Dev Preview of Mac OS X Lion Released on Steve Jobs' Birthday
Yesterday, the 24th of February, Cupertino-based software developer Apple announced that it released a developer preview of the upcoming Mac OS X Lion, the 8th major release of the Apple-developed operating system. According to Apple, the Mac OS X Lion takes all the excellent features the iPad has to offer and brings them to the Mac. Mac Developer Program members can get the Mac OS X Lion via the Mac App Store. Regular users will have to wait until summer to get the operating system.
In a press release Apple explained that the Mac OS X Lion comes with the following new features:
“The iPad has inspired a new generation of innovative features in Lion,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Developers are going to love Mission Control and Launchpad, and can now start adding great new Lion features like full screen, gestures, Versions and Auto Save to their own apps.”
Do you know what day was yesterday? If you’re a regular PC user, then you probably said it was the 24th of February. If you are from Romania, you may say it was the day when people celebrate Dragobete (it’s similar to Valentines Day). But if you are an Apple fan, then surely you know that yesterday was Steve Jobs’ birthday. Steve Jobs was born on the 24th of February, back in 1955, which means that yesterday the Apple co-founder celebrated his 56th birthday.
Steve Jobs, who is still the Chief Executive Office of Apple, took a medical leave of absence back in January. While Jobs is away his responsibilities are covered by Tim Cook. This is the second time in two years and the third time in 7 years that Steve Jobs takes a medical leave of absence. The last times Jobs took a medical leave, the same Tim Cooks took assumed responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations. Back in 2004 Steve Jobs took a medical leave of 2 months to recover from pancreatic cancer surgery. Then in 2009 Jobs took a medical leave of several months to get a liver transplant. The third time Jobs took a medical leave is this January, 2011.
In a press release Apple explained that the Mac OS X Lion comes with the following new features:
- An innovative new view of everything that’s running on your Mac called Mission Control.
- All your apps are stored on a central location called Launchpad.
- Apps can run in full screen, they can use the whole Mac display.
- New Multi-Touch gestures and fluid animations.
- Easy access to the Mac App Store, which is home to more than 1,000 free and paid apps (including the recently released FaceTime for Mac).
- The new Mail version comes with a widescreen layout, support for Microsoft Exchange 2010, and Conversations, a feature that groups related messages into a timeline, making it easier to read them.
- FileVault has been improved.
- Copy files wirelessly from one Mac to another using AirDrop, which requires no setup.
- Browse, edit and revert to previous versions of a document thanks to Versions, a feature that automatically saves successive versions of a document as you create it.
- Find things just like you left them thanks to Resume. As Apple explained, Resume “conveniently brings your apps back exactly how you left them when you restart your Mac or quit and relaunch an app.”
- Auto Save, as its name suggests, automatically saves your documents while you work.
- Mac OS X Lion Server.
“The iPad has inspired a new generation of innovative features in Lion,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Developers are going to love Mission Control and Launchpad, and can now start adding great new Lion features like full screen, gestures, Versions and Auto Save to their own apps.”
Do you know what day was yesterday? If you’re a regular PC user, then you probably said it was the 24th of February. If you are from Romania, you may say it was the day when people celebrate Dragobete (it’s similar to Valentines Day). But if you are an Apple fan, then surely you know that yesterday was Steve Jobs’ birthday. Steve Jobs was born on the 24th of February, back in 1955, which means that yesterday the Apple co-founder celebrated his 56th birthday.
Steve Jobs, who is still the Chief Executive Office of Apple, took a medical leave of absence back in January. While Jobs is away his responsibilities are covered by Tim Cook. This is the second time in two years and the third time in 7 years that Steve Jobs takes a medical leave of absence. The last times Jobs took a medical leave, the same Tim Cooks took assumed responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations. Back in 2004 Steve Jobs took a medical leave of 2 months to recover from pancreatic cancer surgery. Then in 2009 Jobs took a medical leave of several months to get a liver transplant. The third time Jobs took a medical leave is this January, 2011.
