Trouble with updates

Hi all,

I have an imac 3.06GHz Intel Core i3, 4 GB Ram 1333 MHz DDR3 running OS X Version 10.6.7. Purchased new September 2010.

My problem. I cannot download any software updates unless it is from Mac. Will not download Firefox update 4.0.1 or the latest OpenOffice update.

For OpenOffice is says to the effect the update failed and I need to do it manually. I do not understand computers that well, that is why I thought a mac would be best for me. However, I cannot seem to get this machine to update. Any help or advise would be appreciated. ;D

FWIW, I am connected via cable modem with 30MBps download speeds.

Thanx, Cal30

***UPDATE*** Now when I go into OpenOffice and click on "check for updates" it now says "Checking for updates failed" within 2 seconds. Can't even check anymore. ???

Do you have your firewall set to "On"? To check this go to System Preferences > Security > Firewall. If it is on then turn it off as there really isn't any need for it anyway and is the reason Apple ships it's products with it turned off by default.
Post back the outcome.

Cheers
- Simon

The firewall was on. I shut it off and rebooted the computer. 4 mac related updates installed fine. I went back into OpenOffice and clicked on check updates and it still fails. Fails to even check let alone attempt to download anything. Thanx for your help. ;D

***UPDATE*** I got Firefox to update. On the top status bar I clicked Firefox > About Firefox. A dialog box opened which again said there was an update available. Clicking took me to the Firefox site where I downloaded the newest version. I guess this is the manual download my imac was telling me I needed to do. I'll figure out OpenOffice at some point.

Question, is it normal to have to drag the old Firefox icon from the task bar to the trash and then manually move the newer icon from the Application folder to the task bar?

Not trying to be a smart ***** here so please do not misinterpret my intent, but all this was much easier on my wife's Windows laptop. This tells me I am doing newbie dumb things or doing it all the hard way. Any and all advice would be much appreciated as I have been having a rough learning curve with this imac after 20 years on WIN.