Odds and Ends: Lack of PGP for Intel-based Macs frustrates users, release soon?; Problems joining segmented files with StuffIt;
Lack of PGP for Intel-based Macs frustrates users, release soon? MacFixIt reader Paul Derby inquires:
"From the numerous inquiries made to PGP,Inc. that have gone unanswered and no disclosed progress toward any sort of PGP client for the Intel Macs since they were made available to the developer community over 1 year ago, the only conclusion one can draw is that PGP has frozen their Macintosh offerings and has no plans to release any solution for the Intel Mac."
Unfortunately, as noted by Paul, the PGP Corporation has made no announcement regarding the potential release of a Universal Binary edition of PGP Desktop.
However, there is a small post in the PGP support forms from a user named "Rolf" whose profile indicates "Senior Product Manager" and whose Web site is listed as PGP.com, which states:
"PGP plans to release a version of PGP Desktop that supports the Mac Intel in the near future."
We're not sure if this indicates a Universal edition is in the works, but it's the closest PGP Corporation has come to making a statement on the issue.
In the meantime, GnuPG offers a viable, Universal alternative for e-mail encryption.
Problems joining segmented files with StuffIt Some users have reported an issue where StuffIt Deluxe 10.0.2 and StuffIt Expander have problems re-joining files segmented with Drop Stuff 10.0.2.
MacFixIt reader Gabriel Dorado writes:
"The segmented files with DropStuff 10.0.2 are corrupt! For instance, groups of six segments of 100 MB segments each. I discovered it after spending two weeks segmenting files. If you try to expand (join) such segmented files, you get 'Error17514Expanding.pdf'"
If you have experienced a similar issue, please let us know.
Knowledge Base updates
- #303898 Remote Desktop: Curtain Mode button dimmed when controlling some clients
- #303955 Remote Desktop 2: "Didn't upgrade to version 2.1"
- #303959 Mac OS X Server: Mobile Users do not appear in the Login Window
- #303932 Aperture: Self-printed PDF book appears to have extra blank page
- #303909 Network Install: Regional locale information does not match default language
- #303882 Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later: AFP share points may mount as read only
- #303738 MacBook Pro may not be able to join a closed WPA Personal wireless network
pgp but is free. they have much more frequent updates than pgp corp.
currently absent in GPG (GnuPG) is ADK (Additional Decryption Key). This is a
sort of master key which can be used by a business or other institution to
decrypt any message encrypted with any of their user's keys. We want to get
away from PGP mainly because of the price. Their license fees have become
excessive. The delay in support for Intel Macs is just one more reason.
In the meanwhile, since keys are intercompatible between PGP and GPG, you
can use one central computer with PGP to create keys and then distribute
them to users with GPG. ADK is specifically a function of the key pair
(handled during key creation) so once a key is set up with ADK in PGP, it will
work even for messages encrypted with that key in GPG. Of course that
process assumes a lot of trust in the institution and the IT people involved.
I just thought some readers might find that interesting.
memos and email from loss if my laptop gets stolen. No luck. Dustin Halliday,
PGP customer support team lead, told me there would be a version toward
the end of this year.
So I looked for an alternative, and didn't find any I trusted (I don't think
there's a GPGdisk for the Mac?), so I tried FileVault.
I'm very impressed--it's done heroic things to save me from screwing up my
encrypted home directory (like when I told it to recover lost space right
before my ride to the airport came), and it solves the problem more
conveniently and comprehensively than PGPdisk did.
There are occasional complications: Adobe update installers can't find their
mounted .dmg disks and fail--workaround is to define a new account that
doesn't use FileVault for doing problem installs; Handling voluminous data
that doesn't need encryption, like family photos, is awkward--I moved those
into a Shared user folder, but permissions aren't handled right by the system
in this situation and it takes a lot of fiddling before I can get access right
(finally discovered using Touch in the Terminal fixes the failure of permission
corrections done in Finder Info to be acted upon, i.e. to work); There are
some slowdowns, but I don't know how to tell how much is FileVault's fault; A
Better Finder Rename can't rename files in the home directory unless you do a
special trick.
in the very near future.
- PGP Corporation
- by cyphers July 5, 2006 3:03 PM PDT
- See http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060705101450393
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(6 Comments)