February 13 - 2:55pm EST   A Google Code project, Understudy, now allows Hulu and Netflix streaming video to be played through Apple's Front Row software. Users can subscribe to multiple feeds and select individual videos to watch. The provided feeds for each service can be used, while the program also can automatically discover the user's profile or the feeds can be copied from the clipboard. To view the content, Understudy is accessible from within Front Row and the services and streams are available in the Manage Feeds section. [full story]

December 29 - 11:20pm EST   Webify 1.1 ($16) is intended for users that prepare content for internet publication. Groups of images can be simultaneously resized, flipped, scaled, or rotated, saving time over single image editing. Webify works as an image browser, with a drag-and-drop interface claimed allow for faster work. The 1.1 update now properly handles the Rotation effect on rectangular shaped images, as well as retains meta data in saved images. [Download - 1.9MB] [full story]

April 17 - 3:35pm EDT   Popular Mechanics says that Macs run Windows Vista better than PCs designed to run the operating system. The magazine published an analysis based on user feedback and performance benchmarks for similarly equipped machines, using a number of 'real world' tests to evaluate the machines. Testers were asked to set up the computers right out of the box and "explore the machines through everyday tasks such as Web surfing, document creation, uploading photos, downloading Adobe Acrobat files and playing music and movies through Media Center and Front Row." The magazine said that in both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple's computers were the winners. Results found that ... [full story]

April 2 - 10:30pm EDT   Apple today released updates to QuickTime 7.4.5, iTunes 7.6.2, and Front Row 2.1.3, offering several performance enhancements, as well as a patch for a security hole found in QuickTime. The patch fixes an issue related to the SHA-1 checksum, which is related to protecting files with 160-bit encryption. iTunes 7.6.2 doesn't list specifically which issues are fixed, but more than likely resolves compatibility with the new QuickTime version. Front Row's update similarly guarantees functionality with iTunes 7.6.2. [full story]