Apple releases Safari 5.1.2 fixes memory issues and general stability

Earlier today Apple released version 5.1.2 of Safari. The new version, according to the notes, increases stability, fixes a few issues that could cause hangs and memory leaks, and fixes an issue that would allow web page to flash to white. No more more freaky strobes when loading up a new URL. The patch also allows web pages to show PDF content right inline with the rest of their web material, which is a nice option for programmers who need to show content that way.

Safari 5.1.2 is a 40.2 MB update, and can be downloaded either through the Software Update or directly from Apple.

This update contains various improvements, including fixes that:

– Improve stability
– Address issues that could cause hangs and excessive memory usage
– Address issues that could cause webpages to flash white
– Allow PDFs to be displayed within web content

Apple updates iPhoto to 9.1.3

Not a week after the last update, iPhoto 9.1.3 is available via Software Update as well as on Apple’s support site. The update is pretty thin, if simply fixes the bug, which is well reported on Apple’s Support Communities, annoyingly resulted in iPhoto events shattering into multiple shards when importing from an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad after syncing with iTunes.
Still, it’s recommended for users of iPhoto 11, so if you use that version, you might as well install it.

New Skype update not working on all Macs.

If you’re a regular user of Skype then you might want to wait with the latest update, as several Mac owners have reported problems, especially the owners of the new MacBook Air are having difficulties with getting Skype version 2.8.x to play nice with their brand new product.

While it is still uncertain exactly what is causing the problem, the symptoms seem to be the same on all devices. When you first open Skype, the login phase never fully resolves itself. Instead, users find themselves stuck staring at the login window until they quit the app.

The problem does not seem to be hardware related, since Skype works fine under Windows both through boot camp, as well as virtual machines such as Parallels and VMware, in other words so far it seems like this is a Mac-specific bug.

Luckily, the problem isn’t universal across all Skype for Mac builds: if you want working Skype on your Mac, the fix is as simple as rolling yourself back to Skype 2.7.0.330. Let’s hope Skype or Apple gets to the bottom of this soon, we will definitely keep you updated on any changes or progress made.