In a decade , Mac OS X develop from a rummy cross of the classic Mac OS and the NextStep operating organization to a mainstream computer operating system used by millions . It was a 10 of continual refinement , capped by the germ - fix , internals - tweak release of Snow Leopard in 2009 .
But the last four years have seen some dramatic variety at Apple . In that time , while Mac gross sales have continue to acquire , Apple has also work up an altogether new business around peregrine devices that run iOS . Combine the influx of new Mac substance abuser with the popularity of the iPhone and iPad , and you get Lion .
Can Apple make OS X friendly for people buying their first Macs and familiar to those coming to the Mac from the iPhone , while keeping Mac veterans well-chosen ? That would be a neat antic — and Apple has tried very heavily to pull it off .
( Before you read any further , you need to acknowledge that Lionisn’tright for one particular mathematical group of user : If you ’re using an other Intel Mac power by a Core Solo or Core Duo central processor , you ca n’t run it . And if you swear on PowerPC - found apps that run on Intel Macs using the Rosetta computer code - transformation technology , they wo n’t run in Lion . For more on the destiny of elderly package , seeChris Breen ’s series on Lion - incompatible software . )
A new kind of upgrade
Even before you boot into Lion for the first time , you ’ll feel just how different it is from previous versions of Mac OS X. That ’s because Apple has adjudicate to liberate the upgrade principally as a $ 30 download from the Mac App Store . After a 3.5 GB download , there ’s a new Install Lion app in your Dock and Applications folder . Double - click that , and the installation begins .
Back in the day , getting an OS X rising slope involve go to a store or ordering online and puzzle an optical phonograph record . With the release of Lion , Mac drug user can get penny-pinching - split second gratification . And the $ 30 damage is remarkable — in the past tense Apple would ’ve shoot $ 129 for an rise of this ordered series .
However , relying on download alone for an O departure has its drawbacks . While the experience is clean and simple for the most common installation scenarios , thing can get uncanny if yours is n’t one of them . What if you have a really slow cyberspace connection or dispirited bandwidth cap ? Downloading 4 GB of data could be afflictive . What if you are n’t running Snow Leopard , which is required for the Mac App Store ? What happens if your drive crashes and you have to reinstall Lion onto a new , vacuous hard drive ?
Apple has answers to many of these questions , but the rules of the plot have definitely change . party executives told me that users without access to a high - speed connection will be able-bodied to bring their Macs to an Apple Store for avail in buying and instal Lion . And despite all the talk about Lion being usable only via the Mac App Store , the company plans to release a $ 69 version of Lion on a USB stick in August .
Apple does n’t provide an easy way to incinerate a DVD or format a USB drive as a back - up installer , though even Apple White House admitted that technically good users will be able to figure out how to make a bootable installer from the depicted object of the Lion installation software program . pass over your laborious private road entirely and re - installing Lion will be a dissimilar ( and potentially more complicated ) cognitive operation than it is today with Snow Leopard , but for most users , installing ( and restoring ) system software under Lion will be a simpler appendage .
The upright intelligence is that , once you ’ve pose a Lion installer , you’re able to copy it freely to all the Macs in your theatre ( so long as they ’re running the late version of Snow Leopard ) and kick upstairs them to Lion . Not only is that convenient , but it ’s legal : The Lion download license covers all of the Macs in your household , making that $ 30 an even greater stack . If you ’re design on updating multiple Macs to Lion , though , be monish : the Lion installation app ego - destructs after use . After you download it , move a written matter somewhere else before installing , or you ’ll have to re - download the installer from the App Store before using it on another Mac .
Scrolling and gesturing
Apple has been adding Multi - Touch gesture to OS X since the launching of two - fingerbreadth scrolling in the PowerBook in 2005 . After the arrival of the iPhone in 2007 , things really picked up steam . In 2008 MacBooks got a Multi - Touch meth trackpad , and in 2010 Apple impart the same gestures to the background with the Magic Trackpad . With Lion , Multi - Touch gesture are now front and nub , and it ’ll be interesting to see how users respond .
For some exploiter , gestures are already 2d nature ; I ca n’t imagine using my MacBook without two - finger scrolling . As someone who uses the screen background to store all of the files I ’m presently work on , the four - finger flicking gesture that clears away all windows so I can see that Desktop is now burned into my muscle memory . ( To do that in Lion , you now flick with three or four finger and your quarter round . )
But for others , gestures are completely strange . When I mention two - finger scrolling to some citizenry , they count at me like I ’d just claimed that I ’d been to the moon . ( For the phonograph recording : if you slip two fingers up and down on a trackpad , it ’s just like you were spinning a mouse ’s scroll wheel . Try it , it ’s large ! )
It ’s true that gestures can be tricky to learn . Some feel lifelike , because the solution mimics the gesture : the three- or four - finger flick that moves your windows out of the manner and process Mission Control ; the three - digit sideways slide that affect you from one distance to another ; and the newfangled four- or five - finger cattle ranch that bring out the Desktop . Others are less intuitive : the two - digit double - pat that provide an iPhone - similar zoom , for example , or the forked - tap with three digit ( notthe triple - tap with two fingers ) that acquire a pop - up dictionary definition of any word onscreen . Nifty features both , but tough to remember .
Lion also dramatically changes the two - finger coil . That ’s because Apple has decided to convert directions : In previous version of OS X , if you slid two fingers upwards on a trackpad ( or moved the scrollbar on the side of the windowpane up ) , yourviewof a document moved up ; the document on the screen seemed to move down , and you would see content higher up on the varlet . In Lion , if you labor those two fingers up , it ’s as if you ’re physically pushing the text file up ; you see the contentbelowwhat had been onscreen .
Apple says that after a few days of using OS X with this Modern conduct , your brain adapts and then you wo n’t be capable go back to doing it the other way . It ’s dependable : After three or four days , I was easy with the new scrolling orientation . If you ’re willing to put up with a few days of weirdness , your intellect will accommodate . If you ca n’t , well , go to the Scroll & Zoom tab in the Trackpad preference pane and uncheck the Scroll With Finger Direction alternative ; that will restore the old scrolling behavior .
Users of desktop Macs who do n’t like trackpads will be grumpy about the variety . Fortunately for them , you don’tneeda trackpad to use Lion ; most of the features you implement via gesture can also be activated using keyboard shortcuts or contextual carte .
With this change , Apple is syncing the behavior between the iOS and the Mac . Is it really necessary for the two platform to be in sync ? Right now , I ’d say no . But it does make me inquire whether Apple is laying the groundwork for more crossing over between the two operating arrangement . If someday there ’s a touchscreen Mac or one that can run iOS apps natively , have a reproducible scroll - centering doctrine will make sense . For now , though , if it hurts your brain too much , you may just turn it off .
Speaking of scrolling , curlicue bars , and crossover between the Mac o and iOS , Lion also stick in the biggest change to scroll BAR since they were introduced with the original Mac in 1984 . By default , curl bars on Lion are invisible , just as they are in iOS . You see nothing on the right side of a document windowpane until you commence to scroll with a trackpad or black eye . Only then does the roll bar appear . When it does , it ’s clickable and draggable ; you’re able to even move your cursor above or below the bar itself and cluck in a light - gray scroll lane to jump out apace through a written document . But when not in use , the scrollbar fades away .
As someone who has fully embraced the concept of scroll via two finger’s breadth on a trackpad , I wish this approach shot — I did n’t use that scroll streak space and generally do n’t need to see it . But as with so many of the changes Apple is score in Lion , the caller gives user who care the old way an out : In the worldwide dose of the System Preferences app , there ’s an option to always show scroll cake . If you wish to tap those arrow buttons at the top and/or bottom of the old scrollbars , though , you ’re out of luck : They ’re gone totally . I ca n’t remember the last time I used them , so that does n’t trouble me .
Mission Control
Over Mac OS X ’s lifespan , Apple has innovate several direction for users to make do with windowpane jumble — the problem of have too many documents and apps open on the projection screen at the same time . Exposé , which lets you quickly see all of your presently loose windows , was introduce in 2003 with Mac OS X 10.3 ( Panther ) . Dashboard , that separate onscreen space for tiny widget apps , appear in 2005 with Mac OS X 10.4 ( Tiger ) . space , which let you assign apps to multiple virtual background , get in in 2007 as a part of Mac OS X 10.5 ( Leopard ) .
With Lion , Apple has combine all of these features into a single interface called Mission Control . When you activate Mission Control by clicking on the Mission Control app in the Dock , pressing a keyboard shortcut ( F9 by default ) , or gesturing ( swiping three or four fingers upwards ) , you see an Exposé - style view of all the presently running applications with thumbnail views of all their overt window . At the top of the covert , there ’s a list of all useable space — include not just the virtual desktop that the honest-to-god Spaces feature offered , but also all apps running in full - blind mode and ( by default ) Dashboard .
configure those spaces is simpler now : If you want to stick an app or a window into a new space , you dredge its icon or window towards the top of the Mission Control screen . As you drag , the image of a new background appear in the corner of the silver screen , with a helpful plus icon . Drop the ikon or window on that simulacrum and a new background space is added to the regalia at the top of the projection screen . you could drag token from space to place , but ca n’t rearrange the order of outer space .
Though you may move between spaces via keyboard shortcuts and clicking , it ’s well address via a trackpad gesture . A three - fingered swipe left or right on the trackpad will take you from blank space to space . It feel natural ; I ’m more potential to apply Dashboard now that it ’s just another distance . Fans of the previous Spaces will need to re - orient ; the old way allowed you to make a two - dimensional grid of space , but Mission Control limit you to a single horizontal strip . However , working with those spaces can be disorientate : When you switch between blank , the order of background can get assorted up ; items that were floating on top can end up behind another window . There ’s emphatically some fine - tuning to be done here .
I care the visual , tactile approach Apple has taken with Mission Control . I ’m not sure if novice user will ever take to organizing windows and apps on multiple desktops . But since every full - cover app gets its own space by nonremittal , many people will end up using Mission Control whether they require to ( or know they are ) or not . I also bid there was a fashion to manually re - order spaces . Still , while distance had its disciple , I think Mission Control will be adopt by many more Mac user . By bringing Exposé , Spaces , and Dashboard together into a more unified whole , Mission Control is greater than the inwardness of its persona .
Full-screen apps
Lion adds a new capability that any app can take advantage of : the ability to escape in full - screen fashion . Once an app is update by its developer to support this mode , a double - head arrow icon appears in the top - veracious box of the app windowpane . tap it and a couple of things befall .
First , of course , the app slides into full - screen door mode : You see nothing but that app ; no other windows share the screen . Also , the menu measure and Dock disappear . ( Really , they ’re just cover ; if you prod your shiner to the edge of the screen they will reappear temporarily ) . And the app becomes a space unto itself in Mission Control . To exit full - screen mode , you move your cursor to the top of the blind and , when the bill of fare bar reappears , you press the blue double - lead arrow in the top - correct corner .
This is an interface glide slope that Apple has been heading toward for a while : The exist translation of iPhoto , iMovie , and GarageBand all want to be flow in individual windows , as with child as possible . With Lion , more Apple apps join that company , including Safari , Mail , and iCal . Presumably , many third - party apps will follow .
It ’s interesting that Apple has settle to take this approach . On the one hand , it ’s another way that Mac OS X now mimic iOS . But on the other , it ’s also a throwback : One of the first things I noticed right smart back when I first equate the Mac with PCs go Windows was that Windows took a monolithic approach to apps : They were for the most part mean to run maximized , with one giant window taking up the full screen . That was very different from the Mac , which had an interface full of humble , interrelated windows . Now , here we are in 2011 , and Apple has seemingly comprehend that monumental approach shot , at least in some case .
Lion ’s full - filmdom style ca n’t be label on its own . rather , we need to judge the way each app use it . Some apps , such as iCal , iTunes and GarageBand , are fundamentally one jumbo window , so they ’re sartor - made for full - screenland . Mail ’s wide , multi - paned approach fits well , too . On a little display like an 11 - in MacBook Air , full - covert mode is especially helpful in eking out a little extra space .
Full - CRT screen mode is less successful in other Apple apps . Safari especially feels like a failure : Most entanglement Page just do n’t need to be as full as your screen door ; they ’re designed at fixed widths , and nobody want to read crack - all-inclusive melodic line of textual matter anyway . Sure , Safari has the young Reading List pane to satisfy up blank on the side , and it could find other things to put over there ( bookmark , history ) . But I still do n’t see the charm of forcing my vane web browser to take up 100 percent of the screen , even on a MacBook Air .
If app developers add up up with good uses of all that extra space , full - concealment mode could be great . For example , one of my best-loved apps , the retentive - physique writing dick Scrivener , has a multi - pan port that could be gross in full - concealment mode . There ’s a writing section in the centre , with controller at the top , a ligature full of different surgical incision on the left field , and ( optionally ) an inspector pane with more detail on the right . It could usefully take vantage of the full covert .
But if vendors just make their existing apps as wide and as improbable as potential , full - blind mode wo n’t be that useful . One third - party Twitter client app I tested had enable full - screen modality on an experimental basis , but all that happened was that single tweets appeared at full - silver screen breadth . That sort of approaching will probably be common , but it ’s a waste of meter . In most case , app developer will demand to give some serious thought to how best to use full - screen mode , or the feature could become a mostly unused gimmick , kind of like Dashboard .
Note that full - screen mode has apparently been designed for Macs with just one display . On a two - varan apparatus , one display shows the app , the other record nothing but the newly ubiquitous linen paper background texture . It ’s a dissipation . I ’d much rather have two apps running in full - silver screen musical mode , one on each show , or even have one app in full - covert mode while the other screen is displaying one of my regular desktops . Until Apple direct this issue , I ca n’t really commend full - projection screen mode for anyone who trust on multiple video display .
Launchpad
Launchpad is one of the most evidently iOS - inspired new features in Lion . It ’s the Mac rendering of the app home screenland you see on an iPhone and iPad . Like Mission Control , Time Machine , and Dashboard , Launchpad is a basic operating - system of rules feature that reckon like an app itself : It ’s in the Applications menu and , by nonpayment , in the Dock . You invoke it by plunge the app , by using a live key , moving the cursor to a hot corner , or by performing a Multi - Touch motion .
The contents of Launchpad are essentially the content of your Applications folder . Every launchable app in that leaflet shows up in a tiled list of icons in Launchpad . orchard apple tree stocks its own apps on the first page of Launchpad ; other apps are listed alphabetically starting on pageboy two . young apps you add , including those downloaded from the Mac App store , appear at the end of the tilt .
you may re - unionize the apps in Launchpad much as you do on iOS : by drop behind app image around one by one . miss one icon atop another and you create a leaflet ( which you could rename ) . you’re able to even delete apps you buy on the Mac App Store by chatter on an “ X ” icon next to the app icon .
Launchpad seems like an splendid solution for new and initiate users , allowing them to survey all the apps on their system and find the one they desire to open . For drug user conversant with iOS conventionalism , it will feel intimate . It appear to be an endeavor to steer those exploiter away from the Finder and into an easier - to - role , more intimate launching interface ; the Dock ’s just not big enough to encompass every app you might have .
For Mac substance abuser with some experience , or just those with lots and lots of apps , Launchpad will be a disappointment . devise it is just as grueling as organizing home screens on iOS : It ’s an eternal series of clicks and drag . You ca n’t take away or obscure items from Launchpad ; every picayune AppleScript and installer utility on my system establish up there . Instead , you may expatriate them to folder on Launchpad ’s back page . It turns out to be a hatful of work for something that ’s supposed to be elementary .
And that ’s belike the trueness of it : For the great unwashed with a few download Mac App Store apps and the stock stuff that comes when you buy a new Mac , Launchpad is a adequate organizing dick . The repose of us might just want to deplume it out of the Dock , twist off all the keyboard shortcuts and pretend it does n’t exist .
The Finder
Despite all of the new interface ingredient , the Finder is still the hub of activity on the Mac . For many people , the Finderisthe Mac : it ’s the thing that ’s always there , even when you ’re not running any apps . But while Apple is n’t necessarily trying to kill Finder , it is trying to get us to pass less time futzing around with file and folders .
One way it does so is with the new All My Files perspective in the Finder . It ’s basically a Spotlight lookup for every single file an end - user might interact with , include contacts , case , to - do items , range , PDFs , and so on . I ’m actually surprised it took Apple this long to amount up with it .
Another fashion the Finder do files and folder less futzy is the Arrange By command , which now divides the window into sections , with file cabinet and folders sorted and separated consequently . It ’s on by default when you view All My Files , but it ’s also useable in any Finder window . You invoke it from the item arrangement drop - down menu in the Finder toolbar or by pick out View - > Arrange By . In either case , you may take to view files by tolerant , name , applications programme , the date they were last opened , modified , added , or create , and more . As with so many other Lion features , if you do n’t like this one you may tell the Finder to expose file in the classic mode by pick out View - > Arrange By - > None . But I observe it a great convenience to organize All My Files by Date Modified ; it give me an at - a - glance look at all the filing cabinet I ’d used in the past few day . Most of the prison term , whatever I was look for was in that list .
All My Files does n’t show you every file and folder on your organization . That ’s part of an plainly concert effort by Apple to simplify the Mac experience for less modern users . Other way it ’s doing so : The user Library brochure is now hidden by default . you’re able to still get to it ( by choosing Go - > Go to Folder … or typing Command - Shift - GB , then entering in ~/Library , for example , or by opting to make hidden single file seeable ) . And when you essay to sweep up an app out of the Applications folder , the Finder will make an assumed name for it rather than in reality move the app . ( you may hold down the Command keystone while you drag to really make it move . ) Neither of these changes is earth - shattering , but they indicate Apple ’s new way of thinking : The company is trying to anticipate point of confusion among new Mac substance abuser — pry around in sore folders , moving apps inadvertently — and close them off .
Yet another change to the Finder is one that will probably benefit advanced users even more than novices : The search box in the Finder has been dramatically improved . When you type in a search bowed stringed instrument , you could specialize exactly what you ’re look for from a drib - down menu : if you typelogo , for example , you could choose to look specifically for files withlogoin their name calling . you could also combine multiple hunting terms : do yourlogosearch , then typeimageand selectKinds : Imagefrom the drop - down , and you ’re seek only for images with the wordlogoin the computer filename . You could do all this before with Spotlight wildcards , but it ’s vastly easier to identify and use now . I wish the systemwide Spotlight menu behaved the same way of life , but it does n’t .
As with just about everything in Lion , there are other , smaller changes scattered throughout the Finder that longtime Mac users will likely remark . The sidebar has been redesign to search more like the one in iTunes , with monochrome icons . Quick Look prospect have been redesigned and now feature a button to open a text file in its nonpayment app . you may now select a crew of file and use a New Folder With Selection dictation to lodge them all in one place .
Auto Save and Versions
Anyone who ’s ever miss study because of a computer or app crash probably presses Command - S reflexively all day long , just to check that everything is always saved . With Lion , Apple ’s attempt to make it so you never have to preserve a file again in social club to protect your oeuvre . It ’s also give you the power to pass on back in time and recall previous versions of your documents .
Your favorite apps will need to be updated to take reward of these two young features , Auto Save and Versions . But once they have been , they ’ll all behave the same . Except in freshly make file , the Save command will disappear from the File menu . Command - S will now invoke the Save a Version command . Save As has turned into Duplicate . And there ’s a new Revert to Saved instruction that ease up you entree to all previous versions of your document — it ’s like Time Machine for every single file in every app that supports Versions .
To be true , if someone did n’t evidence you there was a fresh Auto Save feature in Lion , you probably would n’t notice . And that ’s the point : Auto Save is intended to be completely invisible . Every luck it fuck off , the system will mechanically keep your file as you ’re working on it . What ’s on your screen is what ’s on your platter . It ’s no longer incumbent on you to remember to hold open your files . If you need to rack up Command - S , your app will specifically stop and save the file at that spot , but that whole step is entirely optional . And if you make a bunch of changes to a document and then attempt shut the windowpane or quit the app … nothing happens . Apps no longer have to ask you the classical Do n’t Save / Save / Cancel question , because the written document is automatically redeem . Everything just work . It ’s a huge hike for productivity and sanity , and — most important — eliminates that horrible moment when you click Do n’t spare when you meant to chatter Save and lose all of your recent employment .
But what if you choose to use the Save bid tactically , only saving when you ’re absolutely sure that you ’re comfortable with the changes you ’ve made to a document and do n’t desire to go back to your previous save ? That ’s where Versions come in .
version is a piece like Time Machine : It ’s an attempt by Apple to take geeky engineering that ’s been around for eld ( in this case , the adaptation - control systems used by programmers ) and bring it to steady computer users . In fact , you could recall of Versions as a sort of Time Machine for single documents . When an app Auto Saves ( or you give in to muscle memory and press Command - S ) , the system notes what ’s been changed . A lead of retiring versions remains available at all times .
If an point you delete yesterday has suddenly become important today , you choose Revert to Saved from the File computer menu , and record rendering ’ spacey Time Machine - manner user interface . On the odd side of the screen is the current version of your document ; on the right are all previous versions . If you think everything you ’ve done in the document recently was a stupendous mistake , you may navigate back to a previous version and click Restore to entirely replace your current version . If you only want to grab a snip out of that previous version , you may do that too , by navigating back to a late interlingual rendition , selecting the snippet , and just copying it out and paste it into your current document .
Apple ’s done a nifty Book of Job simplifying what could have been an exceedingly complicated process . The key , I call up , is offering people the ability to select point from the old versions and just copy and paste them into the current version . I ’m far more probable to desire to retrieve a exclusive paragraph from an old file than the entire thing , and Versions lets me do that in a way that ’s just as well-situated as copying from one window in my app and pasting it into a different windowpane .
Since Lion is launching before the arrival of Apple ’s iCloud table service , it ’s unclear how Auto Save and Versions will interact with iCloud . Since they appear to have been designed in parallel , I ’m hop-skip that apps will be able to Auto Save to iCloud and retrieve versions from iCloud as well . If “ the the true is in the swarm , ” as Steve Jobs said , then the cloud is the correct place for your versions to live , too . But we ’ll have to waitress until iCloud arrives this fall to see how all the pieces fit together .
Resume
Apple seems intent on stamp out the theme that quitting or shut down an app — or the Mac itself — is a little end , an onslaught of amnesia that makes that app or Mac blank out where it was .
In Lion , if you give up an app with a clustering of unresolved window then re - set in motion it , all those open windows return , aright where you lead them . Coupled with Auto Save , Resume means that quitting and launching Mac apps in Lion is as seamless as quitting and launch iOS apps : they open back up aright where you pass on off . ( you’re able to reverse this feature off globally by going to the oecumenical Elvis in System Preferences and unchecking Restore Windows When drop out and Re - opening Apps ; you’re able to also disenable it temporarily by hold down the Shift key fruit when you launch an app . )
This feature of speech does n’t mold just with individual apps . Lion also keeps track of which apps are open when you shut down or resume your Mac . If you turn off your Mac with Mail , iCal , and TextEdit open , those three apps will be running , right on where you impart them , when you turn it back on . ( You involve to be patient about this : If you attempt to fall into place on a restarted app before it ’s quick to hunt down , you ’ll see the spinning - gear and a grayed - out window . )
If you consider Resume alongside the newfangled demeanour of the Dock — there ’s now a System Preferences option to not include a dot under running apps — it ’s clear that Apple is steering us toward a future in which we no longer think about turning apps on or off ; rather , we ’ll just trade between them just as we do on iPhones and iPads . That future is n’t here just yet ; in Lion , you may still launch and take leave apps . It ’s just that they ’re more springy than they were before . And that dot is still on by nonpayment .
Resume is another feature that will make fate of sense to Mac novices , but will squeeze more experient Mac users to adapt . While I do n’t like re - opening all my document every time I quit an app , sometimes Iwantto start from bread . Likewise , I ’ve grown up in a Mac environment where only those apps you ’ve specifically set to set in motion at inauguration do so ; in Lion that ’s no longer the case . After a few hebdomad of working with Lion , I ’m becoming comfortable with Resume , but I ’ve had to learn to close up document I never want to see again , rather than just quitting the app .
Inside the apps
Of of course , there ’s always more to OS X than the OS itself ; there ’s also all the apps orchard apple tree sheaf with the organisation . In Lion , there have been major updates to Mail , iCal , Safari , iChat , Preview , and various other utilities . We ’ll have freestanding critical review of many of them in the next few days . But in the meantime , my own quick reactions :
MailA few months back I forsake Mail for MailPlane ( ) , rag by just how slow it seemed when interacting with my Gmail story . With the reaching of Lion ( and after implementingJoe Kissell ’s excellent instructionson configure Mail and Google ) , I decide to give Mail another probability .
I ’ve found the new version of Mail a bragging advance . The newfangled wide layout is a full paroxysm for the displays on most Macs , something that previously required a plug - in such as Letterbox or WideMail . Searching for message is more brawny now , thanks to the same promiscuous - to - use search system found in the Finder . And Mail ’s support for full - screen mode is solid ; on my 11 - in MacBook Air , it ’s the only app I consistently range that way .
But I guess the best addition to Mail is support for a real conversation panorama , clustering related message together so you could see the entire circumstance of an east - post thread . ( That was probably the feature of speech I apprize most about Gmail . ) If you wish ( you have to enable it in Mail ’s penchant ) , the app will pullallrelated message ( not just those in the current mailbox ) into your view of the conversation . And Mail streamlines the conversation view by automatically obliterate text quoted from earlier message .
SafariSafari ’s marquee newfangled feature , Reading List , lets you save a entanglement page for read later . It ’s a conception that will be familiar to anyone who ’s used the iOS app / web service Instapaper ( ) . But it would be more exact to say that Reading List is really just a friendly interpretation of old - fashioned bookmarking . I do n’t suppose Reading List is a replacement forInstapaperbecause it saves URLs only , not the content of Page . But it ’s still well than bookmarking for keep track of World Wide Web page that you want to read later .
Apple has also done forth with Safari ’s Downloads windowpane , replacing it with a popover that come out when you click the Downloads button in the toolbar . I ’d often keep Safari ’s Downloads windowpane opened just to supervise the progression of a big download , but that ’s no longer possible : the new Safari ’s popover prove you the advance of downloads only from window you still have undefended . There is one improvement , though : Downloaded detail are now draggable . You no longer have to search for them in the Downloads booklet to move them somewhere more useful ; you could move from the Downloads windowpane itself .
iChatWith Lion , iChat has genuinely embraced its status as a multi - service chat utility . In addition to AIM , premature version could join to Google Talk and other server using the Jabber protocol . But now the door is wide open : iChat stomach Yahoo Messenger out of the box , and there ’s a hack - in system that allows developer of other chat systems to lend support for their services . There ’s also a unified buddy leaning to bring all your friend on all those services together in one window ; you’re able to set a unified status message on all the system you ’re using . I ’m chiefly an AIM guy cable , even now , but I ’m on some other services and will now use them more often . Here ’s hop that Microsoft Messenger ( andMicrosoft ’s new leverage , Skype ) conjoin the iChat party soon .
What ’s missing from iChat is a act more confusing . The iMessage service annunciate by Apple as a part of iOS 5 will presumably debut with its release , but it would ’ve been dainty if Apple committed to back up it within iChat as well . And of course FaceTime is still a freestanding app , even though iChat bear out video recording chat itself . I ’m still not indisputable why I need to go iChat and FaceTime simultaneously .
iCalThe new adaptation of iCal has gotten a makeover : The top of the iCal windowpane has been given a leather texture with pinch of torn - off pages beneath ( the same design approach used on the iOS Calendar app ) , seduce it reckon a bit more like a composition calendar . It ’s an unnecessary doojigger , sure — who uses tear - off paper desk calendar anymore , anyway?—but it ’s mostly harmless . I ’m not sure why Apple has prefer to make a few of its apps mock their material - earth counterpart , and the app would probably look better with a standard gray toolbar . Sometimes Apple ’s ways are mysterious . ( The operative part of the iCal interface has also been revamped , with the source inclination on the left side replaced with a popover in order of magnitude to create more room for actual calendar datum . )
The most notable newfangled lineament in iCal is support for born - lyric event existence . sink in on the positive - sign ( + ) push button in the toolbar and , instead of an event pane , you get a clean text corner . Typemeet with Phil Tuesday at 4and iCal will do its best to schedule that event ; in this shell , it ’ll create an event calledMeet with Philon Tuesday at 4 p.m. , and open up it in the familiar iCal effect pane for you to edit as needed . In testing , this approach make for well , though it ’s not quite as flexile as a dedicated add - on like the excellent Fantastical ( ) orQuickCal .
And the rest
After more than 6,000 words , I palpate that I ’ve still barely scratched the airfoil of what ’s unexampled in Lion . I ’ve operate through only some of the heavy , most obvious of those changes . Among the smaller ones that place upright out :
AirDropNeed to transfer file cabinet between a couple of nearby Macs , but do n’t have a USB keychain drive ? AirDrop solves that problem , by letting two Macs connect to each other over Wi - Fi to quickly drop files back and forth . You do n’t even have to be on the same Wi - Fi mesh for it to work , since AirDrop connects the two Macs directly ( and without requiring the substance abuser to fuss with internet configurations ) . It ’s intend to be a simple , well-to-do - to - use file transference chemical mechanism , and it operate . It ’s a fresh small feature that will save all sorts of time when you need to swap files rapidly .
SecurityIn some ways , OS X has fallen behind Windows in footing of security engineering science — mostly because Microsoft has had to defend Windows from the massive amount of malware the platform attract . But Apple has introduced several security features in Lion , including increase memory randomisation and iOS - style practical software sandboxing ( which Mac App Store apps will be forced to put up , finally ) . I ’m a footling concerned about just how inviolable that sandpit needs to be — depending on how Apple enforce those rules , it has the potential to lame the Mac platform . Familiar , operational Mac apps could potentially have to remove features in purchase order to fit in Apple ’s sandbox . We ’ll have to see how it plays out over the next few months .
Apple is also borrow the iOS approach to file encoding . The novel FileVault encrypts your entire crusade . Once your driving force is encrypted , you may instantly wipe its data just by telling the organisation to delete the decoding key fruit ; that ’s the same proficiency used to pass over iOS devices . When you ’re not logged in , the data on your parkway is inaccessible . It vocalise like a good thought , and much more of a holistic approaching than the original disk - image - based FileVault . I worry about users who might inscribe their data point but then lose the key ( through mental or technical mistake ) . Apple is adjudicate to decoct that risk by generating a recuperation key that you could store in a safe place , disjoined from your password .
Malus pumila IDs everywhereIt used to be your iTunes ID , but it ’s now an Apple ID . This fall , it ’ll work with iCloud . And in Lion , it ’s more various . If you need to grant someone single file - sharing accession to your Mac , you do n’t have to create a raw exploiter : just enter the individual ’s Apple ID and they can lumber in using that ; same go for Screen Sharing . And AirDrop uses Apple I.D. to swear the identities of other users . Apple ’s on a delegation to get that Apple ID in every crevice of its ecosystem .
screenland SharingAs someone who keeps a Mac mini in a wardrobe as a host , I use the Screen Sharing app a lot . It ’s gotten a few groovy melioration , my favorite being the power to access as one user on a distant Mac while a different user is logged in locally . I have intercourse the idea of rapidly popping into my home iMac and move a few file around without making my married woman leave first .
AppleScript and AutomatorFans of script and workflows will be happy to eff there are upgrade to both AppleScript and Automator . AppleScripts can now access all the Cocoa theoretical account , provide huge force to scripters who learn even the most basic Cocoa tricks . Some coolheaded new services are set up by default , including the ability to change over picture into formats that are consumable by Io devices and motorcar - contemporaries of ePub - format ebooks . And installing Automator legal action and services just got a lot easier — when you doubly - select them , the system offers to move them to the ripe place for you .
Resize anywhereApple ’s given in to the Windows rule : you may now resize a windowpane from any side , not just the bottom - right field corner . This eliminates the small shaded sphere in the corner of every window . After using the bottom - right corner to resize windows for the past two decade , it ’s go to take me some time to adjust to this .
Restore partitionWhen you install Lion , the system mechanically make a special inauguration partition on your gruelling drive . This intend that , if something messes up the message of your hard driveway ( but does n’t physically damage the movement ) , you may reboot , hold down the Option key , and then boot into the restore partition . From there you could run Disk Utility , reinstall Lion , wipe the drive and restore from a Time Machine volume , or even adulterate up Safari and browse the vane for troubleshooting advice . It ’s not a feature film that will help you in the event of a catastrophic hardware bankruptcy , but it ’s a great backup for those times when the contents of your parkway get hinky .
Is it stable?
I ’ve been using the final version of Lion for hebdomad now and have seen very few bugs . It ’s been a comfortable ride . That said , this is Mac OS X variant 10.7.0 — observe the zero at the remainder . If you are someone who wants to try out out the nerveless fresh features of Lion today , by all means take the plunge . But back up your drive first , in case you need to come back to Snow Leopard . And on systems where you do critical and time - sensitive work , you might be comfortably give notice to look a little while until the developer of your most critical apps license that they ’re good to go with Lion . No unexampled system liberation is without its oddity . As static as this release has been for me , it ’s a major update and you should proceed with caution . I ’ve upgraded my work iMac and my MacBook Air to Lion ; the home iMac that my wife and kids utilise will stay at Snow Leopard for a piffling while longer , just in case .
Macworld’s buying advice
After a long period of comparative stability on the Mac , Lion is a stupor to the system . It ’s a basal revision , motivated in part by the vast influx of young Mac users coming to the platform from Io , that makes the Mac a friendlier computer . Veteran Mac users who do n’t care those changes can turn many of them off , or just opt not to apply them .
Auto Save , Versions , and Resume should together reduce the amount of time you drop manage files , so you may focus on the more important task of really using them . Mission Control traverse several window - direction initiative into a more cohesive whole . The novel search system in Finder and Mail is so in effect you ’ll bid it was in Spotlight too . Finder ’s All My Files aspect is a handy way to quickly get a grasp on what ’s new and changed on your Mac . Mail ’s upgrade is telling , especially its extend view of conversations and related messages .
On the downside , Launchpad owes a bit too much to the Io , restrict its usefulness , and it ’s too hard to mastermind apps . Full - screen apps have potentiality , but only if developer embrace the formatting and truly re - fabricate their interface ; even then , exploiter of multiple monitors will find that those interface do in absolutely good screen - quad . And Apple ’s trust on a download installer app causes gratuitous complications , especially when a hard drive dies .
Can novice users fresh from the Apple Store and grizzled Mac ex-serviceman who have been pounding out Terminal command since 2001 share one operate systemwithout driving each other crazy ? It ’s an interesting question . With Lion , Apple seems to be doing a fine business of adding novice features without making them too maddening for more comfortable users . That ’s adept , because novices become veterans over time .
In the past times , Apple has charge $ 129 for upgrades with far fewer betterment than this — and that price upgrade just a undivided system . At $ 30 for all the Macs in your Earth , the only reasonnotto upgrade to Lion is because you swear on old PowerPC - based apps that wo n’t run on it . Otherwise , it ’s a more than fair price for a great upgrade .
