Version 10.7 Lion
Mac OS X Lion is the eighth major release of Mac OS X, released on July 20, 2011, Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. A preview of Lion was publicly unveiled at the “Back to the Mac” Apple Special Event on October 20, 2010. It brings many developments made in Apple’s iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications, to the Mac, and includes support for the Mac App Store.
Mac OS X Lion brought developments made in Apple’s iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications (Launchpad) and (a greater use of) multi-touch gestures, to the Mac. This release removed Rosetta, making it incapable of running PowerPC applications. It dropped support for 32-bit Intel processors.
Changes made to the GUI (Graphical User Interface) include the Launchpad (similar to the home screen of iOS devices), auto-hiding scrollbars that only appear when they are being used, and Mission Control, which unifies Exposé, Spaces, Dashboard, and full-screen applications within a single interface. Apple also made changes to applications: they resume in the same state as they were before they were closed (similar to iOS).
Version 10.8 Mountain Lion
OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of OS X (formerly Mac OS X), Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012 for purchase and download through Apple’s Mac App Store, as part of a switch to releasing OS X versions online and every year. Named to signify its status as a refinement of the previous OS X version, Lion, Apple’s stated aims in developing Mountain Lion were to allow users to more easily manage and synchronise content between multiple Apple devices and to make the operating system more familiar.
The operating system gained the new malware-blocking system Gatekeeper and integration with Apple’s online Game Center and iCloud services, while the Safari web browser was updated to version 6. As on iOS, Notes and Reminders became full applications, separate from Mail and Calendar, while the OS X iChat application was replaced with a version of iOS’s Messages. Mountain Lion also added a version of iOS’s Notification Center, which groups updates from different applications in one place. Integrated links allowing the user to rapidly transfer content to Twitter were present in the operating system from launch. Facebook integration was also planned but unfinished at launch date, and released as a downloadable update later.
OS X Mountain Lion received positive reviews, with critics praising Notification Center, Messages, and speed improvements over Mac OS X Lion, while criticising iCloud for unreliability and Game Center for lack of games. Mountain Lion sold three million units in the first four days, and has sold 28 million units as of June 10, 2013, making it Apple’s most popular Mac OS release.
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