Full support for Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3, and improves compatibility with the MacBook Air. Of course, this update is FREE for all Parallels users! They can either get it automatically via Parallels Desktop’s auto-updater, or get it manually at parallels.com/products/desktop.

Major features and updates in 5600 include: – Full support for Microsoft Windows Vista SP1, including Boot Camp support – Full support for Microsoft Windows XP SP3, including Boot Camp support – Full compatibility with the MacBook Air – Shared Folders improvements: Improved file transfer speed when using SmartSelect, and the ability to share files and folders to/from removable drives. – Minor bugfixes and performance enhancements

parallels

Access all Google Docs features from Safari: “If you are a user of Google docs (and other such Google apps) and you prefer Safari as your default browser, you will know that lots of features are lost because Safari is not a supported browser. Firefox, however, is fully supported.



If you enable the Develop menu in Safari, as covered in this hint, however, you can fix the problem. After enabling the menu, just select Develop » User Agent , and select one of the Firefox entries (2.0.x Mac, for instance), you will find that all features are enabled.



[robg adds: I’m not a huge user of Google’s apps. I did, however, run a quick test with the Presentations module, and this trick certainly seemed to work. Before making the switch, I was warned that Safari wasn’t fully supported, and that warning went away after changing the user agent. I also exchanged emails with the hint’s author, and he states that he’s not yet found an issue with …

(Via MacOSXHints.com.)

Disable the WebKit default home page: “In my job, I jump between browsers quite regularly, usually Firefox, Camino, and Safari. As we’ve covered here before in various hints, you can actually run a ‘future’ version of Safari by downloading and installing WebKit, which is a special version of Safari using newer builds of the WebKit web browser engine. WebKit builds can be faster than the currently-released version, and have bug fixes and new features that you can take advantage of. As one example, the WebKit version of Safari currently passes the Acid3 browser test with a perfect score, while the released version of Safari scores a 75 out of 100.



One minor issue with using WebKit, however, is that it sets the default ‘new window’ page to this page, which thanks you for helping test WebKit, and lets you know there’s a new nightly build available. This constant reminder helps insure that the Web…

(Via MacOSXHints.com.)

NightShift 1.5: NightShift automatically downloads and updates WebKit, the Safari HTML rendering engine, to the latest nightly version. No user intervention is required, everything is fully automated.

Downloads WebKit nightly build from web server
Mounts the disk image
Creates a backup of the previous version on disk
Copies the new nightly build to its default location
Option to copy the JavaScript debugger Drosera to disk
Option to launch the new version of WebKit
Option to undo latest install and revert to last version

(Via NightShift.)

VMware Fusion 2.0 goes beta: “VMware Fusion 2.01 public beta 1 is now available, and it supports multiple displays, new 3D graphics acceleration and other capabilities.

(Via MacCentral.)

Innovative newsreader changes how you read news: “

Times is a different kind of newsreader that will change how you read news. Instead of treating news like email (as most RSS readers do), Times presents you with headlines and photos from a variety of sources all in one place, letting you more easily discover the news you want to read. Like your own personal newspaper, you can put feeds into separate areas, create pages for different subjects, and more.

read more

(Via MacMegasite.)

Microsoft Walking Away from Yahoo Acquisition: “On February 1st, Microsoft made headlines after publicly offering to purchase Yahoo for $44.6 Billion ($31/share). Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo was primarily focused around their advertising business in an attempt to gain talent and technology in …”

(Via MacRumors.)

AVG Free Anti-Virus 2008 Released, Much Improved [Featured Windows Download]: “

Windows only: Popular freeware anti-virus application AVG Free recently updated to AVG Free 2008. Aside from a general interface overhaul and faster performance, the updated anti-virus scanner has added several new features with a focus on web security. AVG is always at the forefront of the freeware anti-virus category, so unless you don’t run anti-virus software, it’s a great alternative to crappy Windows software.

(Via Lifehacker.)

Secure Your Home Wi-Fi Network [Weekend Project]: “

Tech site Ars Technica runs down the basics of securing your home wireless network with the most secure and up-to-date methods. The main takeaway is that when you enable encryption on your wireless router, use WPA encryption instead of WEP, because it’s better and stronger.

Unlike WEP, WPA uses a 48-bit initialization vector and a 128-bit encryption key. More importantly, however, WPA uses what’s called the Temporary Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). Whereas WEP recycles the same key for encrypting all the packets flowing across the network, WPA’s TKIP changes the encryption key every single time a packet is transmitted. This, combined with the use of longer keys, prevents a hacker from compromising a router simply by passively observing a large enough set of packet transmissions.

Ars lists common home network hardware—from an Xbox 360 to a Wii to an iPhone—and the various protocols they support. Luckily, most do speak WPA. Here’s our full guide to setting up a home wireless network. (Just, you know, use WPA instead of WEP like we originally recommended.)

(Via Lifehacker.)

AppMenuBoy 1.0.0: “If you access your programs by putting your Applications folder in the Dock, AppMenuBoy offers a cleaner alternative.

(Via MacCentral.)

Parallels Server for Mac Beta: “Parallels Server for Mac is a powerful and easy-to-use bare metal hypervisor solution for server virtualization that provides the best value for cost conscious organizations seeking to standardize and optimize their IT infrastructures.”

(Via parallels.)

Pastor 1.8: “Pastor is a free, easy-to-use program for securely storing passwords, software licenses, and other personal data.

(Via Mac Gems Weblog.)

10.5: How to use ssh using ‘Back to My Mac’: “My iMac is behind a satellite internet connection, which is very slow. Rather than using Screen Sharing or Finder’s file sharing for Back to My Mac, I often find it easier to use ssh. Until today I didn’t know how to connect to a Back To My Mac computer via ssh. It turns out that it’s very easy:

ssh -vvv -p 22 hostname.username.members.mac.com.

Where hostname is the name you gave to the machine (i.e. the name that appears in Finder), and username is your .Mac username (i.e. if your email address is steve@mac.com, your .Mac username is steve). Note that there is a ‘.’ at the very end of the command—I’ve had more consistent success using it that way. You can also try Terminal.app » Shell » New Remote Connection (or press Command-Shift-K) and then look under ‘Secure Shell (ssh) for ‘Discovered Servers’‘.



As…

(Via MacOSXHints.com.)

Prop and Cool Your Laptop with a Water Bottle [Clever Uses]: “

Blogger Ron Brinkman doesn’t want to buy an overpriced laptop stand or build his own DIY laptop stand. Instead, he takes the cheap and easy route and uses a $6 hot water bottle as a water-cooled laptop stand. Brinkman says:

Yup, buy a hot water bottle, fill it up with tap-water (room-temperature is fine) and insert strategically between laptop and lap. It’s comfy, acts as a nice heat-sink, and as a bonus it probably blocks a fair bit of the dangerous ‘electronic rays’ that are shooting out of the bottom of the computer straight at your important bits.

Brinkman claims the water bottle works great on the table as well—just lean your laptop on the water bottle and the rubber surface grips the table and keeps your propped up laptop in place. Nothing beats this cheap and simple, and the cooling effect of the water bottle means no more burning laps.

(Via Lifehacker.)

New iMac has a need for speed: “Dan Moren takes a closer look at what the changes to Apple’s iMac offerings will mean to that desktop’s performance.

(Via MacCentral.)