No one ever slighted a useful update.

Michael Tsai’s must-have shareware program, SpamSieve, has just been updated to version 2.9.7. The new version, a 10.8 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Improved compatibility with pre-release versions of Mac OS X.

- Made various changes to improve SpamSieve’s filtering accuracy.

- SpamSieve no longer links against AppleScriptKit. This removes some GUI scripting functionality (which is now largely available by other means) but works around an OS bug that could prevent SpamSieve from launching.

- Worked around a bug in Apple Mail’s iCloud rule syncing.

- SpamSieve is better at moving trained messages when Outlook has lost track of the special Junk E-mail folder.

- Fixed a problem where Apple Mail couldn’t communicate with SpamSieve when the file permissions were incorrect.

- Fixed a bug where SpamSieve couldn’t load any addresses from Outlook if it reported an error while getting the e-mail address of a contact.

- Fixed a bug editing counts in the Corpus window (due to suspected 64-bit OS bug).

- Added more checks that the folders SpamSieve relies upon have the proper permissions.

- Improved error reporting for Apple Mail, Growl, and more.

- Improved handling of file permissions errors.

- The Apple Mail drone script now sets the junk status.

- Wrote a script that allows SpamSieve to filter messages (in Apple Mail) that have been organized by SaneBox.

- Improved the Japanese localization.

- SpamSieve now requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

SpamSieve retails for US$30.00 and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, please let us know in the comments.

Late Thursday, Opera Software released version 12.14.1738 of its web browser. The new version, a 20.3 megabyte download via MacUpdate, boasts the following fixes and changes:

- Update addresses a re-occuring crash, allowing users to update two or more extensions at one time.

Opera 12.14.1738 is available for free and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run.

On Wednesday, software giant Google released Picasa 3.9.13.29, the latest version of its photo organization program for the Mac. Once installed, Picasa imports (without moving or copying) photos from the iPhoto library as well as other folders and external hard drives on your Mac. The program also includes assorted editing tools for straightening, text generation, red eye removal, collage creation and Photoshop-like effects and adjustments. The new version, a 34 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

Share to your Google+ circles: If you’ve joined Google+, you can use Picasa 3.9 to share directly to the circles you’ve created in Google+. They’ll see your photos and videos in their Google+ stream. People that don’t use Google+ aren’t left out. They’ll get an email to view your album in Google+, and they don’t have to join to do so.

Picasa name tags on Google+: If you’ve joined Google+, you may have noticed that name tags have become more social. With the release of Picasa 3.9, you can now upload and share your name tags on Google+. Note that if you choose not to join Google+, name tags won’t change at all.

New photo editing effects: We’ve added a plethora of new editing effects like Vignette, Duo-tone, Borders and more.

Side by side editing: Compare two different photos side by side. Or compare the original and edited versions versions of the same photo simultaneously as you apply edits in Picasa. Learn how to edit side by side.

Picasa 3.9.13.29 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Video Lan Client, the nigh-indispensable open source media player for multiple audio and video formats (MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Divx, ogg, etc.), was updated to version 2.0.5. The new version, a 41.9 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Rework and fixes of the Mac OS X interface.

- Fix Pulseaudio initial synchronization.

- Fix MKV, SWF, AIFF and subtitles demuxer crashes.

- Translations updates and new Welsh translation.

- DVB-S delivery system detection.

- Fix audio and video track selection through libVLC.

- Fix system sleep issue on Mac OS X 10.5.

VLC 2.0.5 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, let us know in the comments.

Hey, an update’s an update.

Late Tuesday, Google released version 23.0.1271.97 of its Chrome web browser. The update, a 56.5 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Some texts in a Website Settings popup are trimmed (Issue: 159156).

- Some plugins stopped working (Issue: 159896).

- Fixed a known crash (Issue:161854).

Google Chrome 23.0.1271.97 requires an Intel-based Mac with Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Hey, an update’s an update…

Over the weekend, Mozilla.org released version 17.0.1 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 34.1 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:

Fixed:
- Font rendering issue in Firefox 17.0 (bug 814101).

- 17.0.1: Reverted user agent change causing some website incompatibilities.

- Over twenty performance improvements, including fixes around the New Tab page.

- 17.0.1: Leaving Private Browsing with Social API enabled should reset social components (814554).

- Pointer lock doesn’t work in web apps (769150).

- Page scrolling on sites with fixed headers (780345).

- Known Issues Unresolved If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash (see 573369).

Unresolved:
- For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual (see 579260).

- Unresolved Windows: The use of Microsoft’s System Restore functionality shortly after updating Firefox may prevent future updates (see 730285).

New:
- First revision of the Social API and support for Facebook Messenger.

- Click-to-play blocklisting implemented to prevent vulnerable plugin versions from running without the user’s permission (see blog post)

Changed:
- Updated Awesome Bar experience with larger icons.

- Mac OS X 10.5 is no longer supported.

Developer:
- JavaScript Maps and Sets are now iterable.

- SVG FillPaint and StrokePaint implemented.

- Improvements that make the Web Console, Debugger and Developer Toolbar faster and easier to use.

- New Markup panel in the Page Inspector allows easy editing of the DOM.

HTML 5:
- Sandbox attribute for iframes implemented, enabling increased security.

Firefox 17.0.1 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

You can’t knock a bug fix.

Late Monday, Google released a beta of version Google Chrome updated to 23.0.1271.95 of its Chrome web browser. The update, a 56.5 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- [161564] High CVE-2012-5138: Incorrect file path handling. Credit to Google Chrome Security Team (Jüri Aedla).

- [$7331] [162835] High CVE-2012-5137: Use-after-free in media source handling. Credit to Pinkie Pie.

Google Chrome 23.0.1271.95 requires an Intel-based Mac with Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

You can’t knock a bug fix.

Late Monday, Google released a beta of version Google Chrome updated to 23.0.1271.91 of its Chrome web browser. The update, a 56.5 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- No audio from Flash content when speaker configuration is set to Quadraphonic (Issue: 159924).

- Aw, Snap renderer crash on Windows Server 2003 (Issue: 160559).

Google Chrome 23.0.1271.91 requires an Intel-based Mac with Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

The Firefox version number just keeps getting pushed higher…

Late Wednesday, Mozilla.org released version 17.0 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 33.3 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:

What’s new:
- FIXED – 16.0.2: Security fixes can be found here

- FIXED – 16.0.1: Vulnerability outlined here.

- NEW – Firefox on Mac OS X now has preliminary VoiceOver support turned on by default.

- NEW – Initial web app support (Windows/Mac/Linux).

- NEW – Acholi and Kazakh localizations added.

- CHANGED – Improvements around JavaScript responsiveness through incremental garbage collection.

- DEVELOPER – New Developer Toolbar with buttons for quick access to tools, error count for the Web Console, and a new command line for quick keyboard access.

- DEVELOPER – CSS3 Animations, Transitions, Transforms and Gradients unprefixed in Firefox 16.

- DEVELOPER – Recently opened files list in Scratchpad implemented.

- FIXED – Debugger breakpoints do not catch on page reload (783393).

- FIXED – No longer supporting MD5 as a hash algorithm in digital signatures (650355).

- FIXED – Opus support by default (772341).

- FIXED – Reverse animation direction has been implemented (655920).

- FIXED – Per tab reporting in about:memory (687724).

- FIXED – User Agent strings for pre-release Firefox versions now show only major version (728831).

Known Issues:
- UNRESOLVED – If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash (see 573369).

- UNRESOLVED – For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual (see 579260).

- UNRESOLVED – Windows: The use of Microsoft’s System Restore functionality shortly after updating Firefox may prevent future updates (see 730285).

- UNRESOLVED – Pointer lock doesn’t work in web apps (see 769150).

Firefox 17.0 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

On Monday, Opera Software released a public beta of version 12.11.1659 of its web browser. The new version, a 19.1 megabyte download via MacUpdate, boasts the following fixes and changes:
- CT-3634 Switch with foreignobject is not rendered

- CORE-49240 Some jQuery functions not working correctly in Opera 12.10.

- CORE-49235 Complicated transitions don’t always start or complete, leaving behind a messed up layout.

- CORE-49175 Crash if SVG foreignObject is display:list-item.

- DSK-377538 Opera uses 100%+ cpu on google chat.

- DSK-376755 alt + space does not bring up system menu.

Opera 12.11.1659 is available for free and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, let us know in the comments.