Late Thursday, Parallels released version 8.0.18494 of its Parallels Desktop virtualization software. The new update, a 336.4 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Use Parallels Desktop with OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview (experimental support).

- Work with Parallels Desktop on new MacBooks Air (Mid-2013).

Parallels Desktop 8 retails for US$79.99 and requires a 64-bit Intel-based processor, Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later, 2GB of RAM (4GB recommended to run Windows 7), at least 700 MB of space available on the boot volume for Parallels Desktop installation and 15 GB of available disk space for Windows.

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

It’s not a huge update, but it might be helpful.

Microsoft on Wednesday released version 14.3.5 of its Microsoft Office 2011 suite for the Mac. The update, a 113 megabyte download, features the following change:

- Fixes an issue that affects IMAP-based email accounts in which the flagged or starred state of a message was not set correctly.

The update can also be locared and installed via the Microsoft AutoUpdate feature.

Microsoft Office 2011 14.3.5 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.8 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.

An update’s an update.

On Wednesday, Adobe released Flash Player 11.7.700.225 for Mac OS X, an 18 megabyte download via MacUpdate. The new version adds the following fixes and changes:
- Camera is not working for stageVideo(iOS)(3558247).

- No option to disable hardware acceleration(3560209).

- No option to fallback to WAV audio(3553459).

- Addresses vulnerabilities that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe Flash Player 11.7.700.225 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new Flash Player 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 2.0.7. The new version, a 41.9 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Fix track selection for PowerPC machines.

- Fix audio decoding for WMA Pro, MPEG 4 ALS, APE, MLP and ADPCM-IMA4.

- Fix audio encoding for MP3 and AAC.

- Numerous translations updates and new Azerbaijani, Kirgyz, Oriya translations.

- Fix a memory leak when creating AVI files.

- Fix two XSS vulnerabilities in the Web UI.

- Fix memory exhaustion vulnerability in some playlist files.

- Fix a libVLC crash in OS X port.

VLC 2.0.7 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.

It’s hard to dislike a good bug fix.

On Thursday, Dropbox released version 2.2.0 of its cloud-based storage client for Mac OS X. The new version, a 31 megabyte download (via MacUpdate), which adds the following fixes and changes:
- New notifications badge.

- Refactoring of core sync engine.

- Improved memory usage.

- Startup performance improvements.

- Finder icon overlay improvements.

Dropbox 2.2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later to install and run.

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

Late Wednesday, Apple released version 3.4.5 of Aperture, its pro-grade image editing application. The new version, which is available as a direct download or via Mac OS X’s Software update feature, is a 548.6 megabyte download and offers the following fixes and changes:
- Addresses an issue that could cause Aperture to quit unexpectedly when deleting items from a camera or memory card after import.

- Memory cards are now ejected correctly when using the Delete Items option after import.

- Includes stability improvements.

Aperture 3.4.5 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7.5 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.

It was updated again.

And that’s not a bad thing.

On Wednesday, Google released version 27.0.1453.110 of its Chrome web browser. The update, a 50.4 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Medium CVE-2013-2855: Memory corruption in dev tools API.

- High CVE-2013-2856: Use-after-free in input handling.

- High CVE-2013-2857: Use-after-free in image handling.

- High CVE-2013-2858: Use-after-free in HTML5 Audio.

- High CVE-2013-2859: Cross-origin namespace pollution.

- High CVE-2013-2860: Use-after-free with workers accessing database APIs.

- High CVE-2013-2861: Use-after-free with SVG.

- High CVE-2013-2862: Memory corruption in Skia GPU handling.

- Critical CVE-2013-2863: Memory corruption in SSL socket handling.

- High CVE-2013-2864: Bad free in PDF viewer.

- High CVE-2013-2865: Various fixes from internal audits, fuzzing and other initiatives.

Google Chrome 27.0.1453.110 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.

There were security updates yesterday.

And we’re still trying to figure out what was specifically changed.

Per The Mac Observer, Apple released security updates for Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and Lion (OS X 10.7) on Tuesday, for both the client and server versions of the OSes.

The patch notes for all four updates say precisely nothing, and Apple’s security update page—where security patch notes get released—has not yet been updated with these releases.

Still, if you’re running Mac OS X 10.6 or later, make sure to run the Software Update feature to snag and install the latest updates.

For those of you who like the direct approach, here are the download links for the updates:
About Security Update 2013-002 (Lion) – 57.68MB

About Security Update 2013-002 Server (Lion) – 105.61MB

About Security Update 2013-002 (Snow Leopard) – 329.85MB

About Security Update 2013-002 Server (Snow Leopard) – 404.83MB

If you’ve tried the security updates and noticed any differences, please let us know in the comments.

Late Tuesday, Apple released Safari 6.0.5, an update to its web browser. The new version, a 342.33 megabyte download (via MacUpdate), includes the following fixes and new features:

- Improves stability for some websites with chat features and games.

Safari 6.0.5 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.8.3 or later to install and run and can also be located and downloaded via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature. If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know.

You’ve been waiting for it and it’s here.

On Wednesday, Apple released version 10.8.4 of its OS X Mountain Lion operating system. The new version, a 342 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:
- Compatibility improvements when connecting to certain enterprise Wi-Fi networks.

- Microsoft Exchange compatibility improvements in Calendar.

- A fix for an issue that prevented FaceTime calls to non-U.S. phone numbers.

- A fix for an issue that may prevent scheduled sleep after using Boot Camp.

- Improved VoiceOver compatibility with text in PDF documents.

- Includes Safari 6.0.5.

OS X 10.8.4 requires an Intel-based Mac running OS X 10.8 to install and run, the update itself being attainable by using OS X’s Software Update feature.

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