and Outlook Express will pull some users away from Microsoft's ubiquitous software.

For home use, Thunderbird 2 should be a no-brainer. Many of the newer features incorporate Web mail services, which can now work offline as well as on. Threaded post reading and customizable tagging are big pluses, and so is the integrated RSS reader. Taking a page from Web browsers, Thunderbird 2.0 added "forward" and "back" buttons that let you cycle through messages in order of viewing, regardless of their folders. Strong HTML support, junk-mail filtering, encryption options, numerous add-ons, and support for POP3, IMAP, and Gmail (with support for other Web mail services in the offing) make this favorite freeware a must try.

The big question for Thunderbird, however, is "Can it be used for work?" The app lacks an integrated calendar, and importing settings from Microsoft Exchange and Outlook can be tricky.

First, you need to configure Thunderbird for either an IMAP or POP3 account. If you don't know which one to use, contact your company's tech support. For IMAP, open up your Outlook, go to Tools/Email Accounts/Change or View Existing Accounts and then hit Change when you see the Microsoft Exchange server. Copy the address of the Exchange server and paste it into your Thunderbird IMAP account settings under "Server name." Type in your user name and you're good to go.

For POP3 accounts, you'll need to know the name of your POP mail server (often pop.yourserver.com). If you don't have it ready when you set up the POP account, you can enter it later through Thunderbird's Tools/Account Settings/Server Settings option. To check your Gmail with Thunderbird, you've got it easy. Simply choose the Gmail option from the Add Account option under Tools/Account Settings, enter your account name and password, and you're good to go. Other Web mail accounts will need to be set up as a standard POP3 account.

Another essential component of e-mail clients is the calendar. Ostensibly, Thunderbird is lacking in this department, but there is a workaround. There's an excellent plug-in called Lightning that gets better with every build.

The Lightning extension integrates the Sunbird calendar application with Thunderbird.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

After I installed Lightning, I found an excellent forum post explaining how to import your calendar, and I'll summarize it here:

Go to your Outlook calendar and make sure it's set to the American date format, mm/dd/yy. Then go to File/Import and Export and choose Export to a File. Choose "Comma Separated Values (DOS)" and save the file, then import it into Lightning under Calendar/Import in Thunderbird.

Now meeting invitations sent to you from Outlook users will include a button in the message to add the event to your calendar.