Ian writes:
If you’re having problems with Leopard not being able to render a thumbnail, previews in CoverFlow, etc etc etc or worse (i.e worse = Finder is crashing not relaunching!) then try the following:

1. Select the image in Bridge or open it into Photoshop

2. Select “File Info” command from the File menu

3. Select the Advanced panel

4. Check for the presence of the metadata nameset http://ns.adobe.com/camera-raw-saved-settings/1.0/ (this is NOT a hypelink, so so don’t click it -see attached screenshot)

5. If above is present it’s likely the cause of the problem.

What do you do next?

You can hope that Apple changes Finder/CoverFlow so that it can handle this particular metadata nameset in JPEG, TIFF and PSD files.

Alternatively, you can delete the nameset using the Delete button in File Info (see screenshot below). The nameset is used to store the Lightroom “Snapshot” data, so deleting it from non Raw files shouldn’t lose you anything.

‘Jao’ writes:
“I think that part probably does not get written if you check minimize metadata in the export dialog.”

To which Ian replies:
It’s not written at all during file export. The metadata gets written to file when you Save it to file (Cmd+S) or if you have “Automatically write changes into XMP” active, but ONLY if “Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, and PSD files” prefernce is also active. You can switch this preference OFF from within the “Catlog Setting” dialog – “Metadata” tab.

Apple Computer on Tuesday released a security update for Mac OS X to repair 31 vulnerabilities, including a zero-day Wi-Fi hijack flaw.

Apple’s Security Update 2006-007 includes fixes for flaws in Apple’s own code as well as third-party components that ship with the Mac OS X operating system, such as Perl, PHP and OpenSSL. Several of the vulnerabilities could allow full system compromises, according to Apple’s security alert.

John went on to say: “This is pretty great news.  I mean, when’s the last time you got a free update that made your machine 35% faster at something?  Our engineering and QE folks worked closely with Apple as the new code was developed, testing frequent drops for compatibility and performance.  (See, it’s knowing/doing this kind of thing that makes me flip out when people start making up nonsense.)”

Read the entire post

Other issues addressed:

-Handling of large Canon RAW files (.CRW)
-DNG compatibility on Intel-based Macs
-Lines sometimes appearing in images exported from Aperture

Digital Camera RAW Update 1.01 (PPC)
Digital Camera RAW Update 1.01 (Universal)

The release of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3.0 professional software package next year will be a catalyst for new sales of Apple Computer’s Intel-based Macintosh computers, according to one Wall Street analyst.

PiperJaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster recently spoke with 50 Adobe customers and found that 24 percent expect to buy a new Mac within two quarters of the release of Adobe’s CS3. Due by April of 2007, CS3 will represent the first version of the creative software bundle that is fully optimized for Apple’s Intel-based Macs.

“The bottom line is that there is significant pent-up demand for Intel-based Macs among the Adobe creative pro community,” Munster wrote in a research note. “Adobe creative pro customers cannot run their Adobe apps at full effiency on an Intel-based Mac until CS3 is released, so many are waiting until that time to upgrade their machines.”

Read entire article 

About this update
Mac OS X Tiger provides support for a variety of popular digital camera and image file formats. Applications such as Aperture, iPhoto and Preview utilize this support to work with digital camera RAW files. This update improves RAW file format compatibility for the following digital SLR cameras:

-Canon Digital Rebel XTi / 400D / Kiss X Digital
-Nikon D80
-Pentax *ist DS

Other issues addressed:

-Handling of large Canon RAW files (.CRW)
-DNG compatibility on Intel-based Macs
-Lines sometimes appearing in images exported from Aperture

Direct download links: Mac PPC and Universal for MacIntel

The updates are available through Software Update or available as combo updates from the Apple Downloads site.

Macworld Lab’s 3GHz Mac Pro arrived at our (Macworld’s) offices, and, as expected, the desktop equipped with the fastest Xeon currently available to Mac users outpaced the 2.66GHz Mac Pro.

If you remember, that standard offering of Apple’s new desktop tallied the best score ever in our Speedmark test. That record didn’t stand for long, as the 3GHz machine posted a score of 313, setting a new standard for our system performance test suite.

When Apple added Intel-built Xeon processors to its line of professional desktops, the company offered only one standard configuration featuring two dual core Xeons running at 2.66GHz, a 250GB hard drive, an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics card with 256MB of video memory, 1GB of fully buffered DDR2 system memory, and a 16x dual-layer capable Superdrive. Of course, with an impressive list of available options, custom configurations number in the millions. We ordered a few custom models and the first two—standard configurations powered by two 2GHz and 3GHz chips, respectively—arrived just hours after our Mac Pro review was posted.

Because processors represent just one piece of the performance puzzle, we found that the 3GHz machine posted an improvement over the 2.66GHz Mac Pro of about 5 to 6 percent on most tests, even though the 3GHz chips have a 13 percent faster clock speed. With all of our Mac Pro systems sporting the same drives, bus speeds, memory size, and graphics cards, only CPU-intensive tests like our Cinema 4D render times approached that 13 percent improvement. The 3GHz beat the 2.66GHz model in all tests, but usually just by a few seconds. That’s an important consideration for users contemplating paying the extra $800 above the 2.66GHz Mac Pro’s $2,499 asking price.

As we’ve come to expect, applications like Photoshop not running natively on Intel Macs run slower than on systems with G5 processors.

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I thought I was getting a new Macintosh PC. Instead, the box said “Quad Xeon 64-bit workstation.” It was then that it really hit me—the Big Switch was over and my once shiny Power Macintosh G5 was yesterday’s news.

The introduction of the new, yet familiar-looking Mac Pro at the Worldwide Developers Conference (along with the updated Xserve) closed the book on the PowerPC’s 12-year run in Apple’s product lineup. And it all happened so fast. Just last year, Steve Jobs stood in front of the gathered masses and dropped the big bombshell.

Apple’s initial timeframe was conservative. The first Intel system would ship by June 6, 2006, with the transition complete sometime in 2007. Instead, Apple was able to accelerate its schedule, unveiling the first two Intel Macs at Macworld San Francisco this past January. The iMac Core Duo and MacBook Pro were joined by the Mac mini in March and the MacBook in May.

Making the transition easier for Apple was Intel’s new Core Duo chip. Available at the beginning of 2006, Yonah (aka, Core Duo) was a good fit across much of Apple’s product line, with two notable exceptions: the Xserve and Power Macintosh. Both of those needed something beefier than a 32-bit processor and thanks to Intel’s roadmap, we all knew what it was and when it would be coming. Sure enough, Apple CEO and Chairman Steve Jobs delivered the goods at the WWDC keynote.

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The New Mac Pro: 64-bit Quad Xeon. Up to 3GHz.

From the Apple MacPro Intel Xeon Page:
A+ to Xeon
Based on Intel’s next-generation Core micro-architecture, the 64-bit Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor combines both high performance and power efficiency. Designed for systems with multiple processors — like Mac Pro — it runs at clock speeds of 2GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3GHz. And it delivers the fastest Mac ever, one that runs up to 2x faster than the Power Mac G5 Quad.(1)

Yet, because Intel designed this dual-core Xeon to be more efficient, it consumes less power than similar workstation-level processors, so your system fans don’t have to work as hard to keep them cool. Working hand in glove with Mac OS X Tiger, it also continues the tradition of enabling 64-bit computation. Ideal for scientific applications, the 64-bit Intel Xeon processors can express the extreme precision needed for floating-point mathematics and to express integers up to 18 billion billion. It also allows Mac Pro to surpass the 4GB memory limit of 32-bit processors.

Speedy System Architecture
Augmenting the speed delivered by the processors, the system architecture features 1.33GHz dual independent front-side buses that maximize the performance of the dual-core, dual-processor system and deliver maximum processor bandwidth of up to 21.3 GB/s. The Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor also offers an enhanced SSE3 vector engine. Capable of delivering 128-bit vector computations in a single cycle, the SSE3 vector engine accelerates data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data — ideal for transforming large sets of data, such as applying a filter to an image or rendering a video effect.

Count on the Cache
Performance also benefits from 4MB of shared L2 cache per processor. The availability of that much L2 cache enhances processor performance by keeping data and instructions closer to the processor cores. What’s more, the Dual-Core Intel Xeon takes advantage of Intel Advanced Smart Cache technology. Smart Cache allows either of the two cores to utilize all 4MB of cache if the other core happens to be idle.

A new Fully-Buffered Memory Standard
All Mac Pro workstations support a new, fully-buffered memory standard that allows for more memory capacity, higher speed memory, and better memory reliability. You can install up to 16GB of 667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered Error-Correcting Code (ECC) memory in every Mac Pro system.

And with its 256-bit-wide memory architecture, Mac Pro offers 2x the width of the memory architecture in the Power Mac G5. If you’re looking to see a boost in application performance, the new Mac Pro will make your wildest performance dreams come true.

See the Product Home Page

See the Tech Specs

Available to order today (ships in 1-3 days)