So I’m interested in this ’cause I run a Mac at home for sanity’s sake. Gizmodo’s reporting about a particularly nasty (possible) result of hoovering that new copy of iWork ’09 that was announced a few weeks ago: OSX.Trojan.iServices.A.

This may be a first for the Mac software world, and it’s not cool at all: ill-gotten copies of iWork ’09 circulating on Torrent sites contain OSX.Trojan.iServices.A, which is something you don’t want.

The Trojan parks itself in your /System/Library/StartupItems folder with read-write-execute root privileges—from there it can phone home to a remote server and install additional nasties throughout your system. Right now, the only true fix is a full format and re-install, since its residual pieces can be spread far and wide. You can spot if your particular warez iWork is infected by searching for the iWorkServices.pkg inside the installer.

You know, Macs being invulnerable and all…

Fully owning the fact that I’m all sorts of choked-up geek about this. One of the main reasons I wanted a laptop was the ability to take my photos with my everywhere – home to see my family, on trpis to upload stuff while on the road, etc. And I’ve always found iPhoto a little counfounding and a little too behind-the-scenes. Not any more with Picasa!

For one thing, after installing it, Picasa does the cool “let’s scan all your junk” thing, and find all those pics you had squirreled away in random folders. Don’t want ‘em? Right click the folder and choose to remove them from Picasa. Simple as that. In the future, you can just go into Tools -> Folder Management and select examctly which folders you’d like to have Picasa monitor – by default it was placing all my junk in date-sorted folders.

But the kick in the nuts for Apple? The import from iPhoto feature. I took all the photos I had in Apple’s little database (20+gig) and pulled them back out into folders that normal human beings can understand. I have always hated the iPhoto database. One hint: I imported all my iPhoto pics to Picasa, then removed it from Picasa using the Folder Management piece of Picasa. Then? Re-added it. This allowed me to rename the default “Imported from iPhoto” folder that Picasa created for me – and that I couldn’t easily figure out how to rename.

On first blush? Picasa has killed iPhoto. It’s hella faster, it’s prettier, it’s organization of your photos makes sense (folders, anyone?) and if you don’t care about being able to create Apple-pre-defined calendars and books right from the interface, you’ve definitely got on of the next top ten apps for your Mac. Thank you, Google!

More reading about Picasa for the Mac:

Hands-on with Picasa for the Mac
Official Google Blog: Introducing Picasa for Mac (at Macworld!)
Picasa for Mac Beta Released, First Look
After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally Arrives