So there are widely published reports this week claiming that Apple has teamed up with Kaspersky Labs, publisher of antivirus software,  to receive advice on bolstering OS X security. How do we know that? Because Kaspersky's chief technology officer, Nikolai Grebennikov, said so, according to an interview published in Computing. Since we're talking about a heavy-hitter in the security software business, the quote is being taken as accurate.

But that doesn't mean it's necessarily true, because there are some other questionable statements from Grebennikov, particularly the one claiming that "Mac OS is really vulnerable," that the Apple may be ten years behind Microsoft when it comes to shoring up OS security. More to the point, other than this single comment in a published interview, how do we know that Apple actually reached out to Kaspersky or any other security company for help?

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Apple tends to release little more than bare-bones specs for most of their mobile products. Beyond basic dimensions, battery life, and supported multimedia formats, there's not a lot to find. That requires some heavy lifting by others to determine, and sometimes you wonder if they're looking at the wrong things.

First there's the inevitable teardown. You get a "bill of materials" (or BOM), a summary of the parts used and the estimated prices. Now knowing that Apple buys this part from Samsung, that part from Qualcomm, might appeal to you in an abstract sense, if you care about such things. That roughly half the parts in the iPad 3, in terms of estimated price, come from Samsung, is especially curious. After all, Apple has been suing Samsung for alleged patent violations to the ends of the planet.

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While Apple doles out information about future operating systems in carefully crafted media events (including the annual WWDC) and press releases, news about the next great OS from Microsoft seems to leak like a sieve. So even though you’ll actually learn how Windows 8 will run on tablets at Microsoft’s Build conference on September 13th, there’s already a pretty decent amount of information available as to what it’s all about.

So, for example, Windows 8 will work not just on traditional PCs, using x86 chips from Intel, but on the ARM-based processors that power tablets. Basically, it’s all going to be the same operating system, running the same software when it arrives in 2012. This means those tablets should, once software is made compatible with the lower power chips, run Microsoft Office and all the rest of your favorite Windows apps, assuming you have any favorites.

The basic interface elements appear to have already been mapped out. You’ll boot to a tiled screen, rather than the traditional Windows desktop and Start menu. This is reminiscent of Windows Phone 7 which, by the way, has “borrowed” the concept from traditional app launching docks, such as the Launcher in the Classic Mac OS.

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So Apple continues to make a little headway in stopping Samsung from selling gear that allegedly copies patented elements of the iPhone and iPad. It's not that you can't buy mobile products with Samsung's name on them, but wins in Germany and elsewhere demonstrate that Apple may indeed be on the right track in their ongoing complaints.

Now I do agree with those skeptical about the whole process when they say that you can't innovate by filing lawsuits against competitors. Without being  a patent attorney, I'll also accept the opinion that patents are being granted that are too broad. But even the proposed patent reform bill being considered by Congress in the U.S. isn't really going to change that situation very much.

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