OS X Lion
Apple is billing OS X LION as “the most advanced desktop operating system” Mac OS X Lion is now available in the Mac App Store. Snow Leopard users can upgrade to the newest cat-named release for $29.99.
Apple has also decided to officially drop the Mac OS X Lion name and just call it OS X Lion.
OS X Lion delivers more than 250 new features and according to some has taken the best parts from iOS and married them it to the best of OS X.
Before you eagerly dive right in, go through the installation process and review tips and available guides to preparing your Mac for Lion.
Apple also states that it is “built on a rock-solid UNIX foundation, OS X is engineered to take full advantage of the technologies in every new Mac. And to deliver the most intuitive and integrated computer experience.”
FEATURES:
View Mission Control
Swipe up on the trackpad to get a bird’s-eye view of everything running on your Mac.
Switch between open apps
Swipe three fingers to move from one full-screen app to another.
Two-finger scroll
Slide two fingers up or down the trackpad to scroll through documents, websites, and more.
Tap to zoom
Double-tap the trackpad with two fingers to magnify a web page or PDF.
Pinch to zoom
Zoom in and out of photos and web pages by moving your thumb and finger in a pinch gesture.
Swipe to navigate
Flip through web pages, documents, and more like thumbing pages in a book.
Built-in Apps
OS X comes in a single version that includes a collection of Apple-designed applications. Not only do they let you surf the web, make video calls and have text chats, manage your contacts, and accomplish other day-to-day tasks, they also work together to make you more productive — and let you have more fun.
Finder Enhancements
The Finder gives you easy access to all the files on your system. It lets you find, organize, and access practically everything on your Mac — including applications, files, folders, discs, and shared computers on your network. You can sort files by kind, application, date modified, date added, or size. But with so many files on your computer, finding a specific one can be a challenge. Not on a Mac. Features like Spotlight and Quick Look make locating the file you’re looking for effortless — even if you don’t know the filename. Say you’re searching for a document, and the only thing you recall about it is the phrase “surrealist painters.” Open Spotlight, start typing “surrealist painters,” and your Mac generates a list of files that contain those words. And with Quick Look, you don’t need to open an application to verify that you’ve found the right file — view a full-screen preview by hitting the space bar. Want to share a file with someone nearby? Just drag and drop to send it to the person wirelessly with AirDrop.
Auto Saving
Say goodbye to the worry and the hassle of manually saving your work. Auto Save automatically saves your work, while you work, without you having to do a thing. Versions creates a new version of a document each time you open it and every hour while you’re working. It saves only the differences between successive versions, so the impact on your disk drive is minimal. Just open Versions to see the current document next to a cascade of previous versions. You can copy and paste between versions or revert to an earlier version. And when you share a document, you share only the most recent copy.
Full-screen Apps
full-screen apps that use every inch of your Mac display. You can have multiple full-screen apps open at once — along with multiple apps in windows. And it’s easy to switch between full-screen and desktop views. Mission Control gives you a bird’s-eye view of all your windows and full-screen apps, and allows you to instantly navigate among them.
The upgrade is not without its issues. Mine have been reapeated freezes that caused me to have to cold restart my computer. I think these are related to Autosaves but I am not sure. As more users chime in I am learning of additional issues.
Please do your homework prior to upgrading or be prepared for a few “surprizes” and interuptions to your productivity.
Warning: If you still have some Power PC Applications installed that you use, you will not be able to continue to use them once you upgrade to OS X Lion.
