Messages Beta (for Lion 10.7) expires Dec. 14th

[blairwillis]

I just received the following email from Apple:

The Messages Beta program for Lion will end on Friday, December 14, 2012. We hope you've enjoyed the opportunity to preview Messages.

If you'd like to continue using Messages, upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store. Messages is one of many great new apps and features built right into OS X Mountain Lion. Learn More.

Thank you for your participation in the Messages Beta program.

I'll be the first to admit that I've been aware that this was only a Beta from the start. However, I'd hoped that the finished product would be available for Lion, even if for a small fee ($0.99-$2.99?). Sorry to hear that's not the case, apparently.

Yes, I plan to eventually upgrade to Mountain Lion, but I was not prepared to do so in the next month. That's not my point. I'm frustrated that Apple continues to follow this policy of withholding features to existing hardware/software setups that are perfectly capable of handling them (both on OS X and iOS).

Messages has been working quite well for me on my Mac... Why disconnect it?

On the flip side, perhaps there are new features coming to Messages that just won't work with Lion. Maybe there's a good reason behind this.