On Tuesday Apple released Security Update 2006-007 for OS X which addresses some 31 flaws, including the well-known AirPort issue. The fixes cover both Mac specific and third-party components, including Perl, PHP and OpenSSL among others.

However, ZDNet UK reports that the patches fix none of the vulnerabilities found in the “Month of Kernel Bugs .” (The AirPort vulnerability was actually part of the MoKB, so it would be correct to say that at least one of them were covered by this patch.)

I was reading over at Ted Leung ‘s blog that there is a rumor that VMWare is working on a MacOSX version. I have to wonder, could this be the impetus for Apple to release an OSX version that will run on non-Apple hardware, or will VMWare come up with a virtual machine that will look like Apple hardware to OSX? Either way, I would be running to grab my copy of OSX as quick as as I could.

Computerworld is reporting today that Apple released a public beta of Boot Camp, a program that uses the GUI to partition the drive, burn an install CD with all the required drivers and install WindowsXP for dual booting on a MacX86. It is currently available as a limited time trial, but is reported to be included in the next version of OSX, 10.5 Leopard, which is to be released later this year.

This seems to be coming from Apple a lot quicker than anyone guessed. With that in mind, how much longer will it be before Apple releases a version of OSX that doesn’t require Apple hardware? Given that their business model involves selling the hardware on which to run their OS I doubt it could be anytime soon, although I really do hope they decide to take that route.

Despite the assertions of Apple’s senior vice president of worlwide marketing, Phillip Schiller, I don’t think that Apple necessarily has “superior hardware” nor do I think that the dual boot strategy makes me more apt to switch. I have long built my own PCs using the hardware I choose, or ordered from vendors where I can select the hardware to be installed, and I don’t intend to change that. I would not be surprised to find that I am not alone in hoping that Apple releases an “any X86 hardware” version of OSX.

Until then, I won’t hold my breath.