Mac OS Lion 10.7 review.

First of all some Background. It occurs to me that the changs in this OS are significant.

What is an OS (operating system)

We really don’t need an OS as we have come to know it! An OS is merely a platform from which to launch vertical products (or apps that are specifically designed for the OS and do a specific function). Having said that this review is based on what has transpired over the last say 20 years of OS and what we have today.

Many people are becoming more familiar with the mobile OS’s like iOS and Android. They set the new standard of OS’s, in that they really don’t feel like an OS, rather they feel more like launch pads (and that is where we need to be).

The mobile OS is the preview of the modern desktop OS and Lion from Apple begins to do that. Lion feels like iOS, it’s easier to get to where you want go without having to know where to go. As intuitive as the mobile OS has evolved so to has Lion.

Apple has taken the opposite path that Microsoft took in developing the OS. Apple held there SDK(software developer kit, that enables developers to create apps that run on that OS), very close to the chest licensing only a handful of developers. Microsoft on the other hand gave it away to anyone with a garage and a toaster. What you got was huge adoption of development on the Windows platform and not so much on the Apple side. One company controlled the quality of how it ran, the other let the developer world have the say. The results are good and bad for both companies, with Apple always being known as the “easy to use” OS and the Windows the one that became the target of maliciousness. Windows still wins for installed base as a result, but metrics are varied and seem to change everyday. let’s get back to the OS.

There are over 250 updates and new introductions but I’ll focus on a handful here.

1. Gestures. To get the most out of Lion you’ll need a trackpad, or laptop to get the full experience.
   1. Window/Space swiping left and right. So easy to use and is based on natural movement across the trackpad. Once you start to use this, you will not want to go back.
      1. Three finger swipe up reveals the current space and all the spaces available at the top. Great overview of your whole workfolow
      2. Three fingers swipe down gives you an expose of all the windows open on that desktop.
2. Safari Back and Forward swiping. This little trick in Safari is a great way to “peek” at the page you were just at, simple 2 finger drag right or left reveals a live look at those pages, very handy feature.
3. Spaces and Expose
   1. Now makes great use of the each as a combined element.
   2. You can add extra spaces easily when in this mode.
   3. Workflows can be assigned to desktops and or clients can each have their own desktops complete with apps.
   4. Personally this is critical to my workflow. Everything is quickly accessible and open.
4. Email
   1. Seems a complete rewrite of Apple mail. Much better handling of threaded conversations, like no other program in fact.
   2. The cost of the Lion upgrade is easily realized in this upgrade alone.

That is a small overview of the new Lion, for me it’s 10 out of 10 for an upgrade and the best desktop experience I have ever had. My workflows are less cumbersome and aggravating. I am really looking forward to taking advantage of the iCloud services as they come on line.

Buy this upgrade, but check and make sure your current apps are going to transition. Accept the small changes in process and welcome them as a chance to “stretch” your briain. Have fun.