Now that Mountain Lion is here , we can respond pretty much all your inquiry about the latest edition of Mac OS X 10.8 .
Apple uncover some fresh Mountain Lion feature during June ’s Worldwide Developers Conference .
Availability
When will Mountain Lion be available ?
It ’s available now in the Mac App Store .
How much will it cost ?
Apple unveiled some new Mountain Lion features during June’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
You ’ll be able to pick up a copy of Mountain Lion for just $ 20 . By way of equivalence , Lion cost $ 30 .
How will I get my hands on Mountain Lion ?
The same way you got a hold of Lion — via the Mac App Store . Apple seems jolly felicitous with its on-line distribution method , with more than 26 million written matter of Lion sold in the last yr . When it ’s time to pick up Mountain Lion , you ’ll waiting line up in front of your computer rather than a physical store . Like Lion , Apple will let you give for and download one copy of Mountain Lion that you could put in to multiple Macs — a welcome lineament for multi - Mac households .
OS X Mountain Lion
OS X Mountain Lion
Will I need to be running Lion to kick upstairs to Mountain Lion , or can I kick upstairs straight from Snow Leopard ?
According to the info Apple has provided with the developer prevue , you need to be go at least the recent version of Snow Leopard ( OS X 10.6.8 ) to install Mountain Lion .
What variation of Mac OS X is Mountain Lion ?
10.8 . ( And it ’s “ OS X ” now . With Lion , Apple ’s marketing material began referring to “ OS X ” rather than “ Mac OS X , ” but with Mountain Lion all trace have been eradicated . Even the About this Mac loge say “ OS X. ” )
Which Macs will be able to run Mountain Lion ?
With Facebook integration built into Mountain Lion, sharing photos, links, and status updates with the social network should be easier than ever.
Apple saysthe follow theoretical account are supported :
Apple ’s current specs pageboy leave out the 2009 Xserve , which was included in the supported model back in February . That may be more of a reflection of Apple ’s regard for the now - retire Xserve than that machine ’s ability to bleed Mountain Lion , however .
You may observe that some theoretical account supported by Lion are n’t in that list — just because your Mac can die hard Lion does n’t mean it will be able-bodied to run Mountain Lion . Specifically , the keep abreast models can run for Lion , but are n’t compatible with the initial developer preview of Mountain Lion :
Mountain Lion adds notifications, which appear in the form of banners and alerts (pictured here).
Features
Mountain Lion has Dictation capabilities , but what about Siri ?
Sorry , there ’s no Siri for the Mac yet . Mountain Lion ’s Dictation capabilities will permit you speak anywhere you could typecast , with your words converted into school text . That include third - party apps and websites , according to Apple . Dictation will be capable to support English ( U.S. , UK , and Australia ) , French , German , and Japanese .
If you want to ask your Mac what the atmospheric condition ’s like , though , it ’s going to persist maddeningly silent . For that , you ’ll call for Siri and an iPhone 4S. ( Or third - generation iPad , onceiOS 6extends Siri keep to that gimmick in the fall . )
In System Preferences, you can set how you want notifications to perform on an app-by-app basis.
So what about this Power Nap feature ? What does it do ?
Power Nap is a characteristic available to laptop with solid - state drive . It admit your Mac to synchronize and download update while it ’s sleeping . accord to Apple , your Mac laptop will be able-bodied to Mail , Contacts , Calendar , Reminders , Notes , Photo Stream , ascertain My Mac , and document in the Cloud ; keep the estimator plugged in to a mightiness source , and it will download software program updates and make Time Machine backups , too . While that ’s occur , your Mac unravel silently — no lights or fans will come on , come alive you from any slumbers . ( That ’s why the feature only work with SSD - based Macs — no affect portion in your drive . )
I ’m a frequent Facebooker ; what can Mountain Lion do for me ?
Mountain Lion’s Notification Center
Apple promises Facebook integration for Mountain Lion , come this fall . When that update hit , you ’ll be capable to partake with the social networking service from within Mac app . That mean posting photos from iPhoto and links from Safari . Facebook apprisal show up in Mountain Lion ’s new Notification Center ( more on thatbelow ) , and you ’ll be capable to station status updates from there , too . Facebook integrating figure to play like Twitter integration currently does on iOS gimmick : You sign in , and you ’re countersink up to share .
With Facebook integration built into Mountain Lion , sharing photos , links , and status updates with the societal web should be well-fixed than ever .
A potentially bang-up feature with Facebook integration invloves the Contacts app . OS X will add Facebook protagonist and their profiles to contact . When that information is updated on Facebook , OS X will update the Contacts entry , too .
Share websites to your Reading List as well as via email, iMessage, and Twitter by using the new Share button in Safari.
Other Mountain Lion features announced this week include support for full screen apps on multiple reminder ( though it does n’t bring quite the full - projection screen support for multiple monitors thatour own Dan Moren urge for last twelvemonth ) ; iCloud Tabs for Safari , which show website assailable on your other devices ; and an offline reading of your Safari Reading List .
Lion draw heavily on iOS for its feature circle . Will that continue in Mountain Lion ?
Yes . Like Lion , Mountain Lion proffer legion additions that will be intimate to iOS users . This OS X release continues Apple ’s school of thought of bringing Io characteristic “ back to the Mac , ” and includes iMessage ( inMessages),Reminders , Notes , Notification Center , Twitter consolidation , Game Center , andAirPlay Mirroring .
Contacts (formerly Address Book) gets a three-column view in Mountain Lion.
Are there any Lion features that Apple is spend in Mountain Lion ?
for the most part , any characteristic introduced with Lion are here to quell — though those of you who have n’t yet change over toLion ’s “ natural ” scrollingcan rest easy : It ’s still optional in Mountain Lion . iCal and Address Book find name changes to Calendar and Contacts , and sport new layouts similar to their iOS counterparts . Certain apps , like Preview , have had their interfaces simplified . And RSS suport is being phase out of both Safari and Mail . ( One ancillary result : the destruction of the RSS screensaver . )
What — if any — lineament in Mountain Lion will be available to Lion or Snow Leopard users ?
With Mountain Lion, Mail gets a VIP feature that alerts you when message arrives from selected contacts and an inline find capability.
Faster , cheaper OS updates from the society mean less fourth dimension to incorporate newer apps with older operating systems ; if you ’re still holding back on upgrading , you ’ll have to forgo the newest features . Apple did make a feature article - limited adaptation ofSafari 6 available for Lion users .
So which iOS features will appear in Mountain Lion ?
Mountain Lion will now share and sync Messages , Notes , and Reminders . It will also integrate Game Center , the gambling Robert William Service Apple introduced to iPhone and iPad users with Io 4.1 . In summation , OS X will add up its own rendering of Notification Center , Share Sheets , syncing with iCloud documents and accounts , systemwide Twitter integrating , and AirPlay Mirroring . Certain Mac apps have also taken designing and functionality cues from iOS apps , like Preview ’s new iBooks - expressive style annotations and iChat ’s shift into Messages .
Messages replaces iChat in Mountain Lion.
How will notifications work in Mountain Lion ?
Mountain Lion adds notifications , which come along in the contour of banners and alerts ( pictured here ) .
When you receive a notification , a small floating windowpane appears in the upper right corner of the Mac ’s display , containing the notification . Notifications come in two forms : banners and alerting . If it ’s a streamer , the message appears for a few second , then disappear from view ; alerts necessitate you to manually acknowledge them before they disappear . Clicking on a banner or alert will post you like a shot to the relevant program , while snap and dragging dismisses the notification .
So who decides what ’s an alert and what ’s a banner ?
You do . Using the new Notifications pane in the System Preferences app , you could set on a per - app basis whether you want your presentment to appear as five - second streamer or alert that remain visible until you clack them .
In System Preferences , you’re able to localise how you desire notifications to perform on an app - by - app footing .
That orientation pane is also where you’re able to coif which apps appear within Notification Center — think of it as the OS X variant of the Notifications hierarchical menu in iOS ’s options app . By nonpayment , Calendar , Reminders , Game Center , Safari , Mail , and subject matter are configure to send notifications . you could also take how many reminders appear per app—1 , 5 , 10 , or 20 token — and you could take to exhibit a badge on each covering ’s Dock picture when a notification from that app is received . you’re able to additionally configure notifications so that a sound is played when a notification is received .
What if I do n’t see a banner notification before it disappears ?
Mountain Lion ’s Notification Center
If a banner telling disappear before you could get to it , you could work up Notification Center by clicking on the Notification Center image in the fare bar ( the double circle in the upper right street corner of the bill of fare saloon ) , entering a keyboard shortcut , or using a two - finger swipe . The desktop will shift to the left , displaying all current notification in a dark gray column , sorted by app along the right bound of your silver screen . When you select a notification in this list , the check app program will open and display the related particular . For example , if you tap a Mail national heading , Mail will open and display that subject matter .
What ’s the multitouch gesture to open Notification Center ?
take off at the far right bound of the trackpad , swipe with two fingers to the left ( as if you were perpetrate something aside from the right side of the screenland ) . you may also impute a keyboard shortcut to show and cover Notification Center . you could do this within System Preferences - > Keyboard - > Keyboard Shortcuts .
Can you blot out the Notification Center carte stripe image ?
No .
What is Gatekeeper ? How will it work ?
Gatekeeper is a new security measure technology Apple has released with Mountain Lion , which allows you to download and install apps from developer register with Apple , irrespective of whether those apps are uncommitted for sale on the Mac App Store or on the Web . If an app that has been signed by a record developer misbehaves , Apple can disable that app and ban the developer from create new software registered with Apple . register more about Gatekeeperin our hand - on with the new feature .
With Mountain Lion , will Gatekeeper foreclose my current software aggregation from running ? Will I only be able-bodied to run apps I download from the Mac App Store ?
No ; you ’ll be able-bodied to open any package you choose to , though you may restrict this to Mac App Store - only purchases if you wish . In System Preferences - > Security & Privacy - > General , you may choose whether to run software exclusively from the Mac App Store ; from the store and from non - Mac App Store developers who have registered with Apple ; or from any developer , anywhere .
How will Mountain Lion ’s communion feature lick ?
Like iOS , Mountain Lion has a new portion push button that take into account you to transmit just about anything — website , picture , video , Indian file , text selection — using a variety of services . Those services diverge calculate on the app : For example , in Safari , you may partake in websites to your Reading List as well as via email , iMessage , Twitter , and — in the fall — Facebook , while videos can be share via YouTube , Vimeo , or AirDrop . If you in good order - sink in any text , you ’ll be able to share that via email , iMessage , or Twitter , too . We take you up nigh with Sharing in Mountain Lion in this story .
Share websites to your Reading List as well as via electronic mail , iMessage , and Twitter by using the new Share button in Safari .
In summation , the Mail , Contacts , and calendar pane of System Preferences has been update so that you could add systemwide integration with Twitter , Flickr , and Vimeo , along with three other China - based services .
How does Mountain Lion mix with iCloud ? What ’s different from Lion ’s iCloud desegregation ?
build off Lion ’s basic iCloud integrating , Mountain Lion will add support for accessing document stored in iCloud ; it can also set up up your Game Center , Messages , iTunes , Mac App Store , and other Apple describe automatically after you ’ve logged in with your iCloud certification . You ’ll also be able to sync your promissory note , and sync your unresolved Safari windows , too . Go up close with iCloud in Mountain Lion .
Will desegregation between iCloud and Mountain Lion replace any before long - to - be - all in MobileMe feature ?
You are referring , of row , toApple ’s having discontinued iWeb publishing , MobileMe Gallery , and iDiskin June . regrettably , there are no major MobileMe feature resurrections in Mountain Lion .
Does this portend any changes in iLife or iWork ? Does it break anything in iWeb ?
Mountain Lion apps such as TextEdit and Preview have access code to iCloud ’s Documents in the Cloud , andApple has now released a version of the iWork suitethat works with that feature as well . It would be nice to see such an update of the iLife apps too , allowing users to transfer projects to and from their equipment without wires or iTunes File Sharing .
iWeb is still functional in Mountain Lion , but witness as how MobileMe hosting for internet site is now discontinued and Apple demonstrate no pastime in updating the app , it might be time tolook at alternative .
What other minor features and enhancements will Mountain Lion turn in ?
Apple boasts that Mountain Lioncontains more than 200 new characteristic , though we have n’t had time to go and count each of those ourselves . Among others , these feature of speech include : Backup to multiple disks , new graphics infrastructure for OpenGL / OpenCL , improved privacy in Safari , a Dashboard Widget web internet browser , shape remark in Preview , inline find in Mail , virtual memory performance optimization , OS ten update in the Mac App Store , improved smart lineup support , search suggestion in calendar , drag and drop files in cover sharing , Launchpad search , swipe between pageboy in Mac App Store , code backups , kernel ASLR , and meliorate gesture APIs .
Apps
What ’s this I get a line about the Mac App Store and Software Update being merge ?
You learn correctly . The Mac App Store will now be the sole situation for Apple software update . When new software is available , you ’ll receive a presentment in Notification Center ; you’re able to download it by open up the App Store app and selecting the Updates tab . Notifications also carry over to any Mac App Store apps , as well , meaning that you no longer need to perennially leave the App Store open to check for raw updates to your programs .
What ’s raw with iCal and Address Book , besides their name change ?
We’vespent a piddling time with both Contacts and Calendar ; both play interface changes , include a three newspaper column sentiment in Contacts and a left sidebar for calendar in Calendar . Apple ’s scheduling app also sees the remotion of to - disk operating system ( which point to the Reminders app ) and desegregation with the same advanced search tokens used in Lion ’s Finder and Mail .
contact ( formerly Address Book ) gets a three - newspaper column view in Mountain Lion .
Does Dashboard get any love ? How about Launchpad ?
Surprisingly , yes . Dashboard meet a unexampled appliance web browser app reminiscent of Launchpad ( or the iOS home screenland ) , along with a hunt Browning automatic rifle along the top ; it ’s to be determined whether this means Apple may be concerned in port over more iOS - like doohickey , but colour us scheme .
Launchpad gets a small tweak — a hunting bar , present at the top of each Launchpad sieve .
What does Game Center on the Mac mean value for games on the Mac ?
We ’ll have to wait and see until more integrate games actually come out , as Game Center is n’t very useful without apps that utilize it . That said , your iOS Game Center write up will bear over , and you should be capable to do many of the same thing you use Game Center on iOS to do — call for others to games , keep course of accomplishment , and discover novel things to play . you’re able to also gainsay iOS users to head - to - head match if they ’re running a game that also works on your Mac .
Has Apple done anything about the behemoth that is iTunes ?
No — at least , not yet .
What cool features are in store for Mail in Mountain Lion ?
postal service has three new features : dignitary , inline find , and selective notification . dignitary are especial contacts , chosen by you , whose messages are treated differently from other contacts . For example , you’re able to fix Mail to use Notification Center to alert you only when Mail from VIPs get . you’re able to also utilize Mail Rules to filter items from VIPs in a different style . Inline detect works much like it does in Safari or TextEdit — strike Command - F , and you ’ll be able-bodied to search the body text of a substance . Selective notifications allow you to choose what messages show up in Notification Center — useful if you do n’t want to have your screen blink of an eye every time you get a spam message .
With Mountain Lion , Mail gets a VIP feature that alerts you when message get from selected contacts and an inline feel capability .
SoiChat is becoming Messages . Does that intend I ’ll be able to send content to people with an iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad from my Mac ? How will that knead ?
Messages replaces iChat in Mountain Lion .
Yes , you’re able to expend Messages to chat with multitude between Macs and iOS devices — iMessages are Internet - based , and thus can be sent between two devices execute the Messages app . If you have contacts you iMessage but do n’t IM , you ’ll need to type in their phone numeral or email addresses manually , or bestow them to a brother list anyway — just as you would in iChat . If you utilise message to send iMessages and your iPhone and/or iPad are nearby , you ’ll receive your reply on all your devices , along with your Mac .
Can I still screen part , host video recording conferences , and use iChat Theater ?
you may , though that functionality requires an AIM news report , rather than an iMessage one . Video chatting can be done on AIM traditionally , or you’re able to launch the FaceTime app through an embedded button in the chat window .
What happens to FaceTime ?
FaceTime is still there . FaceTime academic term take place within the FaceTime app on the Mac . Though Messages extend desegregation with FaceTime — you may kick off a FaceTime session from within the Messages windowpane — it does n’t actually do the FaceTime part itself . That ’s still a separate app . ( Other television confab and covert sharing still happen within Messages , as they did before when it was called iChat . )
Does Messages for Mac have a background signal hearer for messages ? Or must I have it open so as to receive messages ?
Yes , notice for iMessages will arrive even if Mesages is n’t currently running . If you have Messages in your Dock , the app ’s icon will also exhibit a cherry badge alert with the number of messages you ’ve miss .
Are there any notable divergence between Notes on iOS and on Mountain Lion ?
Notestranslates pretty closelybetween the two operating systems : you’re able to display and edit out single notes , view a leaning of all your government note , or , if you have multiple accounts , you’re able to choose to view just a selection of note based on the account that created them .
Unlike note on iOS , you may use any baptismal font found on your Mac . Mountain Lion ’s rendering of the app also supports rich textbook and text alignment .
What ’s up with Photo Booth and QuickTime ?
Both get new Share option .
So Preview gets a newfangled toolbar ? Did it suffer any features ?
Preview gets a thin interface redesign , and win two lineament : form stimulus and iBooks - elan annotations .
How similar is the Reminders app in Mountain Lion to its iOS twin ? Do reminders work the same ?
reminder in Mountain Lionretains the same look and palpate as the Io app . regrettably , you ca n’t create share lean within either app — you’ll haveto visit iCloud.com to do so .
Anything new with Safari ?
Yes . Safari has a redesigned toolbar in Mountain Lion . The consecrated lookup loge is gone . alternatively , if you want to search , you just type your search question in the URL barroom . Safari will be smart enough to know you ’re trying to search instead of entering a Web speech . you’re able to search in - varlet , for your search locomotive ’s top result , and through your bookmarks and history . The toolbar ’s URL display has been simplified , too , cutting off the “ http:// ” part and highlighting the domain name in heavy textual matter than the rest of the uniform resource locator .
The Safari Reader toolbar button is also much larger , as combat-ready RSS supporting has been officially retired . ( If you try and view an RSS feed , it will attempt to bump you out to an external reader . ) Safari will store offline copies of your Reading List as well , so you may relish web page while on a airplane or in a Faraday John Milton Cage Jr. . Safari also seduce a raw Passwords superman in the Preferences window ; it behaves a bit like a miniature Keychain Access , restrain to your logins for websites .
to boot , Safari has the power to show you tabs open on your other Macs by clicking the iCloud Tabs clit in the toolbar . When iOS 6 pluck out this fall , you ’ll be able to view your open chit on your Io machine as well .
Can I set my search locomotive engine to anything I want ?
No , you ’re limited to Google , Yahoo , Bing , and ( if you ’re using a Mac in China ) Baidu .
Please evidence me TextEdit still exists in 10.8 ? Or was it replaced by Notes ? What about Stickies ?
TextEdit is still around . So is Stickies . Both seem mostly unchanged . It ’s possible that Apple might down them at some tip , but it seems improbable . They both serve their function , and are decidedly dissimilar from Notes .
Is System Preferences now called setting ?
If you ’re on a Mac , the app is still promise System Preferences — but you ’re right , give that the app is called preferences on iOS , it seems like only a matter of time before the utility ’s name changes as part of Apple ’s apparent embrace of ecumenical designation .
I ’m disappointed . I hoped Mountain Lion would put in Find My friend or iBooks apps just as they brought over Reminders and Notes from iOS .
It would sure be prissy to have those apps , but do n’t get lead astray by their want of existence in the Mountain Lion announcement . On iOS , both Find My Friends and iBooks are apps release via the App Store , not bundled with the operating system . Presumably the same would be true for the Mac versions . If Apple does create iBooks for the Mac , the company would presumably free it on the Mac App Store , and not as part of Mountain Lion right .
update on June 13 , 2012 with info from the Worldwide Developers Conference . Updated extensively in late July following Mountain Lion ’s firing .
