The JK Buzz 5.18.2011, in this edition...

Apple Updates and Update Issues: Font problems fixed with Mac OS X 10.6.7, Mac OS X 10.6.7 conflict with Quadro 400

Macintosh Miscellaneous: New Mac Trojan threats, Mac mini Parallels Server

Creative applications: CS 5.5 now shipping, QuarkXPress 9 education discounts

Office applications: Outlook 2011 vs McAfee VirusScan, Word 2011 "corrupt document" opening older Word files

Apple Updates and Update Issues

Font problems fixed with Mac OS X 10.6.7

Apple has released a Snow Leopard font update, which addresses the Open Type font problems introduced by Mac OS X 10.6.7 (reported in the 4/11/11 JK Buzz). Hundreds of people have reported on the Apple Discussion boards that this update has fixed their font problems, and Techcare has also had good success with it.

If you have installed Mac OS X 10.6.7, and are still experiencing problems with Open Type fonts after installing the Snow Leopard font update, try running Font Nuke to clear all font caches.

Mac OS X 10.6.7 conflict with Quadro 400

If you have a Mac Pro with an upgraded NVIDIA Quadro 400 graphics card, upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6.7 may cause a wide variety of problems, ranging from video artifacts to no video at all. The fix is to apply the latest standalone driver update from NVIDIA’s website, currently version 256.01.00f03v7. If you are experiencing no video after updating a Mac Pro with a NVIDIA Quadro 400 graphics card to Mac OS X 10.6.7, you’ll need to temporarily install a different video card to download and apply the standalone driver.

Macintosh Miscellaneous

New Mac Trojan threats

There’s a new method being used for tricking Mac users into mistakenly installing Trojans... While browsing the web, a popup window opens that looks just like a Mac OS X Finder window. This fake Finder window will state something like "To help protect your computer, Apple Web Security have detected Trojans and ready to remove them." or "Your system is infected. It’s highly recommended to cleanup your system to protect critical information like credit card number, etc". The popup window will have a button that says something like "Remove All" or "Cleanup".

If the user clicks on the "Remove All" or "Cleanup" button, an installer will be downloaded. If Safari is set to automatically download safe files, the installer may automatically download when the fake Finder window appears.

As with all Mac Trojans, the user must actually run the installer, and authenticate as an admin user. After installation, you will likely find an application in the /Applications folder named either MacDefender, MacProtector, or Mac Security. If you run these applications, they will appear to be legitimate anti-malware software, and after scanning your drive they will list numerous ominous sounding (yet fake) infections. Attempting to fix the infections will prompt you to purchase a license, which of course is a complete scam hoping to gather credit card information.

A high percentage of those who have accidentally installed one of these Trojans report they were browsing pictures in Google Images when the fake Mac OS X Finder window popup appeared.

Removing these Trojans requires more than just trashing the application. When they are installed, background user login and launchd user agents are added. These background processes will randomly open browser pop up windows, many containing adult themed content.

The free version of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition will find and remove Trojans like this, however I personally recommend uninstalling Sophos Anti-Virus after using it, because having it installed/active can cause numerous stability problems in general.

Mac mini Parallels Server

Parallels is now selling a Mac mini Edition of Parallels Server for Mac 4.0. This version is optimized for the Mac mini’s hardware, allowing you to run up to 2 CPUs and 4GB RAM per VM. It required any 1.5GHz Mac mini or later, with 4GB RAM recommended, and costs $299.

Creative Applications

CS 5.5 now shipping

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 is now shipping. The Mac version of CS 5.5 requires a multicore Intel-based processor, and will run with either Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.x.

QuarkXPress 9 education discounts

Quark is now offering major education discounts. Students, staff, and faculty of any recognized institution of learning can purchase QuarkXPress 9 for $189.99. Teachers can get QuarkXPress 9 for free if they teach any creative, print, art, or journalism related classes.
http://www.onthehub.com
http://www.quark.com/Products/QuarkXPress/Programs/Education/Teacher_Try_It.aspx

Office Applications

Outlook 2011 vs McAfee VirusScan

McAfee VirusScan for Mac conflicts with Outlook 2011, causing cache files to corrupt on server folders (like the Inbox and calendars). This leads to Exchange synchronization failures and errors.

Typical troubleshooting approaches only temporarily fix these problems, including: deleting the cache on folders, recreating the Exchange account, or rebuilding the Exchange database.

Until this is resolved by McAfee, the only permanent solution is to either uninstall McAfee VirusScan or configure it to exclude the Office 2011 identities folder (located in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data).

Word 2011 "corrupt document" opening older Word files

After applying Microsoft’s latest Office 2011 update (SP1 v14.1), users may get "corrupt document" errors when attempting to open older Word files. These same Word files will open fine in other Mac applications, including Pages and Word 2008. The workaround to open these older Word files in Word 2011 is to revert to v14.02.