A Sneak Peek at Apple’s OSX Lion

Apple has just posted a small sneak peek of the next update to the Macintosh OS. OSX Lion is due in the summer of 2011 and is bringing iPhone ease of use to the laptop computer. Sounds interesting, wish I was beta testing on this one (but on someone else’s computer).

Some of the new features include the “Mac App Store”  which seems to be a laptop version of the iPhone/iPad’s “App Store.” this will be a nice addition for people new to the mac platform and would also be a boon to software sales as well. Developers can save money on packaging and imprinting discs and the end user won’t have to drive to the store and dig though the shelves looking for the product. Click, download, done. Works for me.

Launchpad, which when launched from your dock replaces your finder windows with an elegant iPhone/iPad style view of your applications and includes the folder features already available on the mobile platforms. Do you think this is the future of the lovable “finder?” Time will tell on that story.

Full screen apps are also a new feature. This one will require a hands on review to see the difference in the interface for graphics apps which will already run “full screen.” I don’t see a menu bar in the screen shot so perhaps that is the big deal? I can see some minor benefit there.

The last new feature discussed is “Mission Control” which could be a very useful app especially if you like Spaces or Exposé which it seems to share some heritage with. I think this may be one of the most interesting OS upgrades since the switch to OSX. Lion will have more new features that qualify as major changes to the way we use our computers.

Could this be the next shift in computing if it is successful? Will new Apple products 5 years down the road remove our access to system files and the current filing system? Will the desktop computers of 2015 have limited access to the internal system and feel more like todays smart phones. If you want this kind of ease in printing collateral material, come visit us at PGprint.com for click, print, ship, save!

Christopher Robinson