BBEdit (big brother of Text Edit), probably the single most powerful text editor available for mac (and a necessity for a web designer), has been updated to version 8.5. Here's a list of the changes made to BBEdit:

• Code Folding - This collapses sections of your code to make the structure easier to read. You can either do it manually or have BBEdit do it for you.
• Clippings - Formerly called Glossary, it now has easier clipping creation, a clipping menu and improved Insert Clipping system.
• Preferences - This will now include show/hide individual menu commands, a preference search, and a nice new layout.
• Code Editing - Now you can set different colors for each language. There's support for Ruby, TAML and SQL along with improved Javascript Support.
• UI Enchantments  - Changes include an editing window overhaul, and a new icon.
• Others - Improved disk browser, auto saving, ability to read/write/search inside gzip files, and a slew of bug fixes essential to the application

BBEdit v8.5 definitely has some great features. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to download the software for free. Only a handful of people will be able to grab this for free, but if you're determined, you can check out the official BBEdit site to see how you can be eligible for the free upgrade.

fcodc of Mac Recon made an interesting point in his blog about why he is going to stop using Apple's .Mac service. He cites the fact that the features that Apple gives you through the .Mac account are now being offered by other people, sometime at no cost. Plus there seems to be no new features for the .Mac in the coming weeks and months. In his post, he also gives some examples of these features that have alternatives.

• Mail - Gmail, gives you more that 2GB of FREE space (with POP3 access)
• iDisk - using software like gDisk you can store apps and the like in you gmail account
• Backup - there are free alternatives such a Silverkeeper
• Homepage - Apple is trying to sell people iWeb, which can upload your site anywhere, and  now, you can get a free web page from Google (not to mention that web space is cheap, much cheaper than that of .Mac's)
• Groups - Both Yahoo and Google have them

He also cites that Apple still has not delivered the .Mac exclusive widgets they promised with the release of Tiger. That's his argument for leaving, frankly, I've thought the same thing ever since I saw the price which is not worth it, in my book. Feel free to speak out loud through your comments.

Ever since the release of Apple's Boot Camp, Mac users have been able to use those Windows programs that just don't have a Mac companion. The only problem was the fact that you had to reboot your system to do it. CodeWeavers have changed that.

CrossOver is a program by CodeWeavers that allows Mac users to install and run windows applications natively on any Intel Mac. But it gets better: with CrossOver you don't even need a copy of windows.

We've mentioned CrossOver before but they have recently come up with a new version of the beta. If you're not into using experimental software, you'll have to wait for the official release. There's only one bit of sour news to report on this product: you're gonna have to pay eventually, but it's cheaper and easier than Boot Camp and a copy of Windows XP. By the way, before checking out the read link, keep in mind that right now it's only for a 60-day free beta.

Download: [Codeweavers' CrossOver 60-day free beta]

We've been using the term iPhone for Apple's new cellular service/phones that was rumored about for a long time before finally being announced officially, but we probably won't see it coming out just yet. Why, you ask? It's simple: the name iPhone is already taken, it's a VoIP service being offered by Nuivo since 2003.

But it can't be that simple now, can it? You see, Apple registered the iPhone trademark way back in 2002. So here's the question now: does the iPhone constitute a different enough use of the name to not infringe on Nuvio? It wouldn't be the first time Apple uses a name that some other company has already been using. Apple may be our beloved computer company but it's also a record company in England (and one with a famous musical group too).

Also another point for consideration: if it's not going to be iPhone, then what will it be? iCell? iTalk? iYap? iDrivingHazzard?

Okay, I'll stop now.

Last week Conrad Quilty-Harper of the unofficial apple blog had an interview with Peter Molynex, founder of Lionhead Studios and creator of such games as Fable and Black & White. During the interview, he asked a few questions about the state of Mac gaming because Lionhead has a great record of bringing their games to the Mac. Supposedly that's not going to change with Microsoft's purchase of the company, but then that's what Bungie said after their purchase.

The interview had a good point: not many people play mac games so developers don't want to make games. The solution to this problem? Apple actually getting behind games. Apple does nothing to cater to the gaming market either on the hardware or especially the software side. Peter Cohen (from Macworld) suggests that Apple's lack of a unified application programming interface is making the job harder than it needs to be. In addition another improvement would be if apple stopped its new integrated graphics habit (like those seen in the new MacBooks) so that upgrades could be performed quickly and easily.

It sure would be nice to have an iTunes Game Store and a mid price Mac that came with a decent graphics card but unless Apple starts giving gaming more than the bare minimum support, we'll be seeing the end of Mac gaming soon, especially now that you can just boot into Windows. It would be nice if we see articles from Apple on how great the new Ghost Recon game played on the Mac, not ones about how the music was composed on a Mac.

Do you like booting into windows for the occasional PC program but hate how hard it is to hold the option key down? Well then today is your lucky day because govdavid has released Boot Camp Sargent v.1 Beta. Boot Camp Sargent is an Applescript program that reboots your mac into either Mac or Windows. It also comes with a script to reset your start up disk to Mac OSX so you don't have to go into your system prefs to do it.

All you have to do to install these scripts is to Drag them to your computer, and into the dock (or other launcher) if you wish.

[Download Boot Camp Sargent .1 Beta]

I don't know about you but I like to keep tabs on my Mac. I try to keep it from burning up inside (which I usually don't have any luck with), and I like to restart my mac every 1000 hours or so. If you like to keeps tabs on your Mac then you should be using iStat.

iStat is a dashboard widget that keeps track of all your computer's important information like CPU temperature, memory usage, disk space, and run time. This new version supports CPU temp on new Intel macs (Now all I need to do is get one). And like all the greatest apps it's completely free.

Download: [iStat 1.5.1]

Macworld tested the new Intel-based laptops, both the 1.83GHz white and the 2.0GHz black models, set to replace the G4 based Powerbook and the G4 based iBooks. The processor speeds of these new non-pro MacBooks are the same as the first generation of MacBook Pros so they hold up pretty well in processor-heavy tasks and they beat the G4 based laptops except for the Photoshop test.

Note: Because Adobe has yet to release a universal binary for the CS2 suite they were ran through Rosetta.

The results look as good as the new MacBook color, I've always been a fan of black electronics (in fact all I carry is a black cell, a black PSP, and a black iPod) but until Adobe get the universal binary of CS2 out I'm afraid I'll have to stick to my iBook G4. What do you think of the benchmark results? What do you think of the new MacBook Color? We want to hear from you in the comments!

After nearly a year of unstable, flaky releases KisMAC has a stable version 0.21a. This new version is not only stable but comes with some new features as well.

• passive AirPort Extreme mode (except for MacBookPro and newest Mac Minis)
• KisMAC is now a Universal binary
• IP-Addressen of Clients will be shown
• Extenended configuration capabilities
• Growl integration
• Google Earth export
• Advanced search options
• Reworked Atheros integration

For those who don't know what KisMAC, is it's a stumbler application that can put your card into monitor mode. It supports multiple third-party PCMCIA and PCCards and, naturally, Airport cards.

Secunia has some info on some new potential Mac OSX vulnerability. The list of these potential vulnerabilities include:

•  The Â?BOMStackPop()Â? function used to decompress malformed ZIPs
•  The "KWQListIteratorImpl()", "drawText()", and "objc_msgSend_rtp()" used by Safari when render malformed HTML
•  The "ReadBMP()" used by Safari to render malformed BMPs
•  The "CFAllocatorAllocate()" used to render malformed GIFs
•  The "_cg_TIFFSetField ()" and "PredictorVSetField()" used in precessing Malformed TIFFs in Preview, The Finder, Quicktime or Safari

These vulnerabilities could lead to both denial of service attacks and system access by remote. I hope that Apple can get them fixed before they are used. Does anybody else remember the days when you couldn't find a vulnerability in the Mac OS unless you were really looking?