Apple integrates Facebook into Mac OS X with 10.8.2 update

BSD UNIX SKINNER Apple has released Mac OS X 10.8.2 with security updates and deeper Facebook integration with a single signon feature for the social networking service.

Apple's Mac OS X 10.8.2 includes a slew of bug fixes, security updates and other bits and pieces that all add up to a 700MB-plus download for the firm's Mac computer faithful. While the company produced a lengthy list of fixes, the most visible addition is the single signon for Facebook and the tighter integration with the privacy shredding social network.

Users can now share links and photos on Facebook, have contact information imported automatically into the native Contacts application and be interrupted to the brink of insanity by receiving Facebook notifications in Mac OS X's Notification Center. The firm has also integrated Facebook within Game Center so users can share scores and even click on a "Like" button for that extra bit of ego gratification.

As for Apple's efforts to plug security holes, the majority of patches included had been released previously, though Apache, BIND, Mail, PHP and Ruby all get updates in a bid to keep Apple's Mac OS X users secure. The firm's Safari web browser gets a bump to 6.0.1 with updates to the core Webkit renderer.

Apple users wanting to update to Mac OS X 10.8.2 are recommended to use System Update as it can significantly lower download size depending on what fixes are already installed on the system. µ