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

[Krazy Bill]

OSX iBunny: "Inspired by iPad"

The tag line says it all. OS X is officially a "general consumer" OS. Was hoping for some power features. Mainly, an alternative to "Missing Control". Should I be surprised?

As an adult that really tries to use his mac in an adult business environment it's getting harder and harder to do folks.

 

[scarred]

Super excited about this. I love the direction. OS X is different from iOS, but it should have a similar user experience. Someday they might merge, but not yet. Great news.

 

[5aga]

What problems? Macs (or any *nix-based system) don't have any problems with security, that's what I've been told.

I was referring to the broad scope of issues that a "service pack" would fix. Lion has quite a few annoying bugs. Hopefully this will address them

 

[Frosticus]

Will those developer certificates be free? Or, do you have to sign up as a Mac developer and pay the $99?

According to Gruber, the Developer IDs are free-of-charge. Just trying to verify that on Apple website...

 

[iVoid]

Totally didn't expect this. Guess Apple finally realised that Lion did not impress some.

Not sure anything I've read so far about Mountain Lion impresses me over Lion.

If they fix Mission Control, then I might be impressed. But trying to pound iOS features into a desktop OS doesn't impress me.

 

[Stella]

Apple could offer "Install from Anywhere" for its iOS devices.... the jail break game then will be over.

Will Apple drop sand boxing requirements for applications that have been signed with the developer certicate?

According to Gruber, the Developer IDs are free-of-charge. Just trying to verify that on Apple website...

Thanks.

 

[daneoni]

First time in a while i've been genuinely surprised at an Apple announcement. Reminds me of the good ol' days.

 

[chrono1081]

The tag line says it all. OS X is officially a "general consumer" OS. Was hoping for some power features. Mainly, an alternative to "Missing Control". Should I be surprised?

As an adult that really tries to use his mac in an adult business environment it's getting harder and harder to do folks.

There is no such thing as a "pro" OS. This update doesn't hinder me or anyone else in any way.

Unifying OS's between mobile devices and computers is very important for the way we live today. Microsoft is doing the exact same thing with Windows 8, and its a GOOD thing.

 

[Winni]

Anyone guess what default setting for Gatekeeper will be, hmm could it be the App store only ???

The default setting is to allow everything, just like before. But the fact that a feature like Gatekeeper is in the OS does not bode well. It's rather clear where they're going with this: It's the final grace period for developers to obtain a certificate for their software. After that, it is very likely that Gatekeeper will no longer tolerate software from "unknown sources". And after that... Welcome to the iOS software distribution model.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I am actually very excited to see where it's going. I used to be the person that wanted JUST the minimal updates but I have to say that not having a system and relying on my iPad for my everyday tasks (minus the pro apps) has changed my perspective.

Getting a new OS is always an exciting time mainly because it should be a fresh experience. Sure, I want the necessary improvements, but I want to see what all of those highly paid engineers have in store for us end users. The mixing in of iOS and mobile software was a given when consumers (us . . . the end users) started buying more tablets and less full blown systems.

For once, we can actually say that WE started this trend. And personally it's welcomed. Notifications center in Android was amazing, Apple made it better in iOS5 and now it's coming to the desktop; can't wait to see the implementation.

Now we need Apple to pull the widgets from the dashboard and put them on the desktop, make them live ala Windows (don't hurt me for saying that), bring the stability and feather weight usage of Tiger back, and fix the bugs, and I'll be happy.

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

According to Gruber, the Developer IDs are free-of-charge. Just trying to verify that on Apple website...

The dev IDs are free, but last I checked (a few months ago) the latest betas and SDKs are only available to paid devs.

 

[MathiasVH]

Screw iOS. It's not even remotely sophisticated. And what became of the old: "Think differently"?!
I'm a sworn Apple fanboy, but this "take something from iOS, scale it up and call it innovation" is seriously pissing me off. I know, as do everyone else, that Apple is on its way to unify iOS and OS X. And that's fine. Now we've got the things from iOS that make sense incorporated into Lion. Full screen apps and a somewhat succesfull Mission Control. The only thing left is the speed, which apparently Apple forgot right after they were done with SL. Now it's time to turn away from iOS and rethink some of OS X's many strengths..

Don't give us any more Launchpad-like features.. Please.. Apple. Think differently again. I want an iPad with an intelligent incorporation of features from the Mac. Not the other way 'round.

(Sorry guys, I had to blow off some steam.)

 

[HyperX13]

I can't wait for OSX Cougar. It just has a dirty ring to it.

 

[whooleytoo]

Airplay mirroring and Notifications are nice. (Well, assuming Notifications don't get abused to spam users..)

Still, I can't see myself updating until some app/device is released which requires it. I don't see any killer features yet.

 

[interrobang]

Panicky Mac User: OMG! In 10.7, OS X has an App Store! Apple wants to control all software distribution!

MacRumors Guru: Silly user, it's just a feature. You don't have to use it. Other apps will still work just fine.

Panicky Mac User: OMG! In 10.8, OS X defaults to only running apps from the App Store! Apple wants to lock out other apps!

MacRumors Guru: Silly user, that's just the default. You can change it any time you like.

Panicky Mac User: OMG! In 10.9, you can no longer allow unauthenticated apps!

MacRumors Guru: Silly user, we've known this has been coming for a while now. Haven't you been paying attention?

 

[cjmillsnun]

Notification centre = no more Growl.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I agree. I don't want an iPhone/iPad/iPod as a workstation. How about keeping a version of OSX at least semi-professional.

May I suggest moving back to DOS or Windows 3? You definitely don't seem to be the Mac type because Supreme Geeks (IT Pros) and business people alike have been mocking Mac OSes as "toy like" since the original back in 1984.

Seriously what makes an OS profession or semi-pro or none of these? I've been a Mac user since '88. I've seen Apple add and remove minor features alone the way but the basic Mac concept hasn't changed much and I'm still using many of the same s/w titles (updated versions obviously) as I was using in the early/mid 90s like Office, Photoshop, Quark plus more recent stuff like Aperture & Motion. Which one of these pro apps won't work in Mountain Lion?

 

[scarred]

Not sure anything I've read so far about Mountain Lion impresses me over Lion.

If they fix Mission Control, then I might be impressed. But trying to pound iOS features into a desktop OS doesn't impress me.

They are unifying the user experience amongst their platforms. It is still OS X, just with some tweaks to make going from your iPad to iPhone to Mac less jarring. I am quite tech savvy (although I am new to Mac), and even I couldn't find my iPhone "Notes" on my Mac without asking google.

 

[GenesisST]

Hmmm....

OSX 10.1 is known as "Puma."

OSX 10.8 will be known as "Mountain Lion."

According to Wikipedia:
"The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal of the family Felidae, native to the Americas. This large, solitary cat has the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere,[3] extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in every major American habitat type. It is the second heaviest cat in the Western Hemisphere, after the jaguar. Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions."

Mac OS X 10.8 Demi Moore.

But, same cat, different name, different enough for a code name... move along... move along...

 

[5aga]

Screw iOS. It's not even remotely sophisticated. And what became of the old: "Think differently"?!
I'm a sworn Apple fanboy, but this "take something from iOS, scale it up and call it innovation" is seriously pissing me off. I know, as do everyone else, that Apple is on its way to unify iOS and OS X. And that's fine. Now we've got the things from iOS that make sense incorporated into Lion. Full screen apps and a somewhat succesfull Mission Control. The only thing left is the speed, which apparently Apple forgot right after they were done with SL. Now it's time to turn away from iOS and rethink some of OS X's many strengths..

Don't give us any more Launchpad-like features.. Please.. Apple. Think differently again. I want an iPad with an intelligent incorporation of features from the Mac. Not the other way 'round.

(Sorry guys, I had to blow off some steam.)

one thing to keep in mind is that as they bring iOS features to OS X, they will possibly bring OS X feature to iOS as well.

 

[Cougarcat]

I'm hoping this will be a free update for Lion users...

Schiller told Gruber that they are moving to yearly updates like iOS, so I would not be surprised.

- Gatekeeper : Ugh... If it's set by default to only allow Mac App Store, I will hate it. If by default it's set to allow from any source and stays that way, letting users opt-in (rather than requiring opt-out), then I guess it's a great hardening feature for those that want it.

There are 3 settings--anything, developer-signed, and MAS-only. Developer-signed is the default.

 

[Lennholm]

I was referring to the broad scope of issues that a "service pack" would fix. Lion has quite a few annoying bugs. Hopefully this will address them

You shouldn't have to buy a new version of an OS to fix bugs that causes the current version to not function properly. This is why, while I like Windows 7, will never pay MS money for it.

 

[pkisme]

You can't polish a turd.

apperantly, u can...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI

 

[zarusoba]

Yeah, Game Center is one of the ugliest things I've seen Apple do.

But I guess that's what happens when you shove a pool table into the living room of an art deco home... They gotta get themselves an art deco pool table.

Can they please change Game Center to be less ugly... I mean seriously.

What I do like about Game Center on ML is now we're getting an achievement system on the mac, whoohoo! (But yeah, it's still ugly)

I'll happily pay $29.99/yr for updates. But I'd like to see them do something more radical than simply making Mac more like iOS. That's not very visionary. I think a lot of what Microsoft is doing with Windows 8 is more exciting.

 

[Digital Skunk]

The default setting is to allow everything, just like before. But the fact that a feature like Gatekeeper is in the OS does not bode well. It's rather clear where they're going with this: It's the final grace period for developers to obtain a certificate for their software. After that, it is very likely that Gatekeeper will no longer tolerate software from "unknown sources". And after that... Welcome to the iOS software distribution model.

True, and it's probably why Apple hasn't cared much about preventing software piracy on it's lesser titles. They were planning on having this horrible albeit convenient app distribution method become the norm. Goodbye copy/paste/serial # installations.