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Mac OS X Lion. Do we not already have it?

B

Bloodshade

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
8
0
Hi I was wondering if someone could explain to me why people would upgrade to Lion.

on the sneak peek page they advertise:

the mac store - we already have it

Launchpad - there is a app on the app store called QuickPick which is practically identical.

Full screen apps- there are apps that already do this like iPhoto (will every single app be full screen i.e. itunes, safari?)

i'm not trying to criticize, I was just wondering if bigger changes will be revealed before release? otherwise it seems to me it might not be too worthwhile. thanks.
 
Look how many people upgraded to 10.6 Snow Leopard, which hasn't had any big interface changes or new gimmicks.

Most probably there are much more features inside Lion, Apple just didn't disclose them yet. Wait and you'll see and can decide if you will update or not.
 
Yeh, not sure about this. I don't think Apple has released all the details about the system yet. I'm sure there will be some good low level stuff.
 
Didn't they state during the keynote that it was just a sneak peak?

Actually, Apple.com (http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/) says:
"Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of its features."

That pages mentions what you mentioned:
- Mac App Store
- Launchpad
- Full-screen apps
- Mission Control

I'm sure there will be much more to come.
 
Bloodshade said:
Hi I was wondering if someone could explain to me why people would upgrade to Lion.
Click to expand...

Mac-users who don't LOVE OS upgrades likely won't run out and buy Lion. Most people I know don't upgrade their computers at all and are content to just wait until their old computer dies and buy a new one with whatever OS happens to be on it, and couldn't care less whether it's Leopard, Snow Leopard or Lion. Nothing wrong with that. But some people, especially the ones who come to forums like this, cannot wait for new software, because even if it looks exactly the same they know there are gonna be hundred of tweaks and refinements that most people would never even notice. It will be a better, snappier OS on every level (minus a few small complains about not liking the new ____ and how the old ____ was much better).

That said here is a few things to note:

1) Launchpad will like much better than Quickpick because it will be fully native to OS X. But you're right ... who cares. An app displayer is an app displayer.

2) Preview will not be full-screen on Snow Leopard like it will be on Lion. I imagine iTunes, Safari and more will get the full-screen treatment and have no idea if this will be Lion-only. But Snow Leopard will never let you swipe between full screen apps and the desktop like Lion will.

3) What about the other features Apple announced for Lion, which I found far more amazing than the App Store, Full-Screen Apps or Launchpad/Mission Control. A) Multi-Touch Gestures: Lion will be receiving multi-touch gestures that Snow Leopard will not. No idea what, but considering how often I 2, 3 & 4 finger swipe my trackpad ... I want them! B) Auto-Save is gonna be built in. No more saving documents or image edits. They will constantly save themselves just like on iOS. C) Apps resume when launched. Just like iOS, when you reopen an app it will remember exactly where you were when you closed it and you'll be right where you left off.

4) Features not yet announced. No idea what they are or how big they'll be, but Apple will have something left to show.
 
Auto resuming apps I think will be the big feature. I gotta admit, I'm looking forward to seeing how the idea works out.
 
HelveticaNeue said:
3) What about the other features Apple announced for Lion, which I found far more amazing than the App Store, Full-Screen Apps or Launchpad/Mission Control. A) Multi-Touch Gestures: Lion will be receiving multi-touch gestures that Snow Leopard will not. No idea what, but considering how often I 2, 3 & 4 finger swipe my trackpad ... I want them! B) Auto-Save is gonna be built in. No more saving documents or image edits. They will constantly save themselves just like on iOS. C) Apps resume when launched. Just like iOS, when you reopen an app it will remember exactly where you were when you closed it and you'll be right where you left off.
Click to expand...
a) Just use BetterTouchTool. There is hardly anything they can do in Lion that you cannot already have much better with this tool. It works brilliantly. I don't understand how some people stick only with those boring few inefficient standard gestures.
b)Auto Save is not always a good idea and in many apps it works just fine already.
c)If you have enough ram just don't close them all the time and use stand by. You will see little difference with an S4 on App level and with some applications again a restart is necessary to solve issues

I guess the op is right there is little actual reason to get Lion. Still maybe they release it very cheap again and it offers a few little things that are useful or just better performance and stuff.
 
dusk007 said:
a) Just use BetterTouchTool. There is hardly anything they can do in Lion that you cannot already have much better with this tool.
b)Auto Save is not always a good idea and in many apps it works just fine already.
c)If you have enough ram just don't close them all the time and use stand by. You will see little difference with an S4 on App level and with some applications again a restart is necessary to solve issues

I guess the op is right there is little actual reason to get Lion. Still maybe they release it very cheap again and it offers a few little things that are useful or just better performance and stuff.
Click to expand...

A) I used BetterTouchTool for my Magic Mouse before I got my Trackpad. It is a great utility. It should be able to reproduce any new gestures added by Apple in Lion. However, I don't see how BetterTouchTool will be able to change the desktop UI of Snow Leopard to have Full Screen apps appear off to the right of the desktop and be able to swipe through them.

B) Yes and airbags aren't always beneficial either, but in many cases they are. I understand sometimes I may not want a certain document saved until I tell it to and personally I haven't lost a document since switching to Mac since my programs don't crash unexpectedly. Nonetheless, it is a feature and for many people it will be beneficial.

Look, I'm not saying that Lion is a MUST HAVE or that you can't reproduce some of the features through third party apps and other tweaks. The OP just asked why someone would update and I gave reasons.

The "just download all these apps - buy more RAM - that features dumb" is fine for some people. I'll try to use a clumsy car analogy: You have a car. It still runs great. A new model comes out with a built in GPS, built-in bluetooth, it is more fuel-efficent and has seat warmers - all standard. Sure, you could buy a GPS (probably a better GPS) and attach it to the dash board, buy a bluetooth and clip it to the visor, buy a seat cushion that heats up by plugging into the car adaptor, and do some extensive engine work to make it run almost like the new car. But some people just want to buy the new car, not have to do all that work, have the GPS and bluetooth be built in seamlessly, etc. To each their own. Plus this isn't a new $30,000 car ... it's a $129 upgrade, if that.
 
In the keynote when Apple announced Mac OS X Lion, they stated in plain English that it's a "sneak peak of just a few of the features." We're still over six months until Lion is released, so there's a lot more to be seen.
 
However, I don't see how BetterTouchTool will be able to change the desktop UI of Snow Leopard to have Full Screen apps appear off to the right of the desktop and be able to swipe through them.
Click to expand...

Enable 3 or 4 Spaces in a single row, now add BTT four-finger horizontal swipe gesture mapped to the same keyboard shortcut you setup in Spaces (disable default four finger application switching in sys prefs). Voila, I have Itunes fullscreen in one space, Firefox fullscreen in the centre, and mail/spreadsheet stuff in another, swiping between all 3.
 
What we've got so far is just the icing on the cake. Lion will have many cosmetic changes that you can't apply in a simple update, including auto-resume and universal fullscreen capability.

Besides, they can very well change all the icons and completely redesign the dock. Just imagine the possibilities...
 
Modernape said:
Enable 3 or 4 Spaces in a single row, now add BTT four-finger horizontal swipe gesture mapped to the same keyboard shortcut you setup in Spaces (disable default four finger application switching in sys prefs). Voila, I have Itunes fullscreen in one space, Firefox fullscreen in the centre, and mail/spreadsheet stuff in another, swiping between all 3.
Click to expand...

VERY nice. Just implemented this and it works beautifully.

Lion? What Lion? :D
 
Maybe this is a ridiculous question that nobody will have an answer for, but I'm going to ask it anyway! :) Is it likely drivers that work in Snow Leopard will work ok in Lion? I've got a piece of kit that support has just been discontinued for and it works in Snow Leopard both 32 and 64 Bit kernel fine. Just thinking of future compatibility, SL is fine for now!
 
DiScO197 said:
Maybe this is a ridiculous question that nobody will have an answer for, but I'm going to ask it anyway! :) Is it likely drivers that work in Snow Leopard will work ok in Lion? I've got a piece of kit that support has just been discontinued for and it works in Snow Leopard both 32 and 64 Bit kernel fine. Just thinking of future compatibility, SL is fine for now!
Click to expand...

Maybe. We won't know until we have tried.
You can always make a clone of the working OS and upgrade to Lion and see if it works there, and if not, then you can always go back.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Maybe. We won't know until we have tried.
You can always make a clone of the working OS and upgrade to Lion and see if it works there, and if not, then you can always go back.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That was what I did from Leopard to SL. The drivers ceased to work properly in that case. Only time will tell I guess. Cheers.
 
Modernape said:
Enable 3 or 4 Spaces in a single row, now add BTT four-finger horizontal swipe gesture mapped to the same keyboard shortcut you setup in Spaces (disable default four finger application switching in sys prefs). Voila, I have Itunes fullscreen in one space, Firefox fullscreen in the centre, and mail/spreadsheet stuff in another, swiping between all 3.
Click to expand...

This sounds interesting. Excuse my ignorance but what is BTT and where do I configure that gesture? Thanks.
 
You could make the same argument about upgrading to Leopard from Tiger. In fact, people did.
 
I'm sure that Apple has been holding back on many of the main features of Lion. It would take away from the wow factor in June/July if we already knew all of the updates.
 
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