Keith Ward, About's Guide to Windows, points out that according to a recent interview, one Microsoft executive thinks Windows 7 used many design elements from the Mac.

Of course, Microsoft was soon up in arms over the comments from its own personnel, claiming the individual's comments were uninformed and inaccurate. And that he should stop by HR and pick up his things.

OK, I added that last sentence, but hey, it could happen.

Earlier this year, Google said it expected to have a beta version of its Chrome browser available for the Mac before the end of year. It appears that Chrome may be on track for an early December release.

Nick Baum, product manager for Chrome, recently posted on the Chromium mailing list that the beta launch is set for early December. Nick's note specifically addressed a new browser extension called BrowserActions that provides presentation capabilities within the browser. While BrowserActions seems to be working well for Windows and Linux, the Mac version of this extension may not make the grade for the December beta release.

I think most Mac users are more interested in seeing how well the Chrome browser will run on their Macs than in how well the BrowserActions extension works for cross-platform presentations. So, a bit of a delay for a few niceties is fine in my book, as long as we can try out the Chrome browser itself and see how well it stacks up against other Mac browsers.

Apple has released Safari 4.0.4, with improved JavaScript performance, better stability, and improved support for third party plug-ins.

Courtesy of Apple

This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:

• Improved JavaScript performance
• Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
• Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Apple is on a tear, with the Safari update coming less than 24 hours after the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 update, and the recent update to Apple TV.

I'm guessing we can expect the rest of the week to be quiet, at least from an Apple news point of view.

Safari 4.0.4 is available for Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard. You can download it using Software Update in the Apple menu or directly from Apple's web site.

Apple today released OS X 10.6.2, the second update to Snow Leopard since its initial release at the end of August 2009. OS X 10.6.2 primarily addresses specific system fixes, and enhances stability and compatibility.

• an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account
• an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
• the reliability of menu extras
• an issue in Dictionary when using Hebrew as the primary language shutter-click sound effect when taking a screenshot
• an issue with the four-finger swipe gesture
• an issue adding images to contacts in Address Book
• an issue in Front Row that could cause sluggish or slow frame rates while watching videos
• creation of mobile accounts for Active Directory users
• reliability and duration of VPN connections
• general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
• overall improvements to VoiceOver performance This update addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on

OS X 10.6.2 also corrects issues with Apple Mail, Safari, and MobileMe. For a complete list of updates provided by OS X 10.6.2, stop by Apple's support site.

You can update to OS X 10.6.2 by selecting 'Software Update' from the Apple menu. You can also download it directly from the Apple web site.