Apple on Thursday debuted Mac OS X 10.6.8, the company’s newest update to the Snow Leopard OS.

The download is meant to offer a bunch of “general operating system fixes” which includes support for IPv6, removal of known variants to Mac Defender and improved VPN reliability.

The new update is also suppose to fix an issue in which Preview randomly shuts down for some Mac users.

The update is 275.3MB and will require a system reset so I would suggest allowing the update to move forward when you won’t need your Mac for a little while.

If you’ve downloaded version 10.6.8 let us know what you think about the system performance increases.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Now Available [Free Download] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apple on Monday released Mac OS X 10.6.7. The new release is the seventh for the Snow Leopard OS and is available through a simple, yet rather large (in size) software update.

The 10.6.7 update features various issues fixes for Mac OS X Snow Leopard including stability corrections, compatibility fixes and security improvements which means it’s a highly recommended update to all Snow Leopard OS users.

According to MacRumors several improvements include:

- Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac
- Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers
- Address various minor Mac App Store bugs

The public release is the same one offered to developers last week, at the time known as Build 10J869.

Here are the direct links to each offering. If anyone knows why Apple is providing separate Snow Leopard security updates, where Mac OS X 10.6.6 is updated, but an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.7 is not provided, please feel free to let us know:

- Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update (475 MB)
- Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.12 GB)

- Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update (541.21 MB)
- Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.15 GB)

- Security Update 2011-001 (Snow Leopard – Client) (241.35 MB)
- Security Update 2011-001 (Snow Leopard – Server) (473.23 MB)

- Server Admin Tools 10.6.7 (241.32 MB)

If you happen to download the new package, let us know of any improvements you find with this newest Apple OS upgrade.

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.7 With Numerous Fixes, Better Security is a post from: The Inquisitr

A report from the Financial Times says that many Google employees are indicating that Windows has been restricted from use within the company over security concerns.

Two unnamed employees were briefly quoted in the piece about the decision, which reportedly has Google employees offered Mac OSX and Linux as alternatives:

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

According to FT, the policy isn’t exactly new, as they say employees reported new hires being directed towards the other operating systems as early as January. It’s said that use of Windows requires some serious string pulling:

Employees wanting to stay on Windows required clearance from “quite senior levels”, one employee said. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said another employee.

While some employees say the move has caused “mild discontent” within the company, others say that there would be more outcry if the Mac OS was banned. The consensus seems to be that the move is really a push to get workers to use Google products internally as well.

The hacking in China hastened the move. “Before the security, there was a directive by the company to try to run things on Google products,” said the employee. “It was a long time coming.”

Some feel that the reports out of Google are just rumors and that it is unlikely such a big player would ban something as ubiquitous as Windows in the workplace. As the reports all cite unnamed employees and Google has not commented publicly on the supposed policy, it is difficult to determine the credibility of the sources. ZDNet points out the limitations of a Windows ban at Google:

This story makes little sense to me.  For starters, Google’s software products are made for — and marketed to — mainly Windows users.   How exactly are software developers expected to build products for an operating system when they’re not allowed to use it?

As it stands, not one named person as confirmed the switch, so the extent of the ban (or whether it exists at all) is still not verified.

Report: Google ditches Windows over security concerns is a post from: The Inquisitr

Notice is reads OS X iPhone? Now we know that the iPhone runs on a version of OS X, but to date this version has never been promoted by itself (least not that I’m aware of), but the banners are now pushing the OS X iPhone version. Part of the platform for the iPhone? a new branding exercise perhaps? or simply Apple pushing OS X as a cross-device platform for the new 3G iPhone?

OS X iPhone Banners Up For Monday is a post from: The Inquisitr