Mac OS X Lion Features and Release Date

Now we know that “Back to the Mac” refers to iOS coming back to it’s parent operating system, Mac OS X. Apple provided a limited sneak peak at Mac OS X Lion, including the upcoming Mac App Store. Seeing is believing though, so read on for screenshots and more information about each item.



Release Date:
We were given a sneak peak at Mac OS X 10.7 Lion today, and Steve Jobs provided a release date: Summer of 2011. The Mac App Store (we called it!) will be available sooner, in just 90 days. FaceTime for Mac beta will be available to download immediately.



Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Features:
Multi-touch gestures – Apple knows that touch screen notebooks don’t work, trackpads and mice are the way to multitouch a desktop operating system. With this in mind, Lion will have advanced gesture support



Mac App Store  – The App Store revolutionized mobile applications, so of course they bring it to the Mac. Features are automatic installation, one-click downloads, automatic app updates, apps will be licensed for use on all of your Macs. This will be available first under 10.6 Snow Leopard in 90 days. On the developer side, the Mac App Store will have the same developer 70/30 split as the iOS App Store, and submissions will be accepted soon. 


Launchpad – Launchpad is Home Screen for your Mac, supports multitouch gestures and multiple pages of apps, folder support, the whole thing very similar to iOS on an iPad. This is part of a newer and more refined Mac OS X GUI.


Full screen apps – immersive experience of iOS apps comes to the Mac, true full screen support for apps, takes away window bars. Supports multitouch gestures to swap between fullscreen apps, desktops, and other apps.


Auto-save – self explanatory, awesome feature and much needed. Clicking Save feels archaic after using an iPad/iPhone, doesn’t it? Yup, bring it to Mac OS XAuto resume app state when launched will just like automatic saving, auto-resuming is a must have feature from iOS