Apple picker Users haven't really gotten used to OS X 10.7 Lion yet, and the next major version of the Mac operating system is already on the way. The iOS to OS X migration continues, this time in a big way. Introducing OS X Mountain Lion.
The new OS X is coming unexpectedly soon. In previous years, we were used to the update cycle lasting about two years - OS X 10.5 was released in October 2007, OS 10.6 in August 2009, and then Lion in July 2011. "Mountain Lion", translated as "Puma", is due to appear in the Mac App Store already this summer. Note the Leopard - Snow Leopard and Lion - Mountain Lion analogy. The similarity of the names is not purely coincidental, the similarity suggests that this is practically an extension of the previous version, a continuation of what the predecessor established. Mountain Lion is a clear proof of this.
Already in OS X Lion, we talked about adopting elements from the successful iOS. We got Launchpad, redesigned calendar, contacts and mail apps that took a lot from their iOS counterparts. Mountain Lion continues this trend to an even greater extent. The first indicator is Apple's position that it wants to release a new version of OS X every year, just like iOS. This trend has worked well on the mobile platform, so why not use it on the desktop system, which is still only above the 5% mark?
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New features from iOS
Notification center
The notification center was one of the main innovations in iOS 5. A feature that everyone has been calling for for a long time. The place where all notifications, messages and alerts will be collected and will replace the current system of pop-ups. Now the notification center will also come to OS X. If you are a regular user, you will probably see a small analogy with the application here Growl, which has been used for Mac notifications for many years. However, the philosophy is a little different. While Growl was primarily used for pop-up bubbles in the corner of the screen, the Notification Center does it a little differently. In fact, the same way as in iOS.
Notifications appear as banners in the upper right corner of the screen, which disappear after five seconds and a new icon in the top menu turns blue. Clicking on it will sort of slide the screen away to reveal the Notification Center as we know it from iOS, including the classic linen texture. You can also move the image with a new touch gesture on the touchpad – by dragging two fingers from the left to the right edge. You can slide the screen back anywhere by dragging it with two fingers. However, for desktop Mac users, the Magic Trackpad must be used. There is no keyboard shortcut to bring up the notification center, and the Magic Mouse doesn't conjure up anything either. Without the Trackpad, you're only left with the option of clicking the icon.
A new setting in System Preferences has also been added to the notification center. This too is very similar to its iOS predecessor. Notification types, application badges or sounds can be set for each application. The order of notifications can also be sorted manually, or let the system sort them according to what time they appear.
News
We have previously speculated whether the iMessage protocol would make it to OS X and whether it would be part of iChat. This was finally confirmed in "Puma". iChat was changed from the ground up and got a new name - Messages. Visually, it now looks like the Messages app on the iPad. It retains the existing services, the most important addition is the aforementioned iMessage.
Through this protocol, all iPhone and iPad users with iOS 5 can send messages to each other for free. Practically, it is similar to BlackBerry Messenger. Apple uses push notifications for delivery. Your Mac will now join this circle, from which you can write messages to your friends with iOS devices. Although FaceTime is still a standalone app in Puma, a call can be initiated directly from Messages without having to launch anything else.
Chatting and texting suddenly take on a whole new dimension. You can start a conversation on your Mac, continue outside on your mobile, and end the evening in bed with your iPad. However, there are a few problems. While Messages on Mac tries to connect all accounts together, so that you will see a conversation with one person, even on multiple accounts (iMessage, Gtalk, Jabber) in one thread, on iOS devices you may miss some parts that were not sent via iMessage . Another issue is that by default iMessage on iPhone uses your phone number, on iPad or Mac it's an email address. So messages that used a phone number as an identifier won't appear at all on the Mac. Likewise, messages that failed to be sent via iMessage and instead were sent as SMS.
However, Apple is aware of the problem, so hopefully it will be addressed in some way before Mountain Lion hits the market. By the way, you can download Messages aka iChat 6.1 as a beta version for OS X Lion on to this address.
AirPlay Mirroring
If you've been thinking about getting an Apple TV, there's a new argument for you. AirPlay Mirroring will be newly available for Mac. With the current version of Apple TV, it will only support 720p resolution and stereo sound, but we can expect the resolution to increase to 1080p with the arrival of the next generation Apple TV, which is expected to contain the Apple A5 chip.
The AirPlay protocol should be available to third-party developers in addition to Apple programs. At the demo, Apple showed multiplayer gameplay in Real Racing 2 between an iPad and a Mac, which streamed the image to an Apple TV connected to the television. If this is indeed confirmed, AirPlay mirroring would find wide use, especially in games and video players. The Apple TV could indeed become the center of home entertainment, paving the way for iTV, Apple's much-talked-about television.
Game Center
You may remember when I was in your reasoning wrote that Apple should bring Game Center to Mac to support games. And he actually did. The Mac version will be very similar to its iOS counterpart. Here you will search for opponents, add friends, discover new games, view leaderboards and get achievements in games. Games are very popular on iOS, which Apple intends to use on the Mac as well.
Cross-platform multiplayer will be an important aspect. If the game exists for both iOS and Mac and has Game Center implemented, it will be possible for players on the two platforms to compete against each other. Apple demonstrated this capability with Real Racing, as mentioned above.
iCloud
Although iCloud is present in OS X Lion, it is even more deeply integrated into the system in Mountain Lion. Right from the first launch, you have the option to log in to your iCLoud account, which will then automatically set up iTunes, the Mac App Store, add contacts, fill in events in the calendar and bookmarks in the browser.
However, the biggest innovation will be the synchronization of documents. Until now, it was not possible to easily synchronize documents, for example, between iWork applications in iOS and on Mac. Now a special folder in the Document Library for iCloud will appear in the new system, and all changes to documents will be automatically added to all devices through iCloud. Third-party developers will also have the option of documents in the cloud.
Apps and other iOS stuff
Reminders
Until now, tasks from the Reminders app in iOS 5 were synced to Calendar via iCloud. Apple has now removed tasks from the calendar and created a brand new reminder app that looks just like its iPad counterpart. In addition to the iCloud protocol, it will also offer CalDAV, which supports, for example, Google Calendar or Yahoo. Although Reminders for Mac lacks location-based tasks, you can find everything else here. A small point of interest - this application has absolutely no custom settings.
Notes
As with tasks in Calendar, notes have disappeared from the email client in favor of a standalone application. The app looks identical to Notes on the iPad and, like Reminders, syncs with iOS devices via iCloud. You can open notes in viv in a separate window, and you can also set each new note you start to open in a separate window.
Notes also supports embedding images and links, and offers a Rich Text Editor where you can change fonts, styles, and font colors. There is even an option to create bulleted lists. In addition to iCloud, synchronization with Gmail, Yahoo and other services is also possible.
Kalendář
The default calendar in OS X Lion already looks like its sister app on the iPad, but Apple has added a few more improvements. One of them is a change in the menu of calendars. Instead of a pop-up window, the main window seems to slide to the right to reveal a list of calendars. You can also turn off invitation notifications without turning off upcoming meeting notifications.
Sharing and Twitter
Mountain Lion has adapted the sharing buttons from iOS and will offer sharing of almost anything that can be viewed via Quick Look via an email client, AirDrop, Flickr, Vimeo and Twitter. Once you choose the service you want to share through, an iOS-like window will appear and you can post from any app. There will be an API for third-party developers to use sharing in their applications as well. However, YouTube and Facebook services are significantly missing here and there is no way to add them. You'll only find them in Quick Time Player, and they may appear in iPhoto with some upcoming update.
Twitter received special attention and was integrated deep into the system, just like in the case of iOS. You'll get notifications when someone replies to you on Twitter or sends you a direct message, you can sync pictures in contacts with your list of people you follow, and tweets sent via sharing can even get an approximate location using OS X's Location Services (probably Wi-Fi triangulation sewing).
More news
Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper is a relatively prominent but hidden novelty of Mountain Lion. The latter can have a big impact on the distribution of Mac applications. Apple will now offer developers to have their applications checked and "signed", while Mountain Lion will then be able to install only these verified applications and programs from the Mac App Store in the basic settings. Of course, this option can be changed in the settings so that all other applications can also be installed, or perhaps only applications from the Mac App Store can be installed. However, Gatekeeper is still in the early stages of development, so things can still change. Including labels in the settings (see image). Above all, Apple wants to make Gatekepeer as simple as possible so that every user can understand it, and everyone knows which option is best for them.
According to the Californian company, Gatekeeper is supposed to be an answer to the increasingly significant threat of malware that can appear in various applications. Currently, it is not such a fundamental problem, but Apple wants to insure itself for the future. Apple does not want Gatekeeper to spy on its users and monitor who and what they download, but mainly to protect its users.
The system will work on a local basis - each computer will periodically download a list of keys from Apple to know what applications can be installed. Each signed application outside the Mac App Store will thus have its own key. Developers should not have to pay anything extra for the verification of their programs, but it is certainly not possible to expect that everyone will immediately embrace the new program. It's a rather sensitive topic, so we'll definitely be hearing more about Gatekeeper in the coming months.
Nice touches
The Safari browser has also experienced changes, which finally has a unified search bar. So the search field on the right has disappeared, and only the address bar remains, from which you can search directly (similar to, for example, in Google Chrome). There are more similar little things – VIP filters in the email client, disappearance Software update in favor of the Mac App Store… Over the coming days and weeks, many more features and news will surely surface and you will be sure to find out about them on our site.
With each major version of OS X comes a new wallpaper. If you like the default OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion wallpaper, you can download it <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/200721_ODSTOUPENI_BEZ_UDANI_DUVODU__EN.pdf?v=1595428404" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">here</a>.
Source: TheVerge.com
Authors: Michal Žďánský, Ondřej Holzman
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I don't want to be a dick, but …”The Mac version will be very similar to its Mac counterpart” Didn't you mean the iOS counterpart?:-)
There may be more mistakes, we are currently proofreading.
Excellent article! Thanks;)
Oh, I'm looking forward to it, but what else is left for them if Apple wants to secure a head start, because from what I've heard, Okienkary has moved the team in the right direction with the new 8 :P
And the I Chat is quite funny :P
Aaaaaaaah! This is an orgasm for all Masoxars! This is exactly what I expected from Lion, this is what I was missing all along. They could only include the synchronization of game downloads officially in the Game Center, but I guess it can be solved via iCloud. Now it's about getting developers to use it.
Thanks for the article :)
I just hope that the Twitter implementation will not be drastic...otherwise it looks good.
I'm just waiting in which of the next versions installation from the Mac App Store will be the only possible way to install applications, all applications will run in a sandbox without access to the entire filesystem and terminal.app will be canceled... then it's only a matter of time when iOS and OS X merge into one and I will live to the time when we will jailbreak our computer...sadly sad
I couldn't have written it better. I'm sure a lot of people will see it as a step in the right direction, but I don't like exactly this kind of dictatorship. finally it will be forbidden to interfere with the system, modify hosts and similar things.
but come on, don't say it here :)
it's time for that, for now we'll all happily live in the illusion that Apple wants the best for its users.
Crap.
And I wouldn't mind this at all. But a thousand people mean a thousand tastes. Everyone has different needs. Probably the best choice would be. But Apple never gave us much choice.
I look forward. Mainly on Air(video)Play from mac. And also on Notes, Safari, Messages and iCloud "dropbox". Well, actually for everything.
They could have kept that Launchpad until the end, in Lion it looks like a fist in the eye... But maybe they wanted to slowly prepare us for the possible shock "omg I have iOS on my Mac".
Thanks for the article.
Personally, I don't like AirPlay that much - I just prefer 1080p quality and 5.1 sound...and I don't get either of them via AirPlay :P
I'm just downloading, if you have any specific questions just write :)
You can write us any comments to the editorial office (at)jablickar.cz, we will be happy ;-)
Then I have a couple of observations - after installing Java Update to start Adobe Photoshop, ML did not boot for me :)
As for Parallels 6, the icon just jumps and that's all :) I didn't get to Parallels 7 - as I said, ML didn't boot :)
Otherwise, after clicking on the scrollbar, it will increase somewhat...
As for speed, it is at least as fast as Lion. I would say that under the hood they have a lot in common... I'm not happy about any of this. Mission control animation is fast and without introduction lag, which I always had in 10.7.3 and below.
otherwise, iMessages work even when sending to yourself - so moving a picture or video between Macs might be more convenient, even if most users probably use Dropbox...
Maybe I'll decide to install ML one more time on the weekend, if there's some time to waste, I'd add something.
I'm actually looking forward to iOS 5.1, which is already around the corner...
You have an error in the article. Release dates for Lion, Snow Leopard, and Leopard are not 2010, 2008, and 2006, but 2011, 2009, and 2007
True, we mistakenly put the date of the announcement
You seem to have had all the systems in place a year before us. :-)
I would do split screens ala Win7. And then it would also be great if apple added voice to Facetime and iMassage. ;) and yes, to connect it somehow, so that it doesn't matter if he writes me a message to a number or an email, but that it reaches me always and everywhere.
Do you mean split as the app appears on half the screen when you drag it to the left or right side to the edge?
I like the new Mountain Lion, but I think Lion should have brought something like this. But maybe it wasn't the right time.
What I consider a definite plus is Gatekeeper. For those who want to be absolutely safe, the Mac App store is a good choice. I would still like to see full application sandboxing on the Mac. I think this could (at least partially) prevent "computer pollution". Then it would probably be a good idea to clean the computer (in my case, for example, using Clean My Mac)
I really like it and wouldn't be afraid to get it even harder. Although many will struggle with this at first, they will eventually embrace it. I see it from the point of view that I will worry less and less about my computer and I can focus on what is important. But maybe I'm wrong...
Golden 10.5. I've been sitting here for two days cursing, for example, the mail is so confusing that I'm considering reinstalling to 10.5. I don't understand that something has to be adapted to the iPad platform, which is for everything possible, except for professional use... :-)