Berlin - Experienced Macintosh users are already used to it - every two years Apple updates its Mac OS X operating system. But whereas the Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009 was really just a maintenance update without any spectacular changes, the company has taken a big step forward with Mac Lion.
Apple based their new system on some of the ideas from the successful iOS mobile system from the iPad. Similarly to the iPad, Mac users can now navigate with a series of gestures. The new operating system also adopted the iOS methods for easy saving of files and dealing with emails. The German Press Agency dpa took a look at the new operating system.
Apple took a new approach starting straight away with the installation of the system onto a Mac with the previous OS Snow Leopard. The new Lion system can be purchased for just under 24 euro (34 dollars) in the Mac Apple Store. Apple allows installation onto as many Macs as desired in one household. Those who do not have a broadband internet connection to comfortably download the 3.6 GB file can purchase a USB stick featuring the Lion OS from Apple for 59 euro.
A second major change is clear shortly after the installation as Apple has switched the scrolling direction. Until now, window contents are shifted up by pulling the scroll bar in a downward motion or pulling the scrolling wheel towards your hand. It is just the opposite with Lion - similar to the logic used with the iPad. But you get used to the new logical movements quickly. Traditionalists or users who also work with a Windows PC and do not want to continually re-think their actions between the two systems can change the settings in Lion to work in the usual manner.
Apple assumes that the mouse will play an ever decreasing role in navigating through documents and operating the entire system. Instead, users use multi-touch gestures and stroke with their fingers the MacBook's touch pad or the Magic Trackpad for desktop Macs. Many of the gestures are already known by iPad users and are very intuitive. Other gestures, such as the one to start a program selection, can be taught easily with a short video tutorial.
Owners of an iPad will recognise the new system function Launch iPad which helps quicken access to installed programs. Until now, Mac users could add a selection of their most-used applications into the Dock at the bottom of the screen and start it with just a click. The rest of the programs though had to be started in the Programs folder or called up using the Spotlight search function. With just a click of the LaunchPad symbol in the Dock, Lion fades out all operating programs and shows a screen-filling overview of all applications.
This display looks like the App overview on the iPad and can be sorted just like on the Apple tablet. Those who install a lot of programs on the Mac can easily lose their overview if they don't consequently clean house. Such users are better served by searching through Spotlight.
If you want to have a bird's eye perspective on all open windows and applications on the Mac then you can call up the Mission Control function. A row of miniature symbols appear along the top of the screen, showing the Dashboard (a page with smaller programs like a calculator or weather forecast), the desktop and all opened programs. Directly below that are all opened windows on the desktop, grouped together according to application.
The new Mac system is also based on the iPad's successful handling of files. Until now, Mac users (just like with Windows PCs) had to save items themselves and determine where they should be saved. Once software is customized to Lion, all changes to a document are automatically saved every five minutes without the user having to do anything. The system saves only the changes to the document instead of creating extra copies.
Similarly to the Time Machine back-up system, users can browse the various versions of a document and if necessary restore or recall them. If you would like to use a document as a template you can create a copy of the original with the function Duplicate.
With Lion, Apple is making a big jump away from the era of PowerPC chips. After switching to Intel's x86 processor, the developers built into the Mac OS X the Rosetta function which allows Intel computers to run programs which are actually written for PowerPC architecture. You will not find the Rosetta setting in Lion, so older PowerPC software cannot be started.
Therefore, users should check before installing Lion which programs will no longer run on their Mac. In most cases, it's enough just to update the application. For some, however, it may take longer for the manufacturers of the application software to customize their programs to the new system.
Even Macintosh users not worrying about old Rosetta programs should allow for a grace period of a couple of weeks. There are still a few errors in the brand new version of Mac OS X Lion. The Apple browser Safari was much slower during our test than before the upgrade - also in comparison to the competing browsers from Firefox and Chrome. Mac users, however, can expect Apple to work out these bugs in the near future with the first update.
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