The cat names continues. There was Leopard, then Snow Leopard. Now, Mountain Lion, Mac OS 10.8, is coming out soon after Lion’s release. This is a bit of a shock since Lion, itself, has so many different features from Snow Leopard, such as it’s Mission Control (where you can see all your apps and programs in a birds-eye view) and Launchpad (direct access to your apps). At first, I wasn’t sure what could be improved upon except for updates to security issues and maybe some iOS5 syncing tweaks and iCloud fixes. But, my tune quickly changed after testing a pre-beta Mountain Lion version.
Here are the notable features of Mountain Lion:
- iCloud – Upon first sign in, your files will automatically be uploaded, including mail, messages, contacts, calendars, and others. You can decide which ones to sync. Same stuff, but nice feature after upgrading to Mountain Lion. The interface now shows you your storage limit and use very easily.
- iMessage – Goodbye iChat and hello iMessage. Taking a page from the iOS5 iPad and iPhone support functionality, you can send text messages from your Mac to all devices. You can also use AIM and GChat with iMessage.
- Reminders & Notes – More features ported over from the iOS, you can jot down reminders and notes to be synced with all your devices and calendars.
- Notification Center – Similar to Outlook’s 5-second appearance of a new email message, Mountain Lion displays mail, messages, and reminders for 5 seconds at the top-right of the screen. This is the most notable feature change and a great way to stay up on your latest mail and calendar updates.
- Share Sheets – Just like you would share a website page on your iPhone, you can now do the same on your Mac apps via email, message, Airdrop, Twitter, Flickr, and Vimeo.
- Twitter – You’ll see a larger dose of Twitter, from Twitter usernames and profile pics in Contacts cards, to tweets listed in the notification stream and Share Sheets, a.k.a. Tweet Sheets.
- Security – 3 forms of Apple security will be implemented when downloading apps, only allowing Mac App Store downloads; allowing all digitally signed software; and then allowing all software. Good layers of security here.
- Chinese – Apple support has targeted Chinese as the language to improve upon in this Apple operating system upgrade, enhancing handwriting recognition, phrase suggestions, and keyboards settings.
Have I hyped up Mountain Lion enough? I am actually tingling right now thinking of the possibilities. This truly marks how your iPhone, iPad, and Mac can be synced and act as an extension of each other. Before this, I really thought the iPhone and iPad were taking over the Mac / PC market. Who needed a desktop or laptop when the iPad and iPhone could do it all? Yes, iCloud tried to mimic the computer with your iPhone or iPad, but it was glitchy and couldn’t keep up. With Mountain Lion and the improved iCloud, syncing, and well, the deeper integration of the iOS (iPhone or mobile operating system) features, the Mac becomes more like your iPhone or iPad. And that’s a good thing.
When is Mountain Lion coming out you ask? By early 2013 you should see either the beta or full version available.
The cost? It is expected to be $30 just like Lion. It will be available as a download or on a USB drive, not a DVD.