Apple Releases First Developer Preview of OS X Mountain Lion, Public Launch in Late Summer

[cuestakid]

Did not expect this one, you can download messages beta for free here too:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/messages-beta/

Very happy about AirPlay mirroring

I am upgrading for that feature alone-
we now have almost zero reason to jailbreak ATV-if your mac can play it, your ATV can play it

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

As someone that runs 100's of dual boot macs in a University, I find the frequency of OS versions really tiresome.

Personally it looks decent, I am still on snow leopard though haven't felt the need at all to move to lion.

The frustration is incredible today. Just yesterday I was talking with some of my techs about how we FINALLY got Lion working right. It took all the way until 10.7.3 to get these things to even bind AD correctly and now BAM a new OS again. Hopefully, this will actually work out of the box this time. I think Lion would have been a home run out of the gate had they taken there time and release 10.8 as 10.7 and just made us wait a little longer. Basically, we beta tested Lion from 10.7.0 until 10.7.2 and now its finally stable and they are throwing another OS at us! Arg! With that note I hope Apple continues to make the Configuration Profile Manager more robust. I am actually starting to prefer that over MCX's.

 

[adztaylor]

Can someone elaborate on how AirPlay mirroring works? Anything on your Mac screen will stream? So if I load up a video in VLC on my Mac, it will stream via AppleTV?

Yup, anything that you're showing on your desktop will show on the TV.

 

[cuestakid]

Can someone elaborate on how AirPlay mirroring works? Anything on your Mac screen will stream? So if I load up a video in VLC on my Mac, it will stream via AppleTV?

it appears so

 

[InuNacho]

This just temped me to go out and buy a current Mac that can still boot Snow Leopard and as much apple care as I can get.

I was planning on getting the current base 15 MBP but I think I'll get the 17 inch one instead. Luckily there are ways of getting SL on the current MBPs, shame it isn't the same for the Air and Mini.

 

[Frosticus]

has anyone noticed Safari has a unified Address/Search bar

Well spotted and a welcome change - lets hope they do the same for iOS to ensure inter-OS consistency.

 

[Kid A]

Are Apple seriously saying that one of the top new features is a Notes App? Something that has been built into Mail and syncable to .Mac/MobileMe/iCloud since 10.4 (I think) and the only difference being now that its a standalone App?

it always should've been a standalone app.

 

[bushido]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

so is Siri coming to mac soon?

oh and airplay mirroring may finally make the apple tv useful. mkv here we basically come

 

[Defender2010]

iOS 5.1 beta 4 coming today also?? (Wishful thinking after the other releases)

 

[deannnnn]

Why is Apple trying to turn my Mac into an iPad? I already have an iPad.

 

[deputy_doofy]

For all of us who watch Hulu on our laptop and don't want to have to pay for Hulu Plus just to watch on our TV or iPad, Airplay Mirroring is reason enough to buy the new OS!

Agreed. I'll be getting ML for this alone. Airplay is phenomenal and not pushed enough by Apple.

I do like the GateKeeper concept. As long as I'm allowed to download from wherever I want, I can use the middle option (App store and signed devs) for my son's account -- well, when he's old enough to understand. Oh, who am I kidding? He already understands and is just shy of 4.

 

[iKIKO]

wow apple is runnin out the felines whats next ? os x crazy cat ?

 

[JohnDoe98]

Yup, anything that you're showing on your desktop will show on the TV.

Flash too?

 

[heisenberg123]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

does that mean i could play an mkv on my mac and it would mirror it to the apple tv?

of course mirroring means you can stare at your desktop on your TV if thats what you want so it should mirror anything, but, just like mirroring on a external display now it takes the lower resolution so im sure to get the best resolution your recommended to play your videos through itunes like your currently would on an appleTV

 

[MikeM1988]

Duplicate does essentially the same thing as "Save As."

Sure it does. With five additional steps.

Also 10.7 does not do away with "Save As," it's still found in many, many non-Apple programs. So if you really hate it just stay away from Apple designed apps.

You mean like the ones I've been using every day of my working life since they were first released? The ones I have thousands of legacy documents in?

Amazing how free with advice people can be when they're giving it to folks whose workflow they're clueless about. (No personal offense meant...it's just that I've heard all of this before so many times.)

Big picture Autosave and Versions will save a lot of people's bacon and it uses very few system resources so no good reason to really hate on it other than you have to re-learn how to do certain tasks.

Again, said the person with no clue about my workflow and the impact the loss of Save As has on it.

I'm fine with saving the bacon of all those poor souls who, even with as many as 27 years opportunity to learn how, still can't manage the arduous task of keying Command-S every once in a while.

I'm fine with allowing the new saving paradigm to remain the default in Lion/Mountain Lion.

Just give me the opportunity to turn the freaking thing off!

 

[hkim1983]

not sure why people are worried about this gatekeeper thing, it has 3 levels and one of levels is to virtually keep it the same as now letting your install anything you want.

The people that are worried about Gatekeeper aren't bothered by how it's currently implemented. The people that are bothered by Gatekeeper are worried about the foreshadowing that is to come through this precedent. If Gatekeeper remains AS IS in its flexibility, then fine, who cares, but the skeptic in me (and everyone should be skeptical to a degree) doesn't think that will be the case.

 

[dgalvan123]

Airplay Mirroring

This is the most interesting feature for me. It will eliminate the excuses for anyone not to cut the cable and buy an Apple TV. Now ALL TV shows that are available streaming online from the network websites will be easy to watch on your big screen TV, without having to move your laptop or plug in extra cables.

The TV networks that don't want this will be further pushed to change their business model, or negotiate to make their content available on Hulu or iTunes.

 

[guzhogi]

Anyone else hoping they add an iBooks app?

 

[Cougarcat]

The frustration is incredible today. Just yesterday I was talking with some of my techs about how we FINALLY got Lion working right. It took all the way until 10.7.3 to get these things to even bind AD correctly and now BAM a new OS again. Hopefully, this will actually work out of the box this time. I think Lion would have been a home run out of the gate had they taken there time and release 10.8 as 10.7 and just made us wait a little longer. Basically, we beta tested Lion from 10.7.0 until 10.7.2 and now its finally stable and they are throwing another OS at us! Arg! With that note I hope Apple continues to make the Configuration Profile Manager more robust. I am actually starting to prefer that over MCX's.

It is now a whole new OS. Think of it as a large Lion update. If you've been having problems with Lion, you should be happy about this. The name "Mountain Lion" was not chosen to be cute--it's very much a Snow Leopard-style upgrade.

 

[Stridder44]

so is Siri coming to mac soon?

That...is actually an interesting question. It would surprise me if they didn't (whether now or in the future at some point).

 

[lifeinhd]

Then don't upgrade.

I really hate when people say that when you know just as well as I do that Apple will shove the update down my throat. My MBP is six years old this year, and is very much showing its age. I will be purchasing a 2012 MBP shortly after release, out of necessity. I don't know whether it will come with Lion or ML, but from what I'm reading, either way I don't want it. I do not like iOS that much.

So you say "purchase an early 2011 MBP that runs SL," and I would do but I can't expect that'll last me more than six years either (and it's already a year old). Really, as far as I can tell, my best option is to Hackintosh SL onto my Mac, which seems a bit ridiculous.

So my point: don't just go around saying "Then don't upgrade!" when you know as well as I do it's not that simple.

 

[the8thark]

I just realised the sad part about Mountain Lion.

Apple said they are wanting a yearly OS X release schedule like iOS. You'd think yay more OS X updates for me. But the hidden downside is each yearly OS X update will require a better and better Mac. Forcing you to update your Mac more frequently.

Sure this is ok for iOS users cause they just get a new device when their contract runs out. But many people keep their Macs for 5+ years. Cause they just last so long. And this means the lifespan your new Mac will still be able to run the latest versions of OS X will shrink I think.

This could be a way Apple is trying to boost Mac sales. At the moment the earliest Mac that can run ML is from 2007. That is 5 years ago. But I'm sure with the new yearly release schedule that 5 years will shrink to 4 years then 3 years then who knows.

I sure am not buying a new Mac every 3 years. Every 5 years I just might though. If this happens I just might be forced to run an older OS for a while till I buy that new Mac.

 

[miles01110]

You mean like the ones I've been using every day of my working life since they were first released? The ones I have thousands of legacy documents in?

If legacy compatibility is an issue for you, don't upgrade. Very simple.

 

[Cloudane]

I bet there will be no OS XI.. just iOS

Half agreed

I expect OS XI to be a rewrite (like with 9 to X) but unified for their whole product range and designed from the ground up to be friendly with desktop and touch environments alike. And of course very "secure"

 

[FuNGi]

You can't polish a turd.

But you can roll it in glitter . No seriously, I just don't get the Lion haters. I was reluctant to upgrade to Lion but once I did I have no regrets and zero issues.

As for those that think this is a dumbing down of OSX - pleeeze. Leopard was refined with Snow Leopard. Lion will be refined (e.g. with added features and probably stability) Mountain Lion. It is like going from iP4 to IP4S. Iterative improvements. This whole "Lion is Vista" and "ML will be iOS" is just plain ignorant.