Apple OS X (10.8) Mountain Lion will be available for download this summer (2012), with the Developer Preview unleashed yesterday. And those keyboard surfers have revealed an OS that looks like it’ll be bringing iCloud and the best of iOS to your Mac.
New features in OS X Mountain Lion include Messages (similar to iPhone), Notes, Reminders and Game Center on your Mac. There will also be a Notification Center, Share Sheets (making it easier to post photos and videos), Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring. There’s even a security tool called Gatekeeper that protects your software from viruses and helps you control what apps make it on your keep list. Paranoid for once, Apple?
Mountain Lion arrives sporting over 100 new features in total – all of which make your MacBook that much more like your iPad and iPhone. A Game Kit API that lets developers create multiplayer games across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch sure makes it look like the beginning of the end for separate operating systems on different Apple devices.
News of Mountain Lion's arrival comes amid rumours of Android Jelly Bean and Windows 8 landing this summer. Google and Microsoft are aiming to synergise the operating systems of mobiles, tablets and computers – and it looks like Apple is aiming to do the same thing, especially with its impending MacBook overhaul. This could be a very pasty summer spent indoors.
One more thing. Did you notice Apple has dropped the Mac from its OS title? Just another piece of evidence to support the one-OS-to-rule-all theory.
