Mac OS X Power Hound, Second Edition

Software Update

Software Update is Apple’s way of cleaning up after itself. A window like the one shown in Figure 5-10. appears from time to time, offering to install patches and updates that Apple has recently released.

Tip

You can manually check for new updates by opening System Preferences → Software Update → Update Software tab and clicking Check Now. This pane is also where you can specify how often Mac OS X should check for new updates on its own.

Stifling Irrelevant Software Updates

You may not be interested in installing every update that Software Update proposes, especially if you use a dial-up modem. Maybe you just don’t care about a 23-megabyte DVD-burning enhancement or an update to the Dutch language profiles. Yet every time you run Software Update, it will display the updates you declined. Then, when you try to bypass the update screen, it’ll ask if you’re sure you don’t want to install it.

The easy but secret solution to this problem is to highlight the update you aren’t interested in, and then choose Update → Ignore Update (or just hit its shortcut,

-Delete). Mac OS X promptly removes the update from your list.

If you ever change your mind—maybe you decide to learn Dutch after all—you can return the declined item to the list by → choosing Software Update → > Reset Ignored Updates.

Figure 5-10. Apple’s Software Update can help keep your machine’s software up to date, which ...