Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

I first glance, the main (in fact only) feature seems to be porting several iOS apps and features (notes, reminders, game center, etc.) to Mac OS X, and syncing everything together with iCloud.

There is also a Growl clone. Surprised this took so long. Then again, I personally don't like Growl, so I hope nothing depends on it being turned on.

I notice that, so far, there doesn't seem to be any new 'technologies', just (mainly) ports of iOS apps.

Looks very ho hum to me, but then again I have an android phone, so iOS syncing doesn't really interest me.

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#5

Post by latch » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:08 PM UTC

Craiggybear wrote: post #2

Already?

they are adopting a 1-year release cycle.

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#6

Post by zdw » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:09 PM UTC

Feature rundown:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/features.html

One of the more interesting bits is at the - they're supporting a bunch of China specific services.

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#7

Post by zrgiu_ » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:17 PM UTC

is there a specific reason they needed to update the entire OS for this ? Most of the new features are actually apps, and the rest wouldn't really justify a major version change.

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#8

Post by colonel_panic » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:18 PM UTC

No mention of an OpenGL update. Still waiting out this stone age here...

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#9

Post by 127001brewer » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:19 PM UTC

zdw wrote: post #6

Feature rundown: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/features.html One of the more interesting bits is at the - they're supporting a bunch of China specific services.

Very interesting. From the features list at the bottom:

*It’s a new Mac experience in China. OS X Mountain Lion brings all-new support for many popular Chinese services. And they’re easy to set up. Mail, Contacts, and Calendar work with QQ, 163, and 126. Baidu, the leading Chinese search provider, is a built-in option in Safari. The video-sharing websites Youku and Tudou are included in the new Share Sheets, so users in China can easily post videos to the web. They can also blog with Sina weibo, the popular microblogging service. And with improved text input, typing in Chinese is easier, faster, and more accurate."

Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

#10

Post by ___Calv_Dee___ » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 2:19 PM UTC

Apple, as usual, really seems to be getting it right. The feature list looks super promising as a nextstep (sorry, had to) in unifying mobile with desktop. It's nice to see that the desktop OS is not being abandoned but instead updated to better reflect a consumers preference for mobile (with good reason). Microsoft has also got it right by tying their Metro interface in Windows 8 to the Windows Phone OS. The attempt, however, falls short in that it is not really unifying the two platforms but instead providing a common interface and feel. In order to truly unite desktop with mobile, I believe you need to go beyond providing a common interface and really integrate the components so they exist to the user simultaneously instead of in parellel. This is just another verification (and in my opinion, a big one) that mobile is taking the reigns and is the future.