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Apple Mac OS X Lion: A Preview of What's to Come

Discussion in 'Articles and Reviews Comments' started by Julio Franco, Mar 9, 2011.

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  1. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor Posts: 6,054   +121

    Considering that OS X's last major release, Snow Leopard, was not focused on new end-user features, Mac OS X Lion appears to be a more significant release in terms of functionality, user interface and workflow improvements. We've compiled a list with several of the changes and new features disclosed so far.

    Read the full article at:
    http://www.techspot.com/guides/371-mac-osx-lion-preview/

    Please leave your feedback here.
  2. Nothing too innovative IMO, Apple is now just spewing random iOS crap out, they stopped being a good company a while back. I would like to see what windows 8 brings, funny how when Vista came out, Leopard was the "better" OS, yet now the roles have reversed. And YES I have tested the Lion preview so I'm not Apple bashing.
  3. yorro TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 224

    Airdrop? Lawl
  4. Steve TechSpot Staff Posts: 875   +67

    The good news is it can come with a quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, Radeon HD 5770 and a 27" screen for $2500 ... bargain :)
  5. Finally able to resize windows from any edge!!!! That's a huge improvement (and the fact that it is just shows how far behind Apple has been on window management in general). Now they just need to copy the Windows+Arrow key functionality from Windows 7 and they'll be somewhat caught up.
  6. princeton TechSpot Addict Posts: 1,715

    How do people pay for that? I really don't see how anyone could just throw their money away.
     
  7. Kenrick Newcomer, in training Posts: 17

    graphics designers always prefer os x as their platform.

    I might buy a MPB if i ever win the lottery. Now back to hackintosh mode.
  8. madboyv1 TechSpot Paladin Posts: 807

    Blanket quote. People ultimately use whatever they want, or just as importantly and more often, what their client or company/boss wants if they are providing support hardware. Some schools force Apple down people's throats for journalism, art, graphic/fashion designers, but really, I know more people in those fields using what they are given, rather than what they necessarily want. I'm not saying some in those fields do not prefer their Macs for what they do (on the contrary), but they are not necessarily in the supermajority either.

    Good luck on the lottery, =3
  9. mattfrompa TechSpot Maniac Posts: 470

    I really like that bit about Lion Server. This release follows a good amount of logic I would say, in that since the last release did not focus much on new end-user features, this one will. I've never been a fan of Apple's price for admission or corporate smug, but there are some aspects I like.
  10. Rick TechSpot Staff Posts: 6,254   +38

    Quoted for truth. I agree with you wholeheartedly, mattfrompa.
  11. Archean TechSpot Paladin Posts: 5,735   +27

    :D

    Bargain of the second era of 21st century, will the cheques be written with crayons ?

    Although there are couple of interesting features, but it also shows that they are struggling when they say that 'Resizing Windows from Anywhere' is a major feature.
  12. Now that Lion apparently has full disk encryption instead of per-account encryption, is it no longer possible to setup a guest account with filevault switched on?
  13. mario TechSpot Developer Posts: 384   +6

    Who says "Resizing Windows from Anywhere" is a major feature? It doesn't appear or is mentioned on the OS X Lion page:

    http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/

    Just because it's posted in this article does not make it a major feature, it's just a new feature and that's it, nobody is expected to go bonkers about it.

    Personally I've found that every release of OS X is an incremental release since Tiger/Leopard. They release some new features and make the OS faster and more responsive. Lion is a great milestone in preparing for future PCs that will feature touch devices for input and it will work great with a Macbook trackpad or Magic trackpad just take a look at the video in: http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/#video-gestures-view
  14. Graphics designers do not choose OSX. This is a myth. I do 3d animation and graphic design. I use a custom built PC. Most of my colleagues use PC's too. Very rarely do I find people in my industry that use Macs. Those that do, either use them because that is what their company uses, or they were told by their older professors to use Macs and that windows sucks. I know, I was an art major in college and all my digital art professors used Macs. I had two teachers tell me that I could not do digital art or graphic design if I didn't use a Mac. I have heard similar stories from others that do web design, 3d, matte painting, and concept art.

    I say use whatever you are comfortable with. Both systems can do pretty much the same thing.
  15. The new changes sound really great. recently moving from the PC into the mac I can't tell you how much i will appreciate the new resizing option, allowing windows to be resized from anywhere on the window, thank you.

    I work a lot with pictures. we keep a photo journal of our accounts on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. love the ability to increase/decrease the size of thumbnails.

    One of the biggest let downs with this computer is the inability to batch rename files. this is a real crippler for me. a tech suggested i try "renamer4mac", didn't like the interface and a lot of added steps. i am now using "a better renamer for mac", much better interface, but still extra steps. on the windows platform, this is a simple "select, right click, pick rename and type in the new name", quick easy and done.

    I like this machine more and more each day, and am looking forward to discovering the power of mac.
  16. Leeky TechSpot Moderator Posts: 4,344   +59

    I'd agree with that; the days of being Mac only for most things are gone - thats not to say they're useless now, just technology is generally better for the entire computer industry.

    I think certain features certainly sound encouraging:

    Built-in server capability is a good addition, especially when its included in the price already. Airdrop sounds a much better idea that the W7 homegroup. Sorry but it does.

    Some things, like TRIM support for example, are long overdue. Windows aren't always the fastest to support new technologies either.

    I'm looking forward to the release of Lion personally. It won't be perfect that I'm certain of, but neither is Win 7 or any other OS you'd care to mention.
  17. "Graphics designers do not choose OSX. This is a myth. I do 3d animation and graphic design. I use a custom built PC. Most of my colleagues use PC's too. Very rarely do I find people in my industry that use Macs."

    Most graphic designers I know, including myself, prefer Macs. I'm not going to make a statement that 'all' graphic designers choose Macs, I was happily using a custom-built PC for years until I began open-source web developing (PHP) that I made the switch.

    As MacOS is built on the Linux platform and Windows is built on the, well, Windows platform, being able to develop locally was impossible with the content management system I use. However, ever since I bought my first Mac, I've made the switch. I still have a PC laptop for IE7 & 8 testing, every time I boot up the laptop I wait and wait and wait for it to load, then wait some more for IE to load and then having to use their wretched developer tools, I gave up on Microsoft. (No HTML5/CSS3 support, c'mon!) Granted, Win7 is far better than Vista, but in my opinion it still feels heavy and bloated compared to the zippy MacOS X. (It takes less than 30 seconds to boot up with my startup programs!) A good comparison is opening up any version of IE7 or 8 and then open up Google Chrome; like a cool drink of water.

    To each his own, of course.
  18. Correction, Mac is based on Unix, not simply Linux. While they are similar, they are also distinctly different.

    I also am a graphics designer and I use Windows only. I despise Macs, their prices, and Apple's hand-holding.

    If you do not take care of your Windows computer, sure, it will boot slowly. But if you're even remotely paying attention to anything, you can keep Windows running very fast. I have a few colleagues who use Macs and I can easily boot my laptop and have Illustrator and Photoshop running and editing whatever file I'm working on before they hit their login screen. Of course, they aren't taking care of their computers either. Someone who knows what they are doing can keep OSX running fast as well. It's all in the hands of the end-user.

    I hope, for the sake of my colleagues, that Lion is a better OS, but in the meantime I will stay on Win7 where I can use any hardware I want and pay a lower price.

    Don't hate on the truth.
  19. Quote: "I have a few colleagues who use Macs and I can easily boot my laptop and have Illustrator and Photoshop running and editing whatever file I'm working on before they hit their login screen."

    You need to exhibit yourself in a museum so that others can view you in awe. You are the only poster I have ever read that claims their Windows PC runs faster at logon than a Mac. The hyperbole you use is laughable. In fact, it did make me laugh thinking, "what's this poster on?"

    Your initial words of:

    Quote: "I despise Macs...."

    undermines your highly biased, not fact based conclusion:

    Quote: "Don't hate on the truth"

    I used DOS happily in the mid-80s, begrudgingly switched to Windows in 1993, then dumped Windows for Macs in 2006. I can happily say that my Mac experience has never made me start up my Mac machine, walk away from it for 5 - 10 mins, do laundry, shower, shave and shampoo, and return to my machine HOPING it was ready to start a simply word processor. LOL. Those were the days! Now I can start my Mac and in no time flat and click on the task bar icons for Email, Safari, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat Professional at the same time, and start my day in studying efficiently towards my doctorate before my first cup of coffee. Now that's what I call a super computer!
  20. i just did a check on my System Profile ---> Applications to see what software I have on my MacBook Pro that uses PPC, and it is upsetting. My brand new Hewlett Packard All in One Printer (6 months old from Office Depot) , DivX Products, Mac the Ripper, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, and Quicken (yikes!!!) software run on PPC. The biggest hit will be the new printer and Quicken - years worth of financial data. I have found no efficient money management software for Macs other than Quicken.

    It will be a while till I adopt OS X Lion, that's for sure