Guess what we got our hands on in the NDTV Gadgets lab - a developer beta
version of the Mac OSX Lion. Apple is expected to launch the Lion on July 14.
To be clear, the dev build we encountered will more or less have the same
feature set as the launched version but, in terms of performance, we expect a
gigantic boost on the final build.
Our test bed was the top of the line 2011
iMac running the latest Sandy bridge i7 processor along with 16 GB of RAM and 2
GB AMD Radeon graphics. Admittedly, this is not a stock iMac configuration as it
has been specifically customized for audio production purposes but, nonetheless,
we believe this is the ideal test environment for the Operating System (OS) as
we provided it with the best possible hardware Apple currently offers in the
market.
Cosmetically, the Operating System looks exactly like the current
Snow Leopard build but Apple has been developing this OS for sometime, so after
considerable use we found there were numerous under-the-hood upgrades.
Apple
claims the new OS has more than 250 new features, but that we will save those
for the final review once we get our hands on the final build. In the mean time,
the focus is on ten primary functionalities of the new
OS.
INSTALLATION: Apple has cut the cord with the CD medium as they do
not offer a retail version of the OS. Now it is only available as a 1.6 gigabyte
download on the Mac apps store. Our developer version was already loaded on an
external hard drive so we did not go through the painful 1.6 GB download. One
thing is for sure, we have never witnessed an OS install itself this fast. We
were up and running in less than 40 minutes and the whole experience is quite
painless.
USER INTERFACE: At first glance, Apple doesn't seem to have
rehashed the user interface at all but look closer and the differences are right
there. Firstly, the dots appearing below the apps in the dock have disappeared.
In all honesty, we can't figure out why Apple took the trouble to do this as it
serves no real purpose, except perhaps to give the UI a cleaner look. The dots
were indicators for all running apps and were also used to tell us if an app was
in the process of launching or not. If Apple has such omitted this functionality
in the final build, it will be thoroughly missed.
Besides this, Apple has
added tons of new animations and, while scrolling, we felt as if our mouse had
been pumped with nitrous. Clearly, Apple has implemented the momentum based
scrolling which is associated with the iOS, powering the iPhone, iPod touch and
iPad.
Another noteworthy UI tweak is that Apple has completely eliminated the
scroll bars down the sides of the OS. This gives the UI a sense of more space.
This has been done so as users can scroll with twin finger swipes via a magic
mouse or a track-pad on a Mac. When one swipes the scroll, the bar magically
pops up on the side. Very nifty indeed.
GESTURES: With Mac OSX Lion
Apple has really pushed gestures to the fore enabling a more touch screen like
experience with the speed and fluidity of a keyboard. We get gestures for each
and every conceivable task. Inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom, pinch to open
Launch Pad, swipes for Mission Control, spread gestures to open the desktop and
many more - in all, we get the whole nine yards.
The experience is very
iOS-ish and people who rely on keyboard short cuts will take their sweet time
adapting to the gestures on the TrackPad but once the transition is over
awesomeness is guaranteed.
FINDER: The Finder too gets an update. We
see a number of icons popping up here. Notably All My Files and Airdrop . All My
Files basically provides a stacked view of all content that exists on the
machine and arranges it in accordance to the file types. Airdrop is Apple's new
Wi-Fi data transfer functionality. We could not test this functionality, as we
needed an Airdrop compatible device.
SECURITY: After the embarrassing
Mac Defender Malware security breach, Apple has stepped up the security on OSX
Lion. A revamped disk encryption system has been added.
One can now also
enable or disable location based services. We are just scratching the surface
with the security enhancements. We will have more in the final
review.
VERSIONS: Versions allows users to reboot a particular file
and walk through the various edited versions of it. For instance if we edited a
Word document on the 1st July and then re-edited on the 2nd and 3rd we could
walk through all the various edit cycles of the document.
LAUNCHPAD:
LaunchPad was one of the most heavily promoted features of Mac OSX. Its
intention was to give users an iOS like interface for scrolling applications on
the Mac. We believe it serves its purpose and even emulates all the
rubberband-like animations from the iOS, but the question is why would one use
this when one could have more than ten critical applications on the dock? This
might be an attempt to emulate Windows where one can have application shortcuts
on the desktop. This is a slick way of accessing one's apps but, then again, Mac
OS X already provides a dock which is equally convenient if not more. How many
options do we need, Apple?
MISSION CONTROL: So Apple provides us with
multiple ways of accessing our apps - we have the dashboard filled with widgets
and have multiple files running in different spaces. What do we do? Expose would
be a good guess, right? Apple begs to differ. Enter Mission Control, which is
essentially Expose on steroids providing access to spaces, desktops and
dashboard apart from all the running apps. This is a welcome addition and will
definitely simplify our workflow.
For those who do not not know Expose is a click preview functionality baked
into Mac OSX. It cleverly shows previews of all open windows on the screen. With
Mission control Expose functionality take a giant leap.
AUTO SAVE AND
RESUME: We all know that in the iOS we do not need to save files, they are
saved automatically. Now, Apple brings the same simplistic functionality to
Lion.
Another interesting ability Lion has is the resume functionality, which
basically allows users to start their machines with all their previous apps in
an open state. Users generally don't shut down their machines as it takes a long
time loading apps and now Apple has provided a slick solution.
APPS:
Apart from all the smart improvements, Apple has revamped the apps which come
preloaded on Lion. For starters, all apps are full-screen. So we get to utilize
the full spectrum of the display unobstructed.
Besides this Mail, Safari,
iCal and Address Book get upgrades. When we mean upgrades we mean iOS style
upgrades.
Obviously Mail gets the heftier upgrade with its interface
mimicking iOS style dual panes and also a conversation style message scroller
similar to the iPhone. Address Book now looks a lot like the iPad Address Book
with it having dual panes and better contact organization options.
On the
whole, Mac OSX Lion feels like an incremental upgrade but then again Apple has
shorter upgrade cycles than those of Microsoft's so updates do seem more
evolutionary than revolutionary. But one thing is clear, Apple has made Lion a
simpler operating system and will quickly become the object of the affections of
those who love iOS for its simplicity.
View the original article here
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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