An update’s an update.

On Tuesday, Microsoft released its Microsoft Office 2011 14.3.0 update. The update, a 110.7 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Stability is improved. This update fixes an issue that may cause Office 2011 applications to report a problem with Licensing even though the applications continue to run unaffected.

Microsoft Office 2011 14.3.1 requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the update and have anything to report back, let us know.

You can’t knock a decent networking update.

On Friday, Apple released its AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule 7.6.3 firmware updates. The updates, which are available for all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models, include the following fixes and changes:

- Extend the Guest Wi-Fi network for a network configured with multiple AirPort Base Stations.

- Ability to add a WPS capable Wi-Fi printer.

- Support for additional countries.

It is recommended that AirPort Utility 5.6 or later be installed before updating to Firmware version 7.6.3.

The updates can be located and installed via AirPort Utility’s update feature and require an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later to install and run.

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

Late Thursday, Adobe released Flash Player 11.5.502.149 for Mac OS X, a 16.9 megabyte download via MacUpdate as a pre-release beta. The new version adds the following fixes and changes:

- Firefox & Safari crash reported(3493470).

Adobe Flash Player 11.5.502.149 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.

Late Thursday, Apple released AirPort Utility 6.2, a 10.2 megabyte download which offers the following fixes to the AirPort Utility software:

- The ability to extend the Guest Wi-Fi network on a network that is configured with multiple AirPort Base Stations.

- The ability to add a WPS-capable Wi-Fi printer.

- Improved international support.

The update requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later to install and run. The AirPort Utility update can be located, snagged and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature or via the update feature in Airport Utility itself.

On Thursday, Apple posted its Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 4.04, an update designed to extend RAW image compatibility for the Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’11 applications.

The update, a 5.3 megabyte download, adds support for the following cameras:
- Leica D-Lux 6

- Leica V-Lux 4

- Leica X2

- Nikon D5200

- Pentax K-5 II

- Pentax K-5 IIs

- Pentax K-30

- Pentax Q

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1

The update requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later to install and run and is also available via Mac OS X’s built-in Software Update feature.

If you’ve tried the new Digital Camera RAW update and noticed any changes, please let us know how it went.

Sometimes it’s the job postings that give the future away.

Per MacRumors, builds of Apple’s upcoming OS X 10.9 have been appearing in site logs since November, the logs hinting at possible Siri integration into the operating system.

A recent Apple job posting reinforces the rumor that Siri might be bundled with the next version of OS X. In its listing for a Siri UI Engineer, Apple specifies that candidates should possess “Familiarity with Unix, especially Mac OS X” and a “Passion for the Macintosh platform and writing simple, elegant software that is easy and fun to use.”

The listing, which does not include a specification for experience with iOS aside from knowledge of Apple’s development APIs, states that the engineer will be in charge of implementing the content that appears within Siri’s conversational view. The position will also require collaboration with other Siri teams.

To quote the posting:
“This is a broad-ranging task – we take every application that Siri interacts with, distill it down to fundamentals, and implement that application’s UI in a theme fitting with Siri. Consider it an entire miniature OS within the OS, and you get a good idea of the scope!

Of course, each of these little “snippets” corresponds to an individual application, so you will have extensive cross-functional work with many other teams. You’ll need to work with them to enable access to their data and behaviors, and wire them up to your implementations. As a result, strong API design is needed to keep communications ideal.”

As of mid-January, OS X 10.9 activity has increased considerably, suggesting the new operating system, with Siri included, may be imminent.

Job postings for Apple’s iLife/iWork team also surfaced this week. iWork’s last major update was in 2009, while iLife was last updated in 2010. An overhaul of the apps could potentially include Siri integration, allowing for voice commands for simple tasks such as photo and music editing.

Apple has been upgrading OS X on a yearly basis. 10.8 Mountain Lion was released in July of 2012, a year after 10.7 Lion was released in July of 2011. The first developer preview of OS X 10.8 appeared in February, and OS X 10.9 could follow a similar timeline.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

The betas, they just keep rolling in…

Per The Mac Observer, Apple continued to extensively test the next maintenance update to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion with the release of the tenth prerelease build of 10.8.3 to developers Wednesday. The build, 12D65, arrives one week after the previous build, 12D61.

The latest build of 10.8.3 lists no known issues and asks developers to focus on AirPlay, Airport, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.

Notably, the build fixes a file bug revealed over the weekend that caused nearly every Mountain Lion app to crash by entering a specific set of characters. It was eventually determined that the bug was due to a Cocoa programming error in Mountain Lion’s data detectors. That Apple has now fixed the bug in the latest prerelease of 10.8.3 is a good sign, as it was potentially a serious security vulnerability.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was first released on July 25, 2012. The 10.8.1 update arrived on August 23, 2012 and 10.8.2 on September 19, 2012. Prerelease builds of 10.8.3 have been seeded by Apple since November.

If you’ve gotten your mitts on the latest beta and have any feedback to offer, 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.

No one ever said an update was a bad thing.

On Tuesday, Mozilla.org released version 18.0.2 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 36.6 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:

- Bug fixes for Facebook-related crashes.

Firefox 18.0.2 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.

This sort of came out of left field, but if you’re running Mac OS X 10.6, you should probably install it.

Late Friday, Apple released Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 12, a Java update for its Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) operating system.

The update, a 72.8 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

- Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 12 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_39.

As always, the update can also be located and installed via the built-in “Software Update” feature in Mac OS X.

The Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 11 fix requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install.

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