Apple Lion OS New Features & Review

Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is a newest desktop operating system.This eighth release of OS X brings us around 250 new features, many of which are inspired by Apple's mobile-device operating system,
  It is certainly an improvement over the Snow Leopard. Right off the bat, the biggest difference is that it sports an option to have multiple desktop, just like the Android mobile operating system. Also, the buttons and scroll bars on the Lion is smaller. In fact the scroll bar disappear unless you start scrolling (you would have to use two fingers on the "magic mouse" to scroll. This can be kind of awkward.) This is a bugger if you are not use to the two finger scroll as you can't reach over to the side to make the scroll bar appear. Another difference that is widely touted feature is the ability to freely resize the desktop instead of constraining to the fixed ratios. Honestly, I don't see that much of a difference. Another visual difference is that it sports a separate "widget" desktop, which can be accessed by swiping the desktop to the right. It also have a new "mission control" (shown to the right) to view all the running apps.

Windows users will find the Mac very user unfriendly. First off, it does not have an aero snap. Also it does not have the task manager or a sidebar (although it has widgets that sit on a separate Window). Another difference is that the Mac does not have a lock feature where you could quickly lock the desktop (in Windows this is ctrl+L). However, it does have a new feature called hot corner where you just have to move the mouse to a designated corner perform a designated command such as log out, go to sleep, switch on screensaver, etc. In summary, the Mac OS X Lion is certainly a new and sparkly operating system but I belive it won't draw too many Windows users over to their camp. Each operating system have its own faults and flaws. It is best to stick to the operating system that you know as switching operating system can be a painful and long task.

How to Install Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Installing Lion is very easy. You just open the Mac App Store, buy the software and download it. The installer is downloaded to your Applications folder and added to the Dock. It runs automatically, but the installer disappears after it has run, so if you want to keep hold of it to upgrade other Macs or create a boot disc, quit the installer and copy it to an external drive before running.

The downloaded installer is around 3.76GB, which is about the same as a hi-def movie from iTunes. After buying it once, you can install it on all your Macs, so the £21 you paid for the operating system is an even bigger bargain.You’ll have a perfectly simple time installing the system with a rather simple looking installer app that give you the option of either installing by choosing an install disk or not doing so, no customizations anywhere.

 For more tips on Apple's new operating system check out this Mac OS X Lion Guide.

 Apple Mac OS X Lion New Features
 

1) Launchpad: 

  Launchpad is a new user interface component, which allows you to view the Applications on your computer in an iOS-like fashion. While I am not sure I will use this new interface, I like that Apple is trying to bridge the Desktop OS X and Mobile iOS worlds with a more consistent interface.

2) Mission Control:  Although this feature is a bit recycled from Exposé, I do enjoy the new look and organization of the application overview.

3) Easy Access to DVD Media: 

 When OS X Lion was first announced, there was a lot of uproar about the digital-only release. There were many who worried about how to do a fresh install of Lion on a new hard drive and the instruction, purportedly from Steve Jobs, that they install an old version of Mac OS then upgrade to Lion was met with a lot of online criticism. Most of those issues have since disappeared as Apple has provided a method, possibly unsupported, for creating a DVD image of the downloaded Lion installation. The stepsare extremely easy and I had the DVD created within minutes of downloading. I tested the DVD on another Mac in my household, as the OS X license permits up to 5 installations, and the DVD worked without issues.

4) Full-screen Applications:  

The ability to load applications in full-screen was first introduced in iLife about a year ago and has now been extended throughout the OS. As someone who values screen real estate, the new feature is a welcome addition, especially if you are using an 11″ MacBook Air.

5) New Coat of Paint: The overall graphical interface for Lion is a lot more crisp and appealing, succeeding with that ‘lickable’ aspect Apple is known for.

6) Java Support: Like the DVD media issue, there were a lot of rumors predicting the end of Java on OS X Lion that have turned out to be false. Although there is some evidence to suggest Apple will be taking a backseat to integrating Java with the OS in the future, they have already posted a Java 1.6 release available as a separate download. They have also added an automatic download feature that detects when Java is required and automatically installs it. For example, the first time I started Eclipse, Java 1.6.0_26 (64-bit) was retrieved and installed within seconds. In short, Java is still very much alive and well in OS X Lion despite rumors to the contrary.

7)QuickTime:

 This was a pleasant surprise for me. After Apple axed QuickTime Pro’s quick and dirty editing features in favor of the stripped down QuickTime X I almost lost hope, but the new version of QuickTime offers really great drag and drop editing. It’s even resolution-independent, so it’s easy to take multiple clips with different original resolutions (like a screen capture, a video shot on your phone, and a high-res DSLR clip), lay some audio underneath, and export. So long iMovie! QuickTime also offers simple screen capture, video capture, and audio recording.

8)Performance : 

The only time I’ve felt like there was a hiccup in the system here now that I’m upgraded to Lion on my newest generation MacBook Pro is when I’m attempting to use gestures to get to Mission Control or the Launchpad. While this could very well be because my fingers weren’t working correctly, but I do dare to say that gestures aren’t perfect- especially when I need four fingers to perform what one could do with a simple move and a click. The software works fine, is the compatibility with the human brain that might not match up so well.Booting apps appears to be at least slightly quicker. The old go-to test for this is opening Photoshop, and I’m glad to say that before I updated, Photoshop (version CS4 is the one I’m using here) booted in about 30 to 40 seconds while now it’s down to about 20 or 15. Compared to 10 years ago that’s an absolute miracle. Compared to pre-Lion that’s a few extra bonus points. Furthermore moves seem swift, everything seems smooth and nice, animations appear flawless.

Apple Lion OS X video 

Now you can update your old Mac Book  here's everything you need to know about Apple's Lion OS X.