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WhatsApp Messenger claims it's the easiest way to keep your contacts closer across all smartphone platforms. It does take only a few seconds and 99 cents to get it set up, and then you are ready to send unlimited text messages, photos, audio notes, and video content to your favorite contacts just by using your Internet connection.

The app has pretty good Yahoo Messenger-ish characteristics, as implied by its name, but the thing we liked best was how it handles messages. WhatsApp Messenger uses push notifications to deliver the messages your friends have sent to you, keeping you up-to-date.… Read more

Pretty Run is a Windows search tool that can find and run programs quickly. Its roots lie in older versions of Windows that weren't capable of searching the Start Menu and other likely locations for shortcuts and executables. Though Windows now offers a search box, Pretty Run has stayed a step ahead, and its versatility keeps this free tool useful.

When it's active, Pretty Run resides in the system tray, though you can call up its simple, semiopaque interface from the Start Menu, an optional desktop icon, or with a customizable hot-key combination. Pretty Run starts searching as … Read more

It's hardly uncommon to stumble upon Web sites that leave you feeling like you need to take a shower, but keeping your PC clean and free of junk files, invalid registry entries, and other issues pays off in not only enhanced security but also increased performance. Add in a variety of tweaks, tune-ups, and other system utilities and you have a versatile PC toolkit. That's what you get with Arafasoft's PC Shower 2011. It's a free bundle of useful tools for cleaning and tuning your PC. Unlike many free versions of premium tools, it actually cleans … Read more

Apple has released an update for OS X that addresses font-rendering problems that cropped up for users who had upgraded to OS X 10.6.7. We initially reported on this issue in late March, where a number of people who had upgraded to OS X 10.6.7 were not able to read PDFs that were created in the latest version of the Mac OS. The issue was narrowed to how OS X was managing OpenType PostScript fonts.

If you check Software Update from within OS X 10.6.7 you should be able to apply the update there; … Read more

Recently a MacFixIt reader wrote in mentioning a problem people have been having after updating to OS X 10.6.7, where Bluetooth devices (namely Apple's wireless keyboards and mice) are being reported as having 100 percent battery level, even though the battery levels were at lower percentages immediately before applying the OS update.

Some initially suspected that the problem was a bug that always reported battery levels at 100 percent, regardless of the actual charge level. However, over time some people have found that the levels have dropped. In some instances the charge drops fast, but others seem … Read more

Yesterday Apple issued a supplemental update for OS X 10.6.7 that addresses a few hangs that owners of the 13-inch MacBook Air (late 2010 model) were experiencing after applying the initial OS X 10.6.7 release. The hangs happened when users would play and manage music in their iTunes libraries, and was caused by an error with how protected audio files were being handled.

The update is a small 461KB patch that addresses compatibility issues with the AppleUpstreamUserClient and AudioAUUC system components, which are extensions that help manage protected audio content. It should be available via Software … Read more

A few MacFixIt readers have recently contacted me regarding an issue with not being able to view some PDFs that were made on their OS X systems after upgrading to OS X 10.6.7. This includes viewing the PDF on their Macs, as well as seeing them on other platforms such as Windows, iOS, and Linux.

Usually PDF rendering problems can happen if the system is experiencing font corruption; most of the time this can be tackled with a general maintenance routine to clear caches, coupled with checking and managing fonts with Font Book. In these cases the problems … Read more

After updating your OS you may find a number of small issues with programs not functioning properly or some system services not working. As we noted earlier, some people have had difficulty with iTunes freezing after updating to OS X 10.6.7, but in addition some other people have found their Bluetooth devices such as the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad have not been able to connect.

When these types of issues occur, sometimes basic resets can clear the problem and cause the system to properly recognize the available services. The basic resets are to restart the computer (using … Read more

A number of people have found that after installing OS X 10.6.7 the installation seems to have worked fine, but when they try opening and running iTunes they encounter problems with the program hanging. Sometimes the program hangs when the iTunes store is accessed, and sometimes when checking for updates, or at other times when the program is immediately opened.

People have tried tackling this issue by performing a permissions fix using Disk Utility, along with quitting and relaunching the program and reinstalling it. Despite these efforts the problem persists, but there are a couple of possible quick … Read more