Mac OS X Lion – “The Power of OS X. The Magic of iPad”

The new Mac OS has been announced to be with us next summer, but is this OS twitching our whiskers?

The advertising statement that Apple are using is certainly a reason to be:

We took our best thinking from Mac OS X and brought it to the iPhone. Then we took our best thinking from the iPhone and brought it to iPad. And now we’re bringing it all back to the Mac with our eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system.

There’s not a lot that we know about the new OS yet, but what we do know is that this new release is to be one of the fastest and smoothest systems to date. Lion as it is code named is to have access to the new Mac App Store which is also in development (don’t worry though as you can still buy an install software as before), there are also similarities to the iPad in how apps are launched and switched. The new desktop will look the same, but a new feature known a Launchpad, which sits in your dock, once launched will give an iOS feel to the way apps are launched, much like we are used to on the iPhone and iPad (including the folders feature that is now available through iOS4.0 and above).

There is also a new way of seeing what your Mac is running – Mission Control. With a simple swipe gesture on the touch-pad, you’ll be taken to an overview of what is running, your open windows grouped by app, thumbnails of your full-screen apps, dashboard and any other spaces that you may have open, all arranged in a nice sleek view. From there you can go to any App or area with a simple touch of the pad.

The last feature that we know of is running apps in full screen mode, at last we can take full advantage of all the space that the screen has to offer, whether surfing the net, viewing photos or making videos; now there’s less clutter to get in the way.

What do you think about this upcoming release? Is this OS going to be the new Alpha Male? Post your thoughts below or over on the forums at eteknix.com.