CERNIUK  The Snow Leopard can connect now to the Cisco's proprietary implementation of standard IPSec VPN. Unfortunately I am having a hard time figuring out where the :

EnableMSLogon=1

MSLogonType=0

(settings our corporate .pcf files)

are set in the Apple VPN. It is not exposed in the interface so we are relegated to hacking conf files. Here is where the hints are. You must be quick to capture the file that is indicated here but the technique works:

http://patternbuffer.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/customizing-the-cisco-or-ipsec-vpn-client-in-snow-leopard/

I have tested it against a VPN connection that does not require the MS login style, worked great. Unfortunately not useful here. Need the common gateway and that requires the MS login business.  
(Version 4.9.01.0180)

CERNIUK  so far, it is purring along. The "occasional" was pretty much 50% of the time for me. Found out how much I used TextExpander. Thanks!  
(Version 2.7)

CERNIUK  Nothing but crashes under Snow Leopard 10.6  
(Version 1.1.10)

CERNIUK  The OS version checking is broken. It indicates it requires 10.4 or something newer when running on 10.6  
(Version 2.0b1)

CERNIUK  Love this utility, a definite must have but... not cozy with chilly kitty yet...

Under Snow Leopard the background application that watches keystrokes seems to unregister itself and TE stops working. Have to go and **double click** on one of the menu items to insert an expansion before the background application starts back up. What's up with double clicking a menu item anyway?!  
(Version 2.6.3)

CERNIUK  4 more kernel panics today...

Interval Since Last Panic Report: 65 sec

Panics Since Last Report: 2

Anonymous UUID: 25CC323B-7196-47E1-AF34-99BB8AC202BD

Mon Jul 20 16:04:29 2009

panic(cpu 1 caller 0x2a6ac2): Kernel trap at 0x593eb888, type 14=page fault, registers:

CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x11cb6000, CR3: 0x75449000, CR4: 0x00000660

EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x05779c16, ECX: 0x11cb6000, EDX: 0x000021a8

CR2: 0x11cb6000, EBP: 0x58ab3858, ESI: 0x00003327, EDI: 0x11cb1cb0

EFL: 0x00010287, EIP: 0x593eb888, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x11cb0010

Error code: 0x00000000

Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)

0x58ab3668 : 0x21acfa (0x5ce6b0 0x58ab369c 0x223156 0x0)

0x58ab36b8 : 0x2a6ac2 (0x590ab0 0x593eb888 0xe 0x590c7a)

0x58ab3798 : 0x29c968 (0x58ab37b0 0x58ab38cc 0x58ab3858 0x593eb888)

0x58ab37a8 : 0x593eb888 (0xe 0x48 0x10 0x593e0010)

0x58ab3858 : 0x593e8867 (0x11cb1c9c 0x54751c36 0xe 0x6c4)

0x58ab3918 : 0x593e475e (0x58ab396c 0x58ab3970 0x58ab3974 0x58ab3964)

0x58ab3998 : 0x315fa1 (0x0 0x8992c04 0x2 0x58ab39fc)

0x58ab3a18 : 0x32b403 (0x8992c04 0x2 0x54751c00 0x111a0b80)

0x58ab3a48 : 0x34a20d (0x8992c04 0x2 0x54751c00 0x111a0b80)

0x58ab3bc8 : 0x35108f (0x54751c00 0x1 0x0 0x58ab3c14)

0x58ab3c48 : 0x352995 (0x1 0x0 0x0 0x0)

0x58ab3d68 : 0x35672f (0x11400740 0x1 0x4aec8c 0x0)

0x58ab3d88 : 0x4afc34 (0x114004cc 0x0 0x0 0x3)

0x58ab3e48 : 0x4971ca (0x114004cc 0x0 0x58ab3ec4 0x0)

0x58ab3e78 : 0x49523d (0x8932ac0 0x58ab3ec4 0x0 0x58ab3f54)

0x58ab3f18 : 0x4959ee (0x58ab3f54 0x8932ac0 0x1275d33 0x1)

0x58ab3f78 : 0x4ed858 (0x1093a540 0x10e9e9a8 0x10ea48f4 0x10e9e9a4)

0x58ab3fc8 : 0x29d3fd (0x10e9e9a4 0x0 0x10 0x88cb124)

Kernel Extensions in backtrace (with dependencies):

com.cisco.nke.ipsec(2.0.1)@0x593e2000->0x59450fff  
(Version 4.9.01.0180)

CERNIUK  Still causes kernel panics, buggy software

Still has the coyote ugly windows 95 interface

Still requires that coyote ugly app to run the whole time the VPN connection is open

Still is hard coded to work with only specific network interfaces (bad practice design)

- cannot see a tethered iPhone on USB or BlueTooth

Still have to have a ruddy Cisco leet membership to download a "Free" client

- (thanks to whomever posted, hats off to you Sir!)

At least there is still Shimo...  
(Version 4.9.01.0180)

CERNIUK  A re-ranking. First and foremost the system lockup problem: If you run iPulse on a laptop and use iDisk or other servers, you will find that iPulse will habitually lock your Mac forcing you to control-command-power hard reboot to get free.

iPulse will check the mounted volumes (hard drives) including remote server volumes periodically to update the usage status. When it does this and the volume is no longer available, it will not time out nor release the query call for disk usage statistics.

Here is the scenario: You are at work and you have a server mounted. Maybe it is your Windows NT corp server, Mac OS X corp server, your iDisk cloud server, or your TimeCapsule volume. You close the lid to sleep the Mac and it sleeps. Pack it in your bag, jet for the door. You then later open your Mac (on the train, at home, etc.) and you have no network connection or a different network connection that does not allow you to get to one of the servers that you were connected to before. iPulse will go brute force against that server asking for statistics and not let go. That server volume appears busy and the Finder cannot let go either. You establish an Internet connection (wifi, ethernet, cell modem, etc) and now nothing seems to be able to talk to the network even though you do have a connection as verified by the Network Preferences in your System Preferences. Then you check your process list (command-option-escape) and note that iPulse is not responding. You figure, ok, just kill it but that thing is a vampire and drains your network connection dry and cannot be killed. Kill Kill Kill, nope nope nope. Then you see your Finder go non-responsive. Kill, nope. Other processes, as they access network resources start to go red including iChat, Pages (oops, update check...) and others. Some kill, some do not. You try launching network utilities that just seem to bounce indefinitely (they are trying to open network connections and the network stack is gridlocked by iPulse, sorry charlie)

Ok, long story short, your Mac is Tango Uniform, time for the three key salute: command-control-power. This time you take iPulse **out** of your login items and come and write a lengthy review about one of your favorite little utilities becoming more pain that it is worth. Sad Monday, lost an old friend.  
(Version 2.1.9)

CERNIUK  Very true. Part of what we pay for in a product is not just the license to use the product but the continuation of the support of that product. I have endorsed this product personally and prior, it had been part of my mission critical arsenal when running www.army.mil.

With some of the real show stopper bugs going unaddressed for so long (aka lock your system up), and no support revisions in sight, it may not be as good a value as it was 3 years ago.  
(Version 2.1.9)

CERNIUK  Worked right out of the gate with MacFusion as a file system FTP solution (aka disk on desktop). Exactly how the Finder should have worked in the first place. I am so tired of the Font DA Mover approach to FTP in Mac OS I could scream. MacFusion and MacFUSE come to the rescue! If this thing enables use of NTFS systems, wow!  
(Version 2.0.3.2)

CERNIUK  Neat application, just purchased. Do not like the "can install 5 times" approach.

I rebuild my system frequently and this will ultimately cause me to ditch this software as I will not bother calling them for resolution after my 5th install on my system.

Odd such a little obscure app has such stringent and user-hostile copy protection.   
(Version 3.2.1)

CERNIUK  Have been steadily using this product from its inception. As they jumped on the Mac market, they earned my loyalty but...

We have had numerous problems and currently issues like making a Macbook Air (1.8Ghz) useless when launching parallels has broken the camels back. Not sure what it is doing or what it is triggering but opening parallels can take from 5 to 20 minutes on a 2GB RAM 1.8GHz MacBook Air or MacBook 15" Core2Duo freezing the entire system until it finally comes up.

Ironically 2.0 versions don't do this.

Then the issue of use with broadband cards. Thought it was solved but it hits us right between the eyes every once in a while. Today, Parallels is complaining about networking against a verizon broadband card again so uninstall and reinstall.

Lastly, the shared folder is so slow and has a number of incompatibilities such that installing software from it frequently fails with some kind of pathname issue. Copying the software into the "C" drive and installing works but then removing and compressing hte "C" drive is extra work.

The two other alternatives are under review now to replace Parallels, my old friend.  
(Version 3.0.5608)

CERNIUK  If you are using PackageMaker, you are either a candidate for chewing on tinfoil for fun or you should hit the download for this immediately.

This is what Packagemaker should have been. Don't read, just download, install and smile because your installer falderal is over.

Easy to use, covers the silly manual parts that PackageMaker forces you into, flexible, compatible and definitely worth paying for... but free!  
(Version 1.2.4)

CERNIUK  Does exactly what I need, carries multiple clipboards and makes them transparent and seamless to access via simple keyboard commands. The ability to scroll visually thru them, outstanding.

Could do it better in some minor ways... would like a limit to the clipboards (say 20) to keep the storage file from getting too big for example.

I paid for this, got my serial number and cannot find it. I managed to dig thru an old backup and found the pref's file. Copying that into my new system and I am back in business. It really sucked being without PopCopy2 and it will happen again when this unsupported orphaned product becomes incompatible with the OS under 10.6 or 10.7 etc.

The developer must have been hit by a truck. Not a single response to emails. Is a shame. If it is not going to be supported, the developer should put the working project into source forge and declare it open source.  
(Version 2.4.1)

CERNIUK  Downloaded the trial version. Run it and it wants to test internet connection speed. It asks where it can make a folder and then falls flat with a failure:

"Failed to download World of Warcraft Trial. Please close all applications and try again."

Creating a new account and trying, closing all applications, nothing works. Like taking a new car from the dealership for a test drive and having the engine explode and catch fire right as you start it. Varooom! Booom!

Not impressed.  
(Version 2.4.3)

CERNIUK  Solid comprehensive encryption. With the right settings, this is an outstanding application but the company's support leaves something to be desired.

Since version 9 (or 8?) they have added the ability to use PGP's encryption for the email connections between the user's computer and the email server. In theory this is great if they prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. In practice, PGP seems to fail and flounder all over the place when attempting to take over the encryption task from your mail system. I have to turn this off to use PGP for email.

Second is the automagic email encryption itself. It looks to see if your recipients have PGP and will encrypt if so. This is all find an dandy but I don't want my emails encrypted most of the time. It increases the size and makes them incompatible with my iPhone when reading mail from the same accounts.

Fortunately they provide an unsupported but absolutely critical Mail.app plugin which puts buttons in Mail to selectively sign and encrypt email.

Finally, the new addition of Whole Disk Encryption is absolutely stellar. In some informal testing, PGP's encryption software (AES) appears to be significantly faster and more efficient than Apple's native encryption software (aka FileVault system). I recorded broadcast quality video to disk with no disruption to workflow using full disk encryption. Later I scrubbed back and forth trying to force latency in the video editor and could not get PGP to go higher than utilizing 0.2% of the processor. FileVault, under the same conditions, used as high as 2%, or 10 times more processor.

Lastly, PGP engineers have a very complex application but manage to provide and excellent Mac user experience. Their adherence to the Mac interface guidelines is even better than Apple in many cases.

Long story short, stability, functionality, user interface, performance are all superb (5). Sales support, complexity, and price could all use some work (-1). Overall 4/5  
(Version 9.9)

CERNIUK  The download link times out after very little download. Additionally the server does not report the size of the download as it occurs which indicates that it is behind a (malfunctioning?) proxy.

This file can be found on the torrents but does raise the question, can it be trusted?

The problem is that since Cisco does not provide this software freely and IT shops are typically Mac-ignorant or Mac-hostile in the enterprise, users are relegated to creating security issues by going after these downloads from unknown and untrusted sources. Cisco actually creates the security problem with their approach to software distribution.

Ironically, the software is awful (poor interface, poor performance, buggy and causes kernel panics) and not something that anyone would want short of needing to connect to proprietary Cisco VPN concentrators (servers).  
(Version 4.9.01.0100)

CERNIUK  Reports of exceedingly hot MacBook Pro 17's running Parallels prompted me to search for and locate a temperature tracker. Found Temperature Monitor and am very pleasently surprised.

The only thing lacking is fancy graphing. The technical prowlness is impressive. The backdrop feature, outstanding.  
(Version 4.11)