A first look at Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

PREVIEW

Amid the fanfare of Steve Jobs' return to the stage for the WWDC 2011 conference, Apple went into plenty of detail on how the latest big-cat OS will integrate with iOS devices, mimic iOS features, work with iCloud and much more.
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, set for release next month and priced at £20.99, introduces a big shift toward centralising all your content, whether it's on your desktop, your iOS device or in the newly launched iCloud.
Many of the features in Mac OS X Lion have been made public in the past and all point toward an integration of data across multiple platforms.
More multitouch
Apple executive Philip Schiller started off talking about how multitouch gestures are the standard interface for iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads, and some gestures can already be used on Mac notebooks and Apple's Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. But with Lion, Apple says it's adding even more gestures and fine-tuning existing swipes and pinches with a much smoother, more realistic feel.
Apps go full screen
Next came full-screen apps. For a long time now, many Mac users have complained about Mac apps not having the ability to go full screen (Windows switchers are particularly aware of this). Thankfully, with OS X Lion, Mac users will now have the ability to view any app full screen, so they can get to work without all the usual distractions. To switch to a different app or return to the desktop, users can simply swipe the trackpad.
Mission Control
Mission Control is another long-awaited OS X feature that will become available with OS X Lion. With a swipe on the trackpad, users will be able to see, at a glance, everything that's running on their Mac, from apps to their associated open windows along with what's running in Spaces. With a centralised location to see everything running on their Mac, users will be able to get where they want to go immediately, without having to dig through menus, switch between Expose views or long-click Dock icons.
Mac App Store
The recently released Mac App Store, Apple seems to be continuing on the path of what the company views as a safer environment for distributing apps. Although some look at the Mac App Store and see a walled garden like the iTunes App Store, the setup does ensure that apps will work seamlessly on Apple's devices. Schiller went into detail of how developers will be able to take advantage of several new features to make their task easier.
LaunchPad
LaunchPad is another new feature coming in Mac OS X Lion, letting Mac desktop and notebook users quickly launch apps just like they would using an iOS device. Along with the quick access afforded by the grid-like app layout, users will be able to create folders for better organisation, and when they buy apps at the Mac App Store, those apps will automatically show up on LaunchPad.
File management
Next, Schiller showed how file management will be easier in Mac OS X Lion thanks to a few new features that help users save their work, track previous changes and pick up where they left off after a shutdown. With Versions and new auto-saving features, Lion automatically creates a version each time users open it and every hour they work on it. Just like the interface in Time Machine, users will be able to cycle back through versions if they just want to retrieve a previously deleted item, for example. They can then cut and paste work from an earlier version of their document to the current version.
Resume
Mac OS X Lion's new Resume feature lets users get back to where they left off after a shutdown or restart, bringing them back to exactly where they were when they closed out. This means they won't need to reopen all their apps and set everything up after a restart — all will be ready right from where they left off. A demo showed how quitting an app doesn't prompt you with a save dialogue because Lion has not only auto-saved your work, but also will save all your settings and how each window was laid out in the app.
AirDrop
Next up was AirDrop. Schiller showed how using AirDrop will let you drag and drop documents to nearby users. Simply open the peer-to-peer Wi-Fi-based network, drag the document to your chosen user and AirDrop automatically saves it to that user's Downloads folder.
Mail 5
Apple's Mail program will receive a facelift as well, using much the same layout found on the iPad's Mail app. Now with Mail 5, users will be able to quickly browse through messages on the left and get a full-screen preview of every email on the right. The addition of a new Mailbox bar will let users quickly access the most-used mail folders, letting them get where they want to go quickly. Schiller demonstrated the improved searching in Mail 5, showing how the app automatically gives you contacts and content from actual emails via the drop-down so you can find what you want quickly.
Mail 5 also offers a new conversation view, much like an organisation system found in the latest versions of Microsoft Outlook. With Conversation view, users will be able to group an entire thread of emails by conversation so they can quickly get to everything said about a subject. From there they can either save or delete entire conversations with only a couple of clicks. You can also drag-and-drop entire conversations to your favourites bar in Mail.
Lion will only be available in the Mac App Store and will be 4GB in size. It installs right in place, and when you purchase it, you can use it on all your authorised Macs. Mac OS X Lion will retail for £20.99.

Steve Jobs Announces Apple iCloud Service, Gets Ovation for Appearing

 
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today appeared at a software developers' conference in San Francisco to introduce a new operating system called Lion and a wireless service called iCloud, but his mere presence at the event dwarfed the announcement itself.
After several years of stories about his failing health and the self-imposed medical leave of absence he announced earlier this year, he got a standing ovation just for being there.
"We love you," shouted someone in the crowd.
"I appreciate it very much," Jobs answered.
Jobs, the mastermind behind the iPad, iPod, iPhone, iTunes and so much more of the iconic company's identity, has become such a looming figure in popular technology that you'd think he invented the apple, not just headed the company.
People emailing or Tweeting from the conference said he looked gaunt, though
Jobs "looks extremely thin," ABC News correspondent Neil Karlinsky wrote in email from the audience, but added, "He's walking steadily and seems to have energy."
Macrumorslive.com, a website that covers Apple full-time, commented, "Steve sounds... exasperated. Weirdly quiet and not as energetic."
Jobs didn't stay long, commanding the stage for approximately 3 minutes. "Today we're going to talk about software," he said, before handing off to Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing.
Schiller and colleagues showed how the Lion operating system, on a properly-equipped computer, could offer the same kind of touch-to-activate features one finds on the iPad tablet. He said it offers 250 new features.
Jobs returned to the stage to introduce iCloud, a service he said would make it possible for users to access photos, music, documents and other content at any time from any device. He demonstrated how photos taken with an iPhone were visible on a user's iPad moments later.
ICloud, which will be free initially, replaces an earlier Apple service, MobileMe, which Jobs called "not our finest hour."
Many users of Apple devices had been frustrated that if, for example, they bought a piece of music from Apple's iTunes store, they were limited in how many places they could store it -- and in trouble if their iPod or MacBook computer broke down or was lost. The iCloud, Apple said, will solve such issues.
The service will integrate what you can get on different Apple devices, the company said. If you've been reading a book on an iPad, Jobs said, you can open it on an iPhone -- and the bookmark to show your place will open with it.
Personal photos, the company said, will not be kept permanently on Internet servers. After 30 days they will need to be downloaded to one's own devices, because they consume large amounts of computer memory.
Jobs Reappears from Medical Leave
Immediate reaction to the new offerings was positive, but many in the crowd of 5,200 were still reacting to Jobs himself, who wore a trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans.

Live Blogging Apple’s iCloud Announcement

 
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is set to open here today at the Moscone Center West. The highlight will be the keynote address, by Steven P. Jobs, the company’s chief executive. The conference is the yearly gathering for the companies that develop applications for Apple’s products. In an unusual preview, Apple has already announced that it will unveil new versions of the operating systems that run its computers, smartphones and tablets, as well as a new Internet service, iCloud. The company has given few other details. But analysts say the service will allow people to listen to their music — and possibly gain access to photos, videos and other media — over the Internet on Apple devices, without keeping actual copies of those files on each device, and without syncing.
I’ll be chronicling the events here as they happen, with contributions from John Markoff, veteran technology reporter. We’d like to hear any and all questions from readers, and will try to answer them in our coverage.
Mr. Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, is expected on stage at 10 a.m. local time, 1 p.m. Eastern time. So stay tuned for updates.

Apple's plans for Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 -- and iCloud

 
At 10 a.m. Pacific time today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take center stage at the company's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) to unveil the forthcoming iOS 5 operating system that powers its iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches; to provide more detail on the new Mac OS X Lion expected to ship this summer; and to reveal what the new iCloud service is all about.
InfoWorld.com will cover Jobs's WWDC keynote live, so please return to this article to get the details as they unfold and the whole story once Jobs has finished his presentation.
[ Follow the key Mac, iOS, and other Apple developments with InfoWorld's Technology: Apple newsletter. | Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. ]
One interesting rumor is that Apple has chosen to detail Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud all at once because there will be enhanced or new synchronization and integration among the three services, in which Macs and iOS devices could function more as aspects of a person's total computing system rather than as separate devices that the same person happens to use.
The next Mac OS X: LionJobs has aleady detailed many of Mac OS X Lion's expected features in a preview made last October, and the company has posted more details on its website. Among Lion's key new capabilities of interest to business users are whole-disk encryption for both the startup and external disks, a new wipe capability for all data, full-screen applications, a new capability app developers can use so that documents autosave intermediate versions within them and that automatically locks documents from unintential saves after two weeks of nonuse, a revamped Mail client that offers enhanced message threading, the ability to open applications and their documents where you left off when you restart the Mac, support for more iOS-style gestures, and a new navigation tool for applications and documents.
Mac OS X Lion Server is also to be made an optional install of Mac OS X Lion, no longer a separate product. Furthermore, Lion Server will add the ability to create configuration profiles for both Macs and iOS devices that can be delivered to users over the air.
Apple has said that Lion will ship "this summer," but has not yet specified a release date.
The next iOS: 5Almost nothing is known about the forthcoming iOS 5, as Apple has been very tight-lipped about what it might offer or when it might ship. Speculation in the blogosphere has been consistent that the new iOS won't ship until fall, when an update to the iPhone 4 is also expected. But speculation as to what iOS 5 might offer has been all over the map, with the most persistent reports (wish lists?) that it would enable over-the-air OS updates rather than require updating via iTunes on a PC or Mac and that it might support at least some Android-style widgets on the home screen.