The latest point update for Mac OS X Leopard has just been released. If you thought OS X 10.5.2 was big, hold onto your socks because 10.5.3 is even bigger. The combo update for versions of Leopard prior to 10.5.2 is 536 megabytes and the standard update for users of 10.5.2 is a still staggering 420 megabytes.

Still, with big sizes come BIG changes, fixes and features. Apple has the full list, but here are some highlights:

• Addresses stuttered audio or video playback from certain USB devices
• Improved Airport and 802.11x behavior and reliability
• iPhone users can now sync their address book contacts with their Google account
• Safari works better when connecting through a Microsoft ISA proxy
• Improved Spotlight search on AFP volumes
• Improved iCal syncing
• Fixes issues with authenticated RSS feeds in Mail.app

Plus improvements to Time Machine, Spaces, iChat, .Mac and Parental Controls. Apple is recommending this update for all users, but as always, encourages making backups of important files and folders before installing.

Suspicious Package 1.1 is a clever little plugin for Leopard's Quick Look feature that enables you to preview the contents of an installer package without having to launch the installer itself.

The plugin is easy to install, and no configuration is necessary. Simply drag the plugin to your Home/Library/QuickLook folder and drop it in (if you can't find a folder of that name, you can create it). If you want all users to be able to use the plugin, drop it into the root Library/QuickLook folder.

Once installed, hit the space bar on an installer package to put Suspicious Package to work. The plugin gives you a wealth of information about the selected installer: whether an administrator password is required, whether a restart is required, whether the package has install scripts; along with a complete list of install scripts.

Suspicious Package is a Universal Binary, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.

[via Cool OSX Apps]

Addicts of endless customization, rejoice! SuperDocker is a free program designed for Mac OS X Leopard that gives you the ability to customize your Leopard dock and more, all in a very easy to use package.

It seems like everything you'd want to change about the dock can be done in SuperDocker: you can change the dock from 3-D to 2-D, add icon transparency, and add customized separators in the dock.

Also, when you edit the dock background, separator, and active application indicator (the blue glowing thing at the bottom of running applications), the SuperDocker interface gives you a real-time preview, so you can perfect the dock inside SuperDocker before you apply the changes to your system.

SuperDocker also has a few preferences for items outside of the dock. You can modify the menu bar, the default screen capture format, the boot screen, and more. And thankfully, all of these customizations can be undone with a single click.

SuperDocker is free, and Leopard only.

[via Cool OSX Apps]

Man Viewer is a small application that does a simple job: it lets you view/export all of the man pages installed in Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. Man (short for manual) pages are Unix documents that explain how to use Unix commands. The general command usage to display a man page in Unix is: man <command> as in man cp (to show how to use the copy command).

Man Viewer automatically finds your man pages and displays them in a searchable list. Clicking a specific page will display the contents on the right pane for easy reading. You can then export the document to plain text or post script.

[Via Apple Downloads]

Back in November, we posted about SyncMate, a freeware (for now) alternative for syncing Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices with a Mac, especially Macs running OS X 10.5 Leopard. Well, the program looked promising, but proved to be buggy and difficult to adequately use.

However, SyncMate has continued to evolve over the last couple of months and Eltima software recently released a new release candidate build that is free to download and use. We very, very basically tested the program with a friend's T-Mobile Shadow (the HTC Juno) on our Mac running Leopard 10.5.2 and were successfully able to sync contacts and our iCal calendar. We didn't try to do anything with iTunes or iPhoto synching, nor did we play with any of the SMS management tools listed on the SyncMate feature list but synching our contacts and calendar was pretty straight forward.

For Mac users, finding consistent support for Windows Mobile devices remains problematic. While programs like Missing Sync and PocketMac have improved their Leopard support considerably, each new OS update brings its own set of problems (and that's without even discussing some of the Entourage 2008 issues that some Windows Mobile users, and Blackberry users, have been facing). Obviously native support would be the best solution (ha!), but until then, it is good to have different options.

SyncMate might not be perfect, but it continues to improve and the developers are actively seeking user feedback. And at least during the continued beta, and now release candidate phase, the program is free (we're not sure what the pricing situation will be once SyncMate gets its first full release). If you have a Windows Mobile 5 o 6 device and are running OS X 10.4 or higher, give SyncMate a shot.

We've written before about Quicksilver, the indispensable launcher app that lets you quickly get to any file on your Mac with just a few keystrokes. Quicksilver is a nice-looking piece of software, but the default interface fits a lot better with the overall look of Tiger than it does with Leopard. Fortunately, German designer Julius Eckert has created some impressive new skins that are particularly well suited to the latest version of OS X.
Bezel HUD is a sleek, compact improvement on Quicksilver's built-in bezel interface. The translucent black look will be familiar to users of HUD-based applications like Twitterrific. Because the design is modeled on an element of Leopard itself, it feels like part of the operating system, which is exactly how Quicksilver is meant to feel.

Eckert has released a second interface called Showcase, built to take advantage of the larger icons in OS X 10.5. Although it takes up a huge amount of screen real estate compared to Bezel Hud, Showcase is perfect for showing off Quicksilver to the uninitiated. It displays your icons at their largest size and reflects them against a black backdrop, which is visually striking and makes it easy to see exactly what you're doing in Quicksilver.

We love the interface work Eckert has released so far, but we're even more excited about what's next. Eckert has posted screenshots and a demo video for SilverFlow, his upcoming Quicksilver UI based on OS X's Cover Flow feature. His sense of how Leopard apps ought to look is so impressive that it's hard to believe he just got his first Mac in December.

SuperDuper!, the long loved Mac backup utility, has finally been updated for Mac OS X Leopard.

You might be wondering how SuperDuper! finds a niche even after Apple's own backup utility, Time Machine, has been integrated into every Mac with Leopard installed. The developers of SuperDuper! think of their relationship to Time Machine as complementary rather than competitive. Here's why:

SuperDuper! is for the disasters, the floods, the clicking hard drives, the machines that refuse to boot, whereas Time Machine's strength lies in the easy recovery of a single folder, file, or group of files. Time Machine can restore a full system, but that's not its bread and butter (and restoring from Time Machines requires you to have your Leopard DVD at hand).

SuperDuper! creates a bootable clone of your hard drive (which you can even place side-by-side with a Time Machine backup, if you have the space). Even if the original hard drive has been rendered unusable, you can boot from the clone and continue working. Tres cool.

The SuperDuper! 2.5 update is free for all registered users.

[via Macworld]

Apple's Leopard operating system is about to get a hefty update. Version 10.5.2 was seeded to developers and according to AppleInsier the update will contain around 100 code fixes and enhancements.

The only specifics available on features being updated seem to be Time Machine backups and the handling of PDF documents, and image/mail attachments. Die-hard Leopard users are also hoping the new OS X update will address issues with Stacks desktop feature as many have reported numerous errors.

If you have been wanting to upgrade to Leopard but have been waiting for some of the major bugs to get worked out, 10.5.2 might be the release you've been waiting for. The update is quite sizable - weighing in at around 450 megabytes.

[via Engadget]

LeopardMOD 2.3 (for Mac 10.5 only) provides an easy way to change some Leopard interface options without having to use the (gasp!) command terminal. The tool utilizes the tabbed look found in some Mac system pref panes, with tabs for Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Safari, and Menu Bar.

LeopardMOD lets you change the menu bar to a solid color (white or grey) instead of the Leopard default of transparent. You can disable the Dashboard, change the Dock from 3D to 2D, add Dock spacers, and change Finder window titles to display the full path of the folder instead of just the folder name.

Of course like any good system-tweaking tool, LeopardMOD provides a "Restore Defaults" option.

Do you have Gmail perma-tabbed in your browser window? Are you a Google Docs devotee? Is Facebook bookmarked as your home page?

If you nodded your head to any of the above questions (or blushed in embarrassment from your web 2.0 addictions), then Fluid is something you should take a look at.

Fluid, a beta download for Mac OS X Leopard, creates Site Specific Browsers that run as independent desktop applications. In other words, you can put a Gmail browser page on your desktop, complete with its own customizable dock icon and standard menu bar. The best thing is, if Firefox (or any web browser) should happen to crash, your desktop application is untouched.

So how does it work?

Launch Fluid to see a small display window where you can specify the URL of the webapp, give the window a name, and choose a customized or default icon (there's even a whole Flickr group of downloadable high-res icons). Click "create," and then launch your application. That's all there is to it.

Fluid gets its inspiration from Prism, a project by Mozilla labs. However, because Fluid is Mac only, and is based on Safari's WebKit rendering engine, it claims a more native look and feel over Prism.

Fluid is currently in beta (version 0.6), and requires Leopard.

Skype has released a new build of Skype 2.7 beta for Mac. Probably the most important feature in the latest release is support for OS X 10.5 Leopard. But it looks like the Skype team is also continuing its march toward feature parity across the Mac, Linux, and PC versions of the popular internet telephony software.

A few months ago Skype launched high-res video support for video chat using the Windows client. When we say high-res, we don't mean HDTV resolutions, we're just talking plain old 640 x 480 pixel VGA resolution. But that's still a much sharper image than you'll get using the Linux or Mac versions of Skype, which only support 320 x 240 pixels.

Skype 2.7 beta for Mac is the first OS X build to support VGA video at 25 frames per second. If you've got a slower internet connection, you can also adjust your video settings.

We're guessing it'll be a while before we see VGA support for the Linux client, since Skype just got around to adding video to Skype 2.0 beta for Linux last month.

[via Skype Journal]

One of the more frustrating aspects of being a Mac owner is trying to sync with a Windows Mobile device (shockingly, not all Mac owners have - or even want - an iPhone, some of us like our Smartphones). It's definitely possible, either through virtualization or using a third-party product like Missing Sync or PocketMac, but freeware options have been nonexistent. Until now. Eltima Software has just released SyncMate 1.0 beta, a program designed to connect Tiger OR Leopard Macs with Windows Mobile 5 or 6 devices.

According to their website, SyncMate can:

• Install applications to your mobile phone
• Synchronize Favorites, Contacts, Calendar and Notes with their analogs Bookmarks, Address Book, iCal and Stickies accordingly
• Get information about the device (OS, memory status, alarms, battery state, etc.), view memory status diagram
• Manage SMS (Inbox and Outbox, drafts, sent and deleted messages)
• SyncMate includes a built-in converter to compress video to MPEG 4 and the ability to resize image while copying

And it's free. We like free. The program is still in beta, but its feature set is very, very promising. SyncMate also claims Leopard compatibility - and to us, that's almost as exciting as the price. Missing Sync's Leopard compatibile version is still in beta (available through their website) and PocketMac doesn't have a Leopard solution available (they are working on it).

Maybe it's just us, but if we're going to use a beta product anyway, we'd prefer to use something that's free instead of something that is $39.95. If you already have a Missing Sync license - trying out their Leopard compatible beta certainly makes sense - but for first time buyers, we say give SyncMate a shot.

Earlier this week we previewed Bento, the new personal database application by FileMaker. Today we take a look at another Leopard-only Mac application aimed at keeping your files organized and easy to find: Together 2.0. Together, previously known as Keep it Together (KIT), is a pretty slick application from Reinvented Software that promises an easy way to keep all kinds of files in one place, making it easy to find them again later. Using a drag-and-drop interface and taking advantage of both Spotlight and Quick Look in Leopard, Together shows a lot of promise as an easy to use data organizer.

Together works, essentially, by dragging and dropping files and folders into either the application itself, or to a designated group or folder in the Shelf, a side menu that can be quickly accessed from the desktop, regardless of what program you are using. You can then label or tag those items and add notations or make small edits. Parts of the program reminded us of the Google Notebook, but without being exclusively web-based. For instance, we were able to drag and drop graphics from a web page directly into Together 2.0, without first saving or opening the file in a separate window. Likewise, selected text is copied (sans markup) to a new text file. Web archives can be created from within Together 2.0, either from existing bookmarks or a manual URL - and the text on those pages can be edited instantly.

Less than three weeks after making its debut, Leopard, also known as OS X 10.5, has received it's first incremental update. 10.5.1, available via Apple's Software Update or via Apple's web site. The update addresses a number of issues, most notably in the areas of networking and Internet security.

Here's a quick run-down of some of our own problems in Leopard, that have been addressed in this update:

• Password management issues with Airport
  
• NAT problems with D-Link routers or gateways
• Read-only issues with SMB folder shares on Windows machines (this was a huge headache for us, and we are ecstatic that it has been addressed)
• Those file upload via Flash problems

Additionally, Apple has changed the language in the system firewall to actually indicate what the options do. In 10.5, Leopard's firewall's "Block All" option really didn't block all, and it has now been changed to "Allow Only Essential Services" to reflect that change. Problems with application signatures that change while in use (which if the firewall was set to "Block All" meant that the program would stop working after exiting, and would require a re-installation to work again) have also been corrected.

If you use Leopard, make sure you update to 10.5.1 as soon as possible!