They promised it last week, and now they’ve delivered: Atom support is back, although apparently implementing the fix isn’t the easiest project. Still, the ball’s in Apple’s court now. Is this going to turn into a Palm Pre-iTunes thing, or will Apple just let it lie? [Yahoo]

I say almost, because there was still some noticeable frame dropping. But still, I could actually watch HD flash video (windowed and full-screen) without it stuttering like a slideshow. One issue with YouTube: the CPU pretty much went into overload once the video was playing, and on the third viewing I had to Force Quit Firefox to wrestle back control.

But this is good news for hackintoshes, and netbooks in general. In my post earlier today about AnandTech’s Flash 10.1 CPU-utilisation tests, some Giz readers with netbooks reported that they’ve noticed a difference, too. Let’s post those comments here so other readers can see what sort of netbook you have, and if Flash 10.1 is worth trying.

For the record, my MSI Wind U100 has 2GB of memory, a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and integrated Intel 945 graphics. (Pic above is of the Dell Mini 9).

The (main) man behind the NetbookInstaller software, which takes care of enough of the under-the-hood tweaks to make netbook hackintoshing approachable, heard the plaintive cries of his flock and handed down a decree from on high:

The kernel will be fixed. It’ll just take a few weeks.

This certainty, combined with the flip-flopping Atom compatibility in earlier 10.6.2 builds, points to the breakage as an intentional choice, not just some incidental bug.

Update: Actually, there’s an interesting case to be made: The 10.6.2 killed Atom in all builds of the update. Interesting. —Thanks, Eduardo!

Even better, for anyone who dove straight into the 10.6.2 update only to find themselves very suddenly without a working netbook, there’s a quick fix: Downgrade your kernel! Using the same instruction set you can do a partial (excluding the kernel) upgrade to 10.6.2, but you’re probably just best off waiting until everything is patched-up right and proper. [Meklort, MyDellMini]

[OS X Daily]

Prior builds of 10.6.2 have flip-flopped between treating Intel Atom support — vital to netbook hackintoshing — as a bug that needs to be fixed, or as something they should just leave be, because oh god, I love my hackintoshed netbook so goddamned much, why don’t you just leave me alone?, etcetera. Any brave EULA-flouters want to give this thing a go?

Anyway, here’s the changelog! The most notable changes are the aforementioned account-eating error, as well as a fix for an irritating glitch with four-finger Exposé gestures only working in one direction. Weighty stuff. [Apple via Loopinsight]

What’s included?

General operating system fixes provided for:

* 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

Fonts fixes provided for:

* an issue with font spacing
* an issue in which some Fonts are missing
* font duplication issues
* an issue with some PostScript Type 1 fonts not working properly

Graphics fixes provided for:

* an issue when connecting monitors to DVI and Mini DisplayPort adapters
* an issue in which the brightness setting may not be remembered on restart
* addresses functionality with specific display models
* general reliability and performance improvements when using some applications

Mail fixes provided for:

* a situation in which Mail’s unread count may not update properly as messages are read on another computer
* an issue in which deleted RSS feeds may return
* an issue in which Mail cannot preview or Quick Look attachments when composing a new message
* an issue that can cause Address Book and/or Mail to stop responding when opened
* an issue in which email messages received from an Exchange Server are not formatted correctly
* an issue in which Mail reports “Account exceeded bandwidth limits” for some Gmail accounts

MobileMe fixes provided for:

* performance when accessing files from iDisk via the Finder and syncing iDisk files
* an issue in which syncing iDisk files does not proceed beyond “checking items”
* reliability and performance when syncing contacts, calendars, and bookmarks with MobileMe (syncing with iTunes and iSync are also improved)
* an issue that prevents some users from logging into MobileMe via the MobileMe System Preference pane

Network file systems fixes provided for:

* compatibility with third-party AFP servers
* file synchronisation for portable home directories

Printing and faxing fixes provided for:

* automatic printer updates improvements
* Print dialog allowing you to enter and send to more than one fax recipient

Safari fixes provided for:

* a graphics distortion issue in Safari Top Sites
* Safari plug-in reliability

Enough with the back-and-forth already, Apple. If you’re going to kill Atom support then just kill it. Don’t toy with us, taking and giving like some sort of some sort of merciless god.

The video above shows what happens if you try to boot the latest 10.6.2 developer build on a Hackintosh. As you can see, not much. So if you’re running OS X on Atom hardware, hold off on any upgrades until this whole mess gets sorted out. [OS X Daily]

The hidden tweaks are a mix of features that didn’t quite make the final cut because they were deemed too slight to deserve their own tick-box, or they were deep system changes that normally call for terrifying terminal commands. And they don’t stop at Snow Leopard: Secrets, which has been around in one form or another for a while now, has collected a huge library of “grey” settings for other apps too, from Apple’s various software suites to civilian apps like Skype and NetNewsWire. The app is free and installs as a PrefPane. [Secrets via TUAW]

Also on the agenda: I’ll be playing with the HP Envy 13 laptop, and depending on couriers, the Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server on it. In other words, look out for some home server posts next week some time.

Anybody else have a hot gadget date this weekend? Tell us about it in comments.