Just like the last few versions of Apple's laptop-and-desktop operating system, OS X Mountain Lion ($19.99) came out of the gate this morning as the best consumer operating system there is.
At first glance, Mountain Lion looks like an identical twin of its predecessor, OS X Lion. Upgraders from Lion will face an almost flat learning curve, because almost every feature they've learned to use works in almost exactly the same way as before. But Mountain Lion unobtrusively slots in dozens of new features?Apple counts two hundred of them?that enhance sharing, messaging, cloud-based synchronization, security, Web browsing, instant notifications, and accessibility.
When installed on the latest Mac hardware?recent MacBook Air models and the new MacBook Pro with Retina display?Mountain Lion even keeps working while the computer sleeps, downloading software updates, messages, mail, and much else while the laptop's lid is closed and its lights are off, so the system is up-to-date the moment it wakes up. Mountain Lion isn't perfect, but it leaves the consumer competition so far behind that you'll need to look hard for convincing reasons to use anything else.
While adding security and sharing features that make it a more powerful system for getting work done, Mountain Lion also makes some convincing advances on Windows' throne as the leading platform for playing games. The new OS makes it easy to use a Mac as a high-powered game console and media center, easily sending its screen to an HDTV connected to an Apple TV add-on box. Though Apple won't say a word about it, this "AirPlay Mirroring" feature clearly looks forward to a future TV manufactured by Apple itself.
Apple charges $19.99 to download Mountain Lion from the App Store and?for that single one-time payment?you can upgrade all your existing Macs from OS X Snow Leopard or OS X Lion. If you recently bought Mac?on or after June 11, that is?don't kick yourself: your upgrade is free. Don't bother trying to buy Mountain Lion on a disk; it only comes on a new Mac or via the App Store. If you buy a MacBook Pro with Retina display with Mountain Lion installed, be warned: you may spend so much time feasting your eyes on Mountain Lion's high-resolution desktop backgrounds that you won't get any work done. I only stopped being distracted by the gorgeous imagery when I changed my desktop background to a solid color.
A Different Approach
Compared with last year's debut of OS X Lion, what's different is that, this time, Windows 8's release is imminent (it's currently available as a Release Preview). While Mountain Lion wins as a consumer OS, it will also be extremely interesting to see just how much attention it gets from businesses, too?especially smaller businesses that wouldn't take advantage of the Windows 8 Server.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3LsmB5klNok/0,2817,2400311,00.asp
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