September 25 - 3:45am EDT   Every hard drive will eventually fail. Backing up your data can protect you against a hard disk crash, but you can often prevent minor hard disk problems through proper maintenance with special disk utility programs such as DriveGenius 2.1. [full story]

September 21 - 6:30am EDT   To run at maximum efficiency, every Mac needs periodic maintenance. While Mac OS X comes with built-in utilities that run automatically early every morning, your Mac needs to be running (not in Sleep mode) for these programs to work. You can always run the built-in Mac OS X utilities manually by typing in the proper commands, but a faster, more comprehensive solution is to use a separate utility program like Smith-Micro’s Spring Cleaning 10 instead. [full story]

June 27 - 6:35am EDT   Apple has released Final Cut Pro Server 1.1 (50.1MB) and Pro Applications Update 2008-02 (138MB). Both are available directly through Mac OS X's 'Software Update' feature, and also from the Apple website. Primarily a maintenance release, Final Cut Pro Server 1.1 packs in an impressive amount of bug fixes. Aiming to improve 'general reliability', it fixes specific issues when using multi-byte fonts, updating 'checked out' assets, and Project XML. A requirement for users to run QuickTime 7.5 has also been noted in the release notes. The Pro Applications Update is again primarily a maintenance release to 'improve reliability'. It includes point updates to Final Cut Pro, ... [full story]

April 4 - 7:50pm EDT   DEVONtechnologies has released Desktop Transporter 2.6 a new version of its remote maintenance and management solution for users who administrate multiple Macs across a network. The new release shows constantly updated thumbnails of all shared desktops on the local network. The update frequency can be adjusted and the list of shared desktops filtered. Desktop Transporter 2.6 also uses server-side scaling and clipping for reducing network load and for increasing responsiveness. Keychain support makes it unnecessary to remember all the passwords for the shared machines. Desktop Transporter 2.6 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 later and a fast LAN and/or Internet connection is ... [full story]

April 3 - 7:30pm EDT   The TeamViewer remote maintenance software, which until now has only been available for Windows PCs, is now available as a beta for Mac OS X. The new version runs from Mac OS X 10.4 and offers cross-platform support. This means that not only other Macs, but also Windows systems can be remotely controlled. Following the establishment of a connection to the remote computer by means of a Partner ID, changes and maintenance work can be carried out or programs can be installed and executed. Unlike the final version, TeamViewer for Mac is not yet equipped with the function for transferring files between computers. The so-called customer module from the Windows version, ... [full story]

March 20 - 11:50am EDT   German developer Ruotger Skupin today unveiled Chipmunk 1.0, an application designed to find, compare, and delete exact duplicate files. The application performs a byte-by-byte comparison of the suspected duplicates to verify whether it is a true duplicate. Skupin claims that Chipmunk is quickly able to process hundreds of megabytes worth of information quickly. Chipmunk is currently available at an Easter discount of $20, and is normally $25. [full story]

March 5 - 5:20pm EST   Conjure 1.3 ($25) expanded desktop environment that allows you have an unlimited number of desktops, capture audio notes, grab still images from your, use an iSight camera, draw on any desktop, write on any desktop, scale, and rotate images, link to websites, movies, files, anything. Version 2.4 incorporates a number of minor changes requested by users, and generally fixes every known bug. Furthermore, Conjure has expanded support for Spaces, desktop shadows, and allows you to cluster items together more efficiently. [Download - 7.4MB] BitClamp 1.5 ($20) file encryption software for Mac OS X. The update introduces file mimicking, allowing users to hide files for increased security. ... [full story]