Operating systems

Apple has released an update for its latest MacBook Pro systems that resolves an issue where systems running under wall power may unexpectedly shut down under heavy workload if the battery is at low levels. Apple does not specify exactly what revisions of the MacBook Pro this update is for, but it will only install on those for which it applies.

The update is a small 730KB download either from Software Update or from the Update's Web page, and requires OS X 10.6.8 or OS X 10.7.2 or later. The update will require you to … Read more

If you plan on running multiple operating systems on your Mac, one route you can take besides a direct installation like Windows in Boot Camp is to use a virtual machine, which installs the OS within OS X so it and its applications will run alongside your OS X applications.

There are several virtualization options for OS X, including VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop, both of which offer robust solutions for running multiple operating systems that integrate the guest operating system well with the Mac OS. Recently, Parallels released an update to its latest version of Parallels Desktop that, in … Read more

With the release of OS X Lion, a number of owners of the 15-inch MacBook Pro from mid-2010 found that their systems began showing regular black screens when performing some tasks like manipulating graphics and waking from sleep. We reported on this when it first became an issue and also when OS X 10.7.2 was released.

A short while ago Apple issued a knowledge base article mentioning that it was aware of the black-screen issue with the affected machines, and was working on a fix.

I suspected that this was a hardware-based problem since people affected by it … Read more

Even though we said the fall CTIA was a little smaller than usual this year due to the absence of Samsung and Google, we still found plenty to cover.

Here are all the product announcements, hands-on looks, and news posts we wrote in San Diego. (See Day 1 and Day 2 wrap-ups for information on each day's coverage)

Product announcements T-Mobile touts two 4G Android tablets: Springboard, Galaxy Tab MetroPCS debuts Kyocera Presto, LG Beacon RIM introduces NFC-based BlackBerry Tag app Plantronics announces the Voyager Pro HD AT&T releases five new Android handsets Sonim adds three new rugged phones … Read more

After months of testing and weeks of beta developer builds being issued, Apple has finally released the much-anticipated OS X 10.7.2 update for its latest Lion operating system. The update incorporates a slew of bug fixes and stability enhancements to the OS, but most of all it brings support for Apple's iCloud service, which was also opened to the public earlier today.

Even if you do not plan on using iCloud extensively, the 10.7.2 update is still recommended to address a number of issues with software and services in the initial releases of Lion, including:… Read more

At long last, iOS 5 is finally here, two days before the launch of the iPhone 4S.

(Related: We've heard that a number of users have had problems installing the update. Get the latest news on install issues in this post from CNET's Josh Lowensohn.)

Though iOS 5 is not as drastic of an upgrade as we saw with iOS 4 in June 2010, it does offer some much-needed and exciting enhancements for iOS users. A few are quiet and long overdue and others will seriously change how you use your Apple handset.

On that note, perhaps the … Read more

Those of you who want to check out an Android app without an Android device can now run that app on your PC thanks to a program from the folks at BlueStacks (download).

The software, dubbed the BlueStacks App Player, has just hit the alpha stage, meaning a test version of it is now available for anyone to download. The basic player lets you run several preloaded apps, install up to 26 others, and sync apps from an Android phone to your PC.

I installed the App Player on a PC running Windows 7. The installation failed the first time … Read more

Microsoft is gearing up for another Patch Tuesday.

In its regular series of monthly security fixes, the company tomorrow is launching eight separate bulletins to patch 23 different holes in a small but key range of products. Marked as "critical," two of the bulletins are aimed at stopping hackers from remotely running code in Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET, and Silverlight.

Specifically, these two bulletins are deemed critical for the desktop versions of Windows and should be applied to Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Only one of the bulletins is tagged as critical for Windows Server 2003, … Read more

Microsoft has tweaked the use of memory in Windows 8 to help people juggle more applications and files with less physical RAM.

In the latest Building Windows 8 blog, Bill Karagounis, group program manager for Microsoft's Performance team, detailed some of the tricks that the company has employed in the new OS to optimize the use of memory.

One such trick is memory combining. Windows applications can reserve multiple chunks of system memory, not just what for they need now but what for they may need in the future. The more apps that do this, the more memory used … Read more