Steve Jobs revealed few details about Mac OS X 10.7 Lion at the "Back to the Mac" gathering on Apple's Cupertino campus late last year. but most recently the company began seeding a preview of the operating system to its developer program members, giving us a chance to see where OS X is headed before it becomes available to the general public this summer.
Between the iOS-like features we saw back in October and what we are seeing now, it's clear Apple has drawn a lot of inspiration from its popular iPhone and iPad devices, making significant changes to OS X and adding features that are focused on simplifying the overall experience for both new and longtime Mac users.
although looking at TechSpot's audience profile, Windows users overwhelmingly outnumber those using Macs, it's hard not to acknowledge Apple's influence on the whole industry and how its approach to computing could affect Microsoft's plans for Windows 8. last time we heard the next iteration of Windows is at the very least a year away from release.
on that same note, considering that OS X's last major release, Snow Leopard, was not focused on new end-user features, Mac OS X Lion appears to be a more significant release in terms of functionality, user interface and workflow improvements. We've compiled a list with several of the changes and new features disclosed so far. Read on for a quick tour of what's new.
no more PowerPC support
Snow Leopard was the first Mac operating system to not work on PowerPC machines, yet it still ran PowerPC software through Rosetta. with OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple is dropping PowerPC emulation altogether. Most modern applications have already been built to work on Intel machines, but users can determine if they're still running old PowerPC software by going into Applications -> Utilities -> System Profiler -> Applications and viewing "By Kind".
Mac OS X Lion Server
Previously sold as a separate $499 package, the operating system's server component will now be a core feature of the base OS X 10.7 Lion distribution at no extra cost. Users will be able to provision any Mac with Lion as a server through a guided setup process, enabling local and remote administration