Late Monday, Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.7, the most recent version of its Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” operating system. The update, which alternates between 313 MB and 1.12 gigabytes for the combo update, offers the following fixes and changes:

- Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac.

- Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers.

- Address various minor Mac App Store issues.

- Includes all the improvements in the previous Mac OS X v10.6.1, 10.6.2, 10.6.3, 10.6.4, 10.6.5, and 10.6.6 updates.

- Includes Safari 5.0.4.

- Includes RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras.

- Resolves a window resizing issue with X-Plane 9 on Macs with ATI graphics

- Addresses an issue with MacBook Air (Mid 2010) computers that could cause a kernel panic.

- Address issues in the AirPort driver for certain devices.

- Improves brightness on external displays and projectors.

- Addresses an issue where DVD Player may display black video on some Macs using the 64-bit kernel.

- Addresses an issue with some NEC displays in which the screen may appear black when connected to a Mac Pro (Mid 2010).

- Resolves an issue in which some Multiple Master (MM) fonts were missing from Mac Pro (Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch Mid 2010), and iMac (Mid 2010) computers.

- Addresses various issues with MacBook Air (Mid 2010) computer performance.

- Resolves an issue in which clicking the Updates tab in the Mac App Store could cause the Mac App Store to become unresponsive.

- Fixes a problem opening an afp:// URL that points to a file, and changes the AFP mount path to conform to previous Mac OS X releases.

- Includes the ability to repair certain issues that may prevent hardware RAID volumes from mounting.

- Fixes a rare issue in Mac OS X v10.6.5 that could cause user accounts to disappear from the Login window and System Preferences after putting the system to sleep.

- Improves the reliability of dragging files or folders to the Trash when using an NFS home directory.

Mac OS X 10.6.7 can be directly downloaded here or via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, positive or negative, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

Sometimes these things catch you by surprise in nifty ways.

Per the Apple Core, the cool cats at Other World Computing took another look at the memory limits in some of Apple’s late 2008 Core 2 Duo MacBook and MacBook Pros. Its testing found that a specific blend of updated firmware, Boot ROM and OS versions will let the notebooks handle a 8GB RAM upgrade.

According to a recent entry in the company blog, the tip says that machines running the latest update to Snow Leopard can address 8GB rather than the previous 6GB limit. It all depends on which version of the EFI Firmware Update and Boot ROM is installed.

The practical upshot of all this is that if you installed the EFI Update when it first came out, like we did, you would have gotten the old code, which meant your computer would only address 6GB properly. Those who didn’t upgrade until after Apple changed the updater got the newer firmware, which allowed proper addressing of 8GB.

Upon manually installing the “updated” version of the EFI Firmware in various test machines, the notebooks were able to address 8GB normally, without any crashing or slowdowns.

Users may have to download updated Boot ROMs, make sure they are running OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.6. According to the blog post, the machine must run the Mac OS X 10.6.6 software.

The future is solid state hard drives.

Which isn’t bad, as they’re pretty nifty.

Per AppleInsider, the 2011 MacBook Pro models are shipping with Mac OS X 10.6.6 (build 10J3210), which supplies TRIM support for bundled Apple Solid State Drives, enabling extended performance of the fast new devices via background maintenance.

The change comes a bit ahead of schedule as it had been previously reported that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion would incorporate support for the TRIM command, which helps the operating system coordinate the maintenance of unused memory cells on the new SSD devices, preserving long term performance.

While the new notebooks appear to run the same Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.6 version, the newer build (10J3210 versus 10J567, the newest build of Mac OS X 10.6.6 available for download from Software Update by other Macs) includes and automatically activates TRIM Support, as noted in System Profiler.

Apple will likely roll out support for the new feature in an upcoming new build of Snow Leopard. The feature reportedly only supports Apple-bundled SSD volumes, but this may change as well.

Stay tuned for additional changes as they become available and if you have any feedback as to your new 2011, Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro, please let us know what you think in the comments.

Late Thursday Apple issued the first beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7, the next security and maintenance update for its Snow Leopard operating system, to its developers community for testing.

Per AppleInsider, the first beta is dubbed Build 10J842 is a 338.6MB download in its delta form. People familiar with the first beta said that its documentation notes there are no known issues with the software.

Developers have reportedly been asked to focus on AirPort, Bonjour, SMB file sharing, and graphics drivers.

The first beta arrived just weeks after Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.6 for Snow Leopard. That update brought the Mac App Store, a new digital download destination to obtain software for the Mac platform.

While it is unknown what new features or fixes might come in Mac OS X 10.6.7, the Mac App Store will likely prove to be the last major feature added to Snow Leopard. Apple has already begun to hype Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, its next major operating system release. Lion will bring features from iOS, including a home screen, full-screen applications and new multi-touch gestures, to the Mac platform when it debuts this summer.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

It you’re looking for another way to exchange currency for your Mac apps, Apple’s long-awaited Mac App Store has a delivery date of January 6, 2011.

Per Macworld, the storefront will go online in 90 countries and the storefront, first unveiled in October at Apple’s Back to the Mac event, will aim to offer a parallel experience to the one Apple pioneered in 2008 with its App Store for iOS devices. Users will be able to purchase paid and download free apps in categories like Education, Games, Productivity, Utilities, and more. Any downloaded can be installed on all a user’s personal Macs, and updates are handled by the store. The revenue-sharing deal is the same as with the App Store: developers take 70% of income, with Apple taking the other 30% to cover hosting costs and credit card fees.

In spite of the idea, the Mac App Store has already raised some controversy, with many developers pointing to restrictive rules that would block several popular existing apps from sale and others worrying that it may signal the beginning of a slippery slope towards a locked-down ecosystem similar to iOS devices. On the flipside, some have argued that the Mac App Store may be a good thing for consumers and developers alike, with the former gaining an easy central location to find software for their computer, and the latter getting massive exposure among Mac users.

The Mac App Store will require Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to install and run and be available as a free download via Software Update.

Late Wednesday, shareware developer Maintain released version 4.7.8 of Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition), Cocktail, the popular shareware utility program that allows for additional Mac OS X system tests. The new version, a 2 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and features:

- Added ability to clear Koobface.A (Boonana.A) trojan.

- Added ability to clear Microsoft Office 2011 font caches.

- Minor bug fixes.

- Updated Automator actions.

Cocktail 4.7.8 retails for a US$14.95 shareware registration fee and requires Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later to install and run.

On Monday, Apple released its Security Update 2010-006 patch, a tiny 1.8 megabyte download that fixes one specific bug in Mac OS X 10.6.4’s AFP file sharing implementation that could allow remote attackers to bypass the password validation system if they know the name of an account on the Mac.

Fortunately, previous versions of Mac OS X are not affected and only client users need the update.

The update can be snagged and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature and requires Mac OS X 10.6.4 or later to install and run.

Over the weekend, shareware developer Maintain released version 4.7.7 of Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition), Cocktail, the popular shareware utility program that allows for additional Mac OS X system tests. The new version, a 2 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and features:

- Added Mac OS X 10.6.5 compatibility.

- Fixed compatibility issues with Safari 5 extensions.

- Fixed compatibility issues with iTunes 10.

- Added ability to restore horizontal window controls in iTunes 10 (Interface – Misc).

- Added Dock menu.

- Minor user interface improvements.

- Updated Automator actions.

Cocktail 4.7.7 retails for a US$14.95 shareware registration fee and requires Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later to install and run.

Late Tuesday, Apple released its Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 patch. The update, a 65.7 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

- Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

- Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

The update requires Mac OS X 10.6.4 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the update and noticed any changes, please let us know.

It’s been a long time coming, but it could be awesome when it hits next month.

Per AppleInsider, Apple’s update to Apple’s Mac Pro desktop was announced Tuesday, with the new tower sporting up to 12 processing cores with Intel Xeon processors, making it up to 50% faster than its predecessor. The hardware arrives in August.

The new Mac Pro desktops feature quad-core and 6-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics and the option for up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD). The processors run at speeds up to 3.33GHz and use a single die design so they can share up to 12MB L3 cache, improving efficiency while increasing processing speeds.

The systems include an integrated memory controller for faster memory bandwidth and reduced memory latency; Turbo Boost to dynamically boost processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz; and Hyper-Threading to create up to 24 virtual cores. The Mac Pro now comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory and customers can configure-to-order the faster ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of memory.

Mac Pro customers also have the option to order a 512GB SSD and can potentially install up to four SSD drives in the system’s internal drive bays.

The Mac Pro also now features two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port. The additional Mini DisplayPort output allows customers to connect two LED Cinema Displays without an additional graphics card or adapter and the dual-link DVI port supports legacy DVI-based displays up to a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Pricing & Availability:
The new Mac Pro will be available in August through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The new quad-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of US$2,499 (US), includes:
- One 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache;
- 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 16GB;
- ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
- Two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
- 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
- 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW);
- Four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
- Five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
- AirPort Extreme® 802.11n;
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
- Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.

The new 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of US$3,499 (US), includes:
- Two 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor;
- 6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
- ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
- Two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
- 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
- 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW);
- Four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
- Five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
- AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
- Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include:
- One 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3565 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
- One 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon W3680 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
- Two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5650 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
- Two 2.93 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
- Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
- One ATI Radeon HD 5870 card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
- Up to 16GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the quad-core Mac Pro;
- Up to 32GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the 8-core Mac Pro;
- Up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD); or
- Up to four 1TB or 2TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm;
Mac Pro RAID card;
- Dual-channel or quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel card; and
- Up to two 18x SuperDrives with double-layer support.

Accessories include: Magic Trackpad, Apple Battery Charger, wired Apple Mouse, wireless Apple Keyboard, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, the AppleCare Protection Plan; and pre-installed copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server; iWork, Logic Express 9, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 3.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.