Today at the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple took the wraps off its upcoming operating system, Mac OS X Lion. Senior VP of worldwide product marketing for Apple, Phil Schiller, boasted that the new OS will bring over 250 new features. Of course, he only had time to run through a couple of them. Here are the hottest new gems coming to Apple's next-gen OS.
Price & Availability
Mac OS X Will be available in July from the Mac App Store for $29
Multitouch Gestures
Apple's been putting multitouch touchpads on their laptops for sometime now. Mac OS X Lion will finally bring next-level mulit-touch functionality to the desktop. You can now tap or pinch to zoom into a picture, swipe to change programs, and and easily scroll through a document or webpage the way you would on your iPhone.
Mission Control
Combines Expose and Places to give users a single place to easily view multiple open apps at once. Those of you that accumulate a number of program windows throughout the workday, this is going to make your lives a lot easier.
New Mail App
Lion's Mail App looks a lot like the Mail App in iOS, but this one comes with a tricked-out new instant search feature for fast-finding, and a conversation view.
Resume
Don't you hate when you re-open a program and everything you were working on is lost? Apple does away with that age-old paradigm by introducing "Resume". Mac OS X Lion will remember everything you had going on in a particular program when you close it so you can pick up right where you left off when you re-open it. It'll even remember text or images that were highlighted.
Fullscreen apps
Safari, iPhoto (seen here), iMovie, iCal, and a raft of other apps will now be able to be viewed as a full-screen window. Making editing, reading, or writing much easier.
Versions
Like Apple's Time Machine back-up software, Versions will allow users to save multiple versions of a document and then go back and see them. Even cooler, you can seamlessly edit and swap out bits and parts from older versions of a document into a newer one.
AirDrop
Say goodbye to swapping files via Bluetooth or USB flash drive. Mac OS X will incorporate a new feature called AirDrop which will let users connected to the same Wi-Fi network instantly swap files.
Launchpad
Apple's merging of its desktop and mobile operating systems isn't only apparent in its multi-touch features, the company has changed the way you open access apps with Launchpad. Taken directly from iOS, Launchpad will let you easily access all your apps without having to sift through application folders or searching with Spotlight. Every app installed on your computer can be presented in a simple array of icons like on your iPhone. You can even make app folders like in iOS for similar apps.
