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   TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 12 November 2012

   TidBITS Staff

   MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Update 2.0 -- Apple has released [1]MacBook
   Air and MacBook Pro Update 2.0 for all laptop models introduced in June
   2012: both 13- and 15-inch sizes of the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Pro
   with Retina Display, and both the 11- and 13-inch versions of the
   MacBook Air. The minimal release notes say that this release 'includes
   graphics performance and reliability enhancements and improves
   compatibility with some USB devices.' Requiring OS X 10.8.2 Mountain
   Lion, the update should appear in the App Store's Updates screen for
   affected models, or you can download it directly from Apple's Web site.
   If you have one of these models still running 10.7 Lion, it would seem
   that an upgrade to Mountain Lion would be the only way to take
   advantage of the update. (Free, 127.07 MB)

   [2]Read/post comments about MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Update 2.0.

   GraphicConverter 8.3.1 -- Lemkesoft has released [3]GraphicConverter
   8.3.1, with a number of changes to the highly regarded graphic
   conversion and editing utility, including a few interface tweaks like
   an action menu on the menu bar, confirmation of file deletions from the
   browser, and an optional IPTC indicator in the browser. Support for PCD
   and PICT export from the 64-bit version has been added, along with the
   capability to import ECW files, though this latter feature is lacking
   in the Mac App Store version due to Apple's restrictions. PDFs can now
   be protected on save, text can be rotated, movies can be converted to
   animations, and there's now an option to ignore lab profiles embedded
   in TIFF files. A number of bugs have also been fixed. ($39.95 new, free
   update from version 7.x, $29.95 upgrade from versions 1 through 6, 150
   MB, [4]release notes).

   [5]Read/post comments about GraphicConverter 8.3.1.

   VMware Fusion and Fusion Professional 5.0.2 -- VMware has released
   version 5.0.2 of its [6]Fusion and [7]Fusion Professional
   virtualization packages, fixing a number of bugs. Notable changes
   include USB 3.0 stability improvements, a fix for a problem affecting
   multiple-monitor setups under OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, improvements for
   the Microsoft Office 2013 preview and Windows 8 installations, a
   solution to a bug that caused the library and the Fusion start menu
   contents to get out of sync, and more. Known issues that remain include
   a black virtual machine screen on some Mac Pro systems running Mac OS X
   10.7.5 and problems with upgrading directly from Windows XP to Windows
   8 inside a virtual machine. ($49.99/99.99 new, free update, 215.9 MB,
   [8]release notes)

   [9]Read/post comments about VMware Fusion and Fusion Professional
   5.0.2.

   LaunchBar 5.4 -- Objective Development has released [10]LaunchBar 5.4,
   giving the popular keyboard launcher a number of new actions that it
   can perform, including sending files with AirDrop, displaying alerts in
   Notification Center, copying links of selected Evernote items, copying
   the sender of a selected Mail message, and opening Safari's Top Sites
   view, plus a number of new actions related to phone numbers. LaunchBar
   5.4 can also display Notification Center alerts for calendar entries
   created by LaunchBar, search within Evernote, perform modulo
   calculation in the calculator, and browse SparkleShare repositories.
   Improved are LaunchBar's support for the MacBook Pro with Retina
   Display, indexing of Apple Developer Connection documentation, copying
   large quantities of data, detecting the 1Password keychain, and
   application indexing. Rounding out the update are a number of small bug
   fixes. ($35 new with a 20-percent discount for [11]TidBITS members,
   free update, 2.4 MB, [12]release notes)

   [13]Read/post comments about LaunchBar 5.4.

References

   1. http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1556
   2. http://tidbits.com/article/13391#comments
   3. http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/188/graphicconverter.html
   4. http://www.lemkesoft.org/files/graphicconverter/notes/1058.html
   5. http://tidbits.com/article/13393#comments
   6. http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html
   7. http://www.vmware.com/products/desktop_virtualization/fusion/professional.html
   8. http://www.vmware.com/support/fusion5/doc/fusion-502-release-notes.html
   9. http://tidbits.com/article/13392#comments
  10. http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/
  11. http://tidbits.com/member_benefits.html
  12. http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/releasenotes5.html
  13. http://tidbits.com/article/13384#comments