What is Mac OS X 10.7 Lion? It is Apple’s newest operating system in development. Our friends at lifehacker.com got a hold of the 10.7 Lion beta. Some features have been showed, but it may just be the start of the 10.7 Lion since it is only a beta version. 10.7 Lion now has full disk encryption. It is more secure than its current implementation. Once you install the OS X it asks you if oyu would like to encrypt the disk, which is one of the only ways to keep an SSD secure. Apple is starting to push the SSD usage, so it’s great that Apple is trying to make us feel more secure. AirDrop is a new feature in the finder that makes it easier to share files between computers. First, you open up Finder and see all the nearby computers with AirDrop enabled. You can send them files by dragging them onto their icon. AirDrop will create an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network between the two computers and transfer the files for you. Just like in Time Machine, there’s a new feature called the built-in version control which lets you roll back to previous versions of a file. Every time you save a document, it saves a new version of it. Closing the lid of your laptop is always an uncertainty. Will your documents be saved? 10.7 Lion has a feature called session saving. If you’re using a MacBook, this doesn’t really apply to you, but for desktop users it is. When you shut down your computer, you have the choice of having all your documents and such stay the same when your start the computer up again. It will resume the same state in which you left it in.
The interface has changed, and it is a bit different then what you would expect from OS X. Apple is sticking with the monochrome icons they use in iTunes 10, but it isn’t that big of shock right off the bat. When you start to use the desktop features, you will notice some pretty big changes. There is finally an iOS-style application launcher. You can still browse applications in the Finder, but if you hit the Launchpad icon in your dock, it presents it in a better way. It is full screen which you can fit more apps on the screen and do less scrolling which is a hassle. Nothing big has really changed with the Launchpad which means you don’t have to get excited about that. Misson control is ExposeÌ, Spaces and Dashboard which is actually a nice improvement. Instead of spreading out all your windows, ExposeÌ separates them by application, which makes it a bit less overwhelming when you have a lot of apps open at once. Your spaces are displayed at the top of the screen, you can drag windows to and from spaces easily form this view. The dashboard hasn’t changed so nothing to worry about. The new version of Mail looks much more like the iPad app than the old version of Mail which makes it a bit easier to view your messages. Threading support still isn’t great, but it’s nice! I like the full screen apps which Lion focuses on. It’s great so that you can flip through certain PDF images and focus on one certain image. I would expect this on the iPad, but on a desktop of laptop, it’s kind of unexpected and useless.
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