macintosh

Panda Antivirus debuts for the Mac

Panda Security has launched its latest product, this one geared specifically for Mac users.

The security firm today unveiled Panda Antivirus for the Mac, designed to defend Mac OS and OS X users against viruses, spyware, adware, and other forms of malware. In addition to scanning e-mail and local files on the Mac, the new software will prevent Mac users from unknowingly sending malware-infected documents to friends and colleagues running Windows or Linux, Panda said.

Moving beyond the computer, the software will also scan iPhones, iPads, and iPods to make sure those portable gadgets aren't delivering malware to other … Read more

Get six Mac apps absolutely free

Remember MacHeist from earlier this year? For $39 you got nine complete, unlocked Macintosh programs worth about $600. And 25 percent of your payment went to one of several deserving charities.

I've got good news, better news, and bad news. The good news is that MacHeist is back, this time with a bundle of six Mac apps worth $154.

The better news is that this time, the bundle's free. Really. Just...free. Download it and be on your way.

The bad news, of course, is that there's no money for charity, nor even an option to make … Read more

McAfee releases new security suite for Macs

Updated 1:45am PST Tuesday with pricing information.

McAfee has released a new security suite designed to help businesses better handle security for their growing segment of Macintosh computers.

Targeting small to large companies, McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac provides antivirus and antispyware features, and both an inbound and outbound firewall, McAfee said Tuesday.

The company is positioning the tool as a plus for IT administrators and for users. Administrators can use the same console to manage McAfee security on both Mac and Windows machines, said the company. The software lets administrators deny or control which applications can run on … Read more

Star Trek creator's Mac being auctioned

Updated 2.14pm PST with a correction from Profiles in History

There could be some high-pitched squealing and ethereally egregious excitement afoot when serial number F4200NUM0001 goes up for auction on October 8 and 9.

For this serial number represents the bidding war that is sure to ensue when a certain Apple Macintosh Plus is offered to the public's paddles.

This is no ordinary Macintosh. This was thought to be the first Macintosh Plus ever made. (See correction below) And its owner was Gene Roddenberry. Yes, he whose fingers went where no man had ever gone before.

According to Reuters, … Read more

If it happens, you'll be safe

iAntiVirus is a free app that will scan for Mac-specific viruses and malicious software, both on your hard-drive and during real-time Web browsing. You access iAntiVirus through a menu bar icon, and the app can scan your Mac for current infections, with either a Quick Scan, a Normal Scan (longer but still relatively quick), or a Custom Scan of specific areas. You can set iAntiVirus to protect your Mac in the background (with a relatively modest resource footprint), and you can also schedule both scans and app updates every week, every day, or every other day, to make sure that … Read more

Next Mac Office, due by 2010's end, gets Outlook

Microsoft on Thursday said the next version of Office for Mac will arrive by the 2010 holiday buying season, and it added that the new version will include a version of Outlook.

Outlook for Mac will replace Entourage, the current e-mail and calendar program in the Mac Office suite. Although it will still differ from the Windows version of Outlook, it will add support for more Exchange features, such as public folders and rights management features.

Office for Mac had a version of Outlook in its pre-Mac OS X days, but Microsoft switched to the Entourage program with Office for … Read more

Useful toolbar

ObjectBar is a customizable toolbar that allows users to add and remove various elements. We found it to be a nice addition to our Windows experience.

The toolbar itself can be customized with an assortment of themes and skins, and the ability to tweak the toolbar's contents means that the interface can be just about whatever a user wants it to be. However, the interface with which the user manages the toolbar could be better designed. It's easy enough to add and remove programs, but other functions, including changing themes and skins, aren't so intuitive. The program'… Read more

Two new Mac attacks surface

Security experts have discovered two new attacks targeting Mac users, a new version of a worm and a Trojan hidden inside a porn site.

Antivirus firm Sophos on Wednesday discovered a new version of the Mac OS X Tored worm, according to a Sophos blog post.

On Tuesday, Paretologic warned about a porn site that was downloading malware that targets both the PC and the Mac. Mac users get redirected to the pagemac.php page, which downloads a QuickTime.dmg file, the blog post says.

Sophos explained in blog post on Thursday that visitors to the malicious porn site are … Read more

McIntosh, 60 years on!

Apple was founded in 1976; McIntosh Laboratories goes all the way back to 1949.

Computers get old really fast, while TVs age a bit more gracefully. But there's not much of a collectors market for old TVs or computers, at least by people who use them on a daily basis. Face it: computers, iPods, and TVs are disposable technology, while the useful working life of great audio designs is measured in decades. Many decades. Case in point: McIntosh's classic designs from the 1960s still fetch big dollars. Which is why buying really good stuff makes sense.

I doubt Apple will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Apple II in 2037 with a commemorative reissue, and I can't imagine Sony announcing plans to offer Trinitron CRT TVs anytime soon. Audiophiles still covet classic tube and solid-state electronics, and pay big bucks for good condition originals.

Which brings us to McIntosh's 60th anniversary limited-edition reissues of its legendary amplifiers, the 75-watt MC75 monoblock tube amplifier (modeled after the original 1961 version) and the C22 stereo preamplifier (originally introduced in 1962). … Read more

Timothy Leary's archives: Bridge from '60s to '90s

OAKLAND, Calif.--The phrase is probably about as familiar to anyone who lived through the '60s as any other: "Turn on, tune in, and drop out."

That, of course, was Timothy Leary's exhortation to the world to embrace counterculture, and more specifically, to embrace the many benefits he saw of LSD, or acid.

Leary, as you probably know, was famous for his decades of experimental research into and promotion of the effects of hallucinogens, and over the years became as well known as many of the celebrity artists, writers, thinkers, and performers he hung out with.

Less … Read more