orchard apple tree updates its iOS mobile operating system once a yr . But why should the iPhone and iPad have all the fun ? On Thursday Apple denote that it will release a new translation of OS X — Mountain Lion — this summertime , just a year after the release ofOS X Lion .
Like Lion , Mountain Lion offers legion feature additions that will be familiar to iOS users . This OS X release continue Apple ’s philosophy of add iOS features “ back to the Mac , ” and includes iMessage , Reminders , Notes , Notification Center , Twitter consolidation , Game Center , and AirPlay Mirroring .
Mountain Lion offer newfangled lineament such as ( left to rightfulness ) Notes , Reminders , Messages , and Notification Center .
Mountain Lion offers new features such as (left to right) Notes, Reminders, Messages, and Notification Center.
As the first group O X freeing post - iCloud , there ’s also much more thoroughgoing integration with Apple ’s information - synchronize service . Mountain Lion also brings choice to limit which kinds of apps users can install . And although there are no literal mountain lions in China , OS X Mountain Lion does add together a great deal of features to speak to user in the country that ’s Apple ’s biggest growth opportunity .
Mountain Lion will be a paid upgrade to OS X ; like Lion , it will be available only via a Mac App Store download . Apple has n’t yet set a price or a release date more specific than “ summertime . ” Mac developers will be able-bodied to download a developer going of Mountain Lion on Thursday , giving them several month to update their apps to take advantage of the young features in the release .
I ’ve had a few days to use an early development version of Mountain Lion . Here ’s a look at what ’s new so far , go on in creative thinker that Apple may add together and change feature of speech over the next few months as we get closer to the planned release .
Mountain Lion offers new features such as (left to right) Notes, Reminders, Messages, and Notification Center.
iOS apps come to the Mac
The unexampled Notes app face quite conversant .
Mountain Lion comes with several new apps that will seem quite familiar to iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch users . reminder , Notes , and Game Center have all made the move to the Mac .
Reminders and Noteslook very much like they do on iOS . And thanks to iCloud syncing , they ’ll display the same data that shows up on your fluid devices . These are still quite simple apps — the goal seems to have been to provide parity with their Io parallel . The Notes app does support robust text , so you may opt different fonts , insert photos and attachments , create bulleted lists , and get behind in URLs to make hyperlinks .
The new Notes app looks quite familiar.
Game Center was enter to substance abuser with Io 4.1 in September 2010 , andexpanded in iOS 5 . Now it comes to the Mac , letting Mac gamers find friend and compare their gaming prowess , as well as gambol against each other . Mac game developer get approach to a centralized system for meshwork drama , opponent matching , in - game part chat , and more . And yes , Game Center can work across platforms , so games that course on both Mac and iOS can interoperate .
iChat becomes Messages
There ’s never been a edition of iChat for iOS — or else , Apple handle text messages using the Messages app . That app started life as the Text app , which was used just for SMS messaging on the iPhone , but when Apple introduced the newiMessage communication organisation , it rename the app Messages .
With Mountain Lion , the same thing ’s materialise to Lion . All the features of iChat are still there , but the app ’s been renamed Messages and it now supports iMessage ( and is now incorporate with FaceTime ) . you’re able to use Messages to send text or images to anyone on a twist capable of using iMessage — namely , devices running iOS 5 , and Macs play Messages . Unlike SMS text message , the iMessage organization transfers information via the net , so there are no schoolbook charge .
Like Messages on the iPhone , Messages for Mac lets you hold multi - person New World chat and can optionally let hoi polloi know when you ’ve received and take their messages and when you ’re type a reply . An integrated TV - confab push button allow you to give up off a video schmooze with subject devices , either over AIM ( as iChat has always done ) or by launch the FaceTime app .
For iOS 5 users who have been waiting for iChat to affirm iMessage , this is great news — but having to wait until Mountain Lion ’s dismissal this summer would be an workout in foiling . There ’s good news on that front : Apple says that Lion exploiter will be able to download a beta version of Messages starting Thursday . The final rendering will be available in Mountain Lion .
For more in - profoundness information on Messages , check out ourMessages genus Beta hands - on .
Enter Notification Center
A Notification Center alert .
Sometimes one of your apps needs to get your attention . For years , many Mac app developers have built their own ( think reminder pop - ups in iCal or Microsoft Office ) . The heart-to-heart - root projectGrowlhas for year assay to produce a more general notification system supported by lots of apps .
With Mountain Lion , Mac OS X gains a organization - level presentment organisation approachable to every developer , with features much like those already found in iOS . Alerts appear in the top right corner of the covert in a small bubble . presentment stay there for five secondment , and then slither off screen to the right hand . Alerts , on the other mitt , remain on - screen until you clack on the Show or Close ( or in the guinea pig of some alerts , Snooze ) button .
The Notifications preference pane .
In iOS 5 , you see all your late notifications by pulling down from the top of the filmdom to discover Notification Center . In Mountain Lion , the Notification Center lean is a narrow band that lives just to off the right side of your screen . you may reveal it either by clicking on the new Notification Center icon at the far right field of the menu bar , or by swipe with two fingers starting at the far right edge of the trackpad . Either way , your Mac ’s integral screen will skid to the left field , divulge a inclination of what ’s been trying to get your attention lately .
There ’s also a fresh Notifications pane in the System Preferences app , correspondent to the Notifications submenu in iOS ’s preferences app . From here you may prefer which apps appear within Notification Center and how their merry bubbles comport .
A Notification Center alert.
Gatekeeper blocks apps… the first time
You ’ll be warn if you attempt to wrench off Gatekeeper .
When Apple introduced theMac App Store , the rumblings part : A lot of people wondered if the Mac was head for an iOS - like future , one in which only Apple - approved apps could run on the Mac .
But with Lion and now Mountain Lion , those concern have n’t become realness . you could still operate third - party apps to your heart ’s mental object . However , with Mountain Lion , Apple is introducing a novel feature film called Gatekeeper that allows users to pick out for themselves what sort of apps can be installed on their Macs .
The Notifications preference pane.
Right now , OS ecstasy checks an app the first sentence it launches , and expose a admonition . It ’s an attempt to prevent malware apps from launch when you never intended them to . In Mountain Lion , that feature has been extended and tied into a new background in the Security & Privacy pane of glass of System Preferences .
By default , Mountain Lion will only let Mac App Store apps and Apps from “ discover developer ” launching for the first clock time . To become an “ identify developer , ” Mac developers have to show with Apple and get a personalised certificate , which they then use to cryptographically sign their apps . Apple does n’t do any kind of background stop on the developer , and it does n’t see any of the software .
Apple says that although these apps are n’t as dependable as Mac App Store apps , they ’re safe for a brace of rationality . First , a signed app ca n’t be modify ( to add in some spyware , for model ) without break in the signature . By default , Mountain Lion will refuse to set in motion an app modified in that path . secondly , if it turns out that an app from a particular developer is in reality malware , Apple has the ability to revoke that developer ’s permit — at which point no time to come Mac exploiter will be able-bodied to instal software from that developer .
You’ll be warned if you try to turn off Gatekeeper.
The user can set Mountain Lion to be wide or minute with the lean of apps it ’s willing to set up . There ’s an alternative to appropriate only Mac App Store software to break away , and an option to appropriate any app to run . The latter option is the combining weight of what ’s been the case in all previous rendering of OS X.
For a more in - depth look at Gatekeeper , study ourHands on with Gatekeeperstory .
Sharing and Twitter
A Share Sheet in Safari on Mountain Lion .
Mountain Lion introduce an user interface element inspired by Io — Share Sheets . They ’re a bug out - up menu that appears when you tap the Share icon in an app . Apple has implemented Share Sheets in several Mountain Lion apps , including Safari , Preview , and Notes , and developer can add them to their apps as well .
A Share Sheet provides a prompt way to share whatever you ’re working on — a pic in iPhoto , a web page in Safari , a text file in Notes — with other avail . If you apportion a web page from Safari , you’re able to choose to insert it ( or just its URL ) in a new Mail content , or insert a link in a new subject matter in Messages , or even indite a tweet hold back the URL . From Preview , you may choose to email the text file you ’re viewing , post it via Messages , nip it via Twitter , upload it to Flickr , or transfer it topically via AirDrop .
A Share Sheet in Safari on Mountain Lion.
Sharing a webpage to Twitter from within Safari .
Most of these are n’t really newfangled functions . What ’s different is that Apple has centralise them and given developer memory access to this component , which presumptively will lead to a more consistent share-out interface in future Mac apps . If that go familiar , it is : This is once again an case of the Mac taking a Sir Frederick Handley Page from iOS , in this case from the Share button that ’s base normally throughout iOS .
In most contexts , Share Sheets will include a Twitter choice . That ’s because Mountain Lion is joining iOS 5 in lend organisation - degree support for the popular communicating service . you’re able to add your Twitter account selective information in the Mail , Contacts & Calendars system preference ( which is just decease to be renamed to Accounts ) . Once that ’s done , it becomes easy to quickly apportion items from just about anywhere via a Share Sheet . Select Twitter and a small floating composition window appears , allowing you to drop a line and mail a tweet quick , without leaving the app you ’re working in .
Sharing a webpage to Twitter from within Safari.
Twitter integration does n’t give up there . you could also apply Twitter to inhabit the embodiment of friends in your Contacts list with their Twitter profile pictures . ( Yes , Address Book has been re - named Contacts in Mountain Lion to agree its counterpart app in iOS . ) Tweet apprisal can also optionally seem automatically in Notification Center .
The new Twitter preferences in the Mail , Contacts , and Calendars predilection pane .
iCloud integration
Lion and iCloud were develop in parallel of latitude . As a result , while the current version of Mac OS X supports Apple ’s suite of online services , it does n’t genuinely embrace it . One of Apple ’s destination in Mountain Lion is to truly incorporate iCloud throughout the organisation .
It starts at setup : In Setup Assistant , the system will require you for your Apple ID and will synchronise your existing accounts , preferences , and personal data . It might not be quite as thorough as rejuvenate an iOS backup from iCloud , but the approximation is that your iCloud account will unlock a whole bunch of Mac data so you do n’t have to keep re - enrol it on every new organization you use .
Mountain Lion also brings a raw Documents in the Cloud view to the traditional Open and Save dialog boxes . Any apps that sustain Documents in the Cloud will open to an iCloud purview that expose document available via iCloud , with most recent items first . you may coordinate this opinion by drag one papers on top of another and create a folder , iOS - expressive style . ( There ’s also an On My Mac button that will expose a more standard file cabinet - pluck interface , if you require to give something that ’s on your hard thrust . )
The new Twitter preferences in the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars preference pane.
AirPlay mirroring
mirror a Mac cover to an high-definition television is easy in Mountain Lion .
iOS 5 introduce the concept of AirPlay mirroring , in which an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S can display the contents of its cover on any HDTV that ’s connected to a 2d - generation Apple TV .
The Mac joins the party with Mountain Lion , which will send a 720p video recording stream of what ’s on your Mac ’s screen to the Apple TV . When a Mac endure Mountain Lion senses the presence of an Apple TV on the local web , an AirPlay icon appears in the menu legal profession . Click and take an Apple TV , and you ’re mirroring .
Mirroring a Mac screen to an HDTV is easy in Mountain Lion.
In other words , an Apple TV will shortly also be a wireless presentation adapter for the Mac , let you display webpages , YouTube telecasting , iTunes rentals , Keynote presentations , or anything else you may think of onto an HDTV without any added wires . ( Apple says that only Macs with 2d - multiplication Intel Core mainframe can apply this feature film . )
Safari tweaks
Safari ’s URL legal community now features integrated hunt .
Apple is n’t make a expectant deal about change to the Safari Web browser app in Mountain Lion , but I notice a few new addition . There ’s a Share Sheet in the toolbar , with options to add a page to Reading List , add a Bookmark , email the pageboy , post the Thomas Nelson Page to Messages , or share it via a Tweet . The Safari Reader button has sustain large and now sits just to the right of the reference bar , turning blue when a varlet is eligible for reader .
cash in one’s chips from next to the destination bar is the search box . Instead , at long last , Apple has unified the address bar and the search box . Now if you type “ fourth doctor ” into that box seat , you ’ll get a bunch of connection about Tom Baker instead of an error subject matter telling you that Safari ca n’t find the web site “ http://fourth%20doctor/. ” The speech bar also now omits the http:// prefix on URLs , and while the chief part of the site is displayed in black text , the rest of the URL video display in gray .
Safari’s URL bar now features integrated search.
The new Safari toolbar emphasizes the domain name of the page you ’re browsing and has a more salient Reader push button .
And although I could n’t recover this feature in the interlingual rendition I tested , Apple says that Mountain Lion will wreak the ability to synchronize Safari tab to iCloud , so your unresolved web internet browser tabs can synchronize between Macs .
China-specific features
Apple ’s had huge achiever in China lately , most especially with the iPhone . With Mountain Lion , the company is trying to improve documentation for those who drop a line in Chinese as well as recognizing that most of the popular site that Apple integrates with OS X are n’t in reality available within China .
On the schoolbook - input signal side , Mountain Lion will tender serious suggestions and corrections via a dynamically updated dictionary , something an Apple representative told me was because Chinese word usages are evolving rapidly . manifestly English words are often inserted in Chinese text , so Mountain Lion allows the mixing ofPinyinand English without switch between keyboard layouts . Apple says Mountain Lion also doubles the number of characters recognise by trackpad - base handwriting recognition .
On the cyberspace military service side , Mountain Lion offers accompaniment for Formosan alternatives to several worldwide services . lookup - locomotive Baidu is now an option in Safari . Chinese microblogging serviceSina weibois bear out in Share Sheets , just as Twitter is . In addition to Vimeo and Flickr , Mountain Lion will bear sharing to Chinese TV - sharing sites Youku and Tudou . And Mail , Contacts , and Calendar syncing will be back up to Chinese help providers QQ , 126 , and 163 .
The new Safari toolbar emphasizes the domain name of the page you’re browsing and has a more prominent Reader button.
Just the beginning
Of course , this is only the first disclosure by Apple about what ’s in Mountain Lion . There are undoubtedly oodles , if not hundreds , of modest tweaks and small young features being added . And there might even be big ones as yet undisclosed — after all , we ’re four to seven months away from Mountain Lion ’s arrival .
If you ’re a Mac drug user , the best news about Mountain Lion is this : Apple does n’t seem to be boil down OS X ’s growth cycle and putting it in maintenance mode . Instead , OS X handout seem to be accelerate , perhaps so that the annual outlet cycles of iOS and Mac OS X can feed off one another .
It ’s also unmortgaged that with both Lion releases , Apple is dead serious about earn Mac OS X and Io as synchronize up as they possibly can be , both in terms of port and — thanks to iCloud — data point . Mac user who are n’t fans of Io might complain , but these days Apple sells many times more iOS devices than Macs in any given after part . Having all of Apple ’s mathematical product bear a family resemblance to one another can only help .
[ Jason Snell is Macworld ’s editorial director . ]
