Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion preview

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Zyzzyva

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It's only been seven months since Apple launched Mac OS 10.7 Lion, but the company isn't sitting still: it just announced the developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, a tweaked and enhanced new version of the operating system that includes major new features like Notification Center, AirPlay mirroring, and iMessage. Yes, those are all headline iOS features as well; Mountain Lion continues Apple's cycle of using the iPhone and iPad to influence Mac development and vice versa.

Mountain Lion also represents a dramatic speedup in the pace of OS X updates: Apple says it'll be issuing yearly updates from now on. That's partially to match the breakneck pace of iOS development, but also to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Mac in general — Mac sales have outgrown the general PC market for something like six years now, and Apple says it's investing heavily in the platform to build on that trend.
Click to expand...

For a lot more:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/16/2801047/mac-os-x-10-8-mountain-lion-preview-photos-video

[video=youtube;s9gKm3Jeeeo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUddiUEpeqJcYeBxX1IVBKvQ&feature=player_detailpage&v=s9gKm3Jeeeo[/video]
 
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Official Apple demo video.

[video=youtube;DoR08T26IPU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DoR08T26IPU[/video]
 
Interesting that they are changing to a yearly release cycle. So a new IOS and OSX once a year from now on.
 
The iMessenger integration seems interesting...but until they release it to other OS its usefulness will be limited
 
I wonder... -- to align with iOS they have stripped Mac from OSX, integrated many of the iOS common apps (incl. Messages, Notes, Reminders, Gamecenter, ...) and they have agreed to align the release roadmaps i.e. new product every year.

What I wonder... is whether they will align the price with iOS i.e. all new releases are free -- I can't see how else the users of OS X would be willing to stay on the latest yearly OS; $29 is not a lot, but if this cost comes every year then I suspect there would be some level of anarchy. My bet is that Apple will make this free.

My biggest hopes for OSX Mountain Lion is that they:
  • fix the multiple screen crap (that was created in OSX Lion) and integrate the improvements with mission control (simplify the move of apps not only between spaces but also monitors)
  • fix the restore function i.e. frustratingly opening files when apps are opened or the computer is rebooted.
  • allow corporate or private iCloud type services; for example via their OSX server product.
  • alignment of the SDK kits of iOS and OSX i.e. new functionality to be released simultaneously, and backward integration of common SDK elements.
  • delta upgrades and patches (i.e. Mb instead of ~4 Gigabytes)
 
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[)roi(];7747931 said:
I wonder... -- to align with iOS they have stripped Mac from OSX, integrated many of the iOS common apps (incl. Messages, Notes, Reminders, Gamecenter, ...) and they have agreed to align the release roadmaps i.e. new product every year.

What I wonder... is whether they will align the price with iOS i.e. all new releases are free -- I can't see how else the users of OS X would be willing to stay on the latest yearly OS; $29 is not a lot, but if this cost comes every year then I suspect there would be some level of anarchy. My bet is that Apple will make this free.

My biggest hopes for OSX Mountain Lion is that they:
  • fix the multiple screen crap (that was created in OSX Lion) and integrate the improvements with mission control (simplify the move of apps not only between spaces but also monitors)
  • fix the restore function i.e. frustratingly opening files when apps are opened or the computer is rebooted.
  • allow corporate or private iCloud type services; for example via their OSX server product.
  • alignment of the SDK kits of iOS and OSX i.e. new functionality to be released simultaneously, and backward integration of common SDK elements.
  • delta upgrades and patches.
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing. Free would certainly be quite a blow to microsoft, atleast in the sense that they will have to lower the pricing of windows somewhat. 120 dollars every few years will be quite a tough sell when OSX is totally free and updated yearly. But of course a major advantage of free is that most users will upgrade to each new version, which means devs can code without worrying too much about compatibility, which of course means the ecosystem will move forward faster.

All this reminds me of what just happened with firefox. I suspect microsoft is going to be pressured into changing to a quicker mobile-esque release cycle(windows 8 is essentially a tablet/mobile OS), with each update selling for a much lower price. Not having hardware profits paying for the cheap OS is a bitch.

Achieving all that when they have the whole enterprise noose around their necks will be interesting to say the least. They will probably need to completely split the OS.

I wonder what windows 8 is going to cost?
 
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I'm looking forward to this.. I hope it will be solid too like snow leopard, leopard was crappy but SL fixed that, hope it's the same with ML.
 
Zyzzyva said:
I was wondering the same thing. Free would certainly be quite a blow to microsoft, atleast in the sense that they will have to lower the pricing of windows somewhat. 120 dollars every few years will be quite a tough sell when OSX is totally free and updated yearly. But of course a major advantage of free is that most users will upgrade to each new version, which means devs can code without worrying too much about compatibility, which of course means the ecosystem will move forward faster.

All this reminds me of what just happened with firefox. I suspect microsoft is going to be pressured into changing to a quicker mobile-esque release cycle(windows 8 is essentially a tablet/mobile OS), with each update selling for a much lower price. Not having the hardware profits paying for the cheap OS is a problem. Achieving that when they have the whole enterprise noose around their necks will be interesting to say the least. They will probably need to completely split the OS.

I wonder what windows 8 is going to cost?
Click to expand...

Microsoft has a tough time ahead with not only software challenges, but also revenue. I.e. it's makes money from software; whereas Apple and Google make money from Hardware and Search respectively so they can afford to market their software for free.

As you said free ensures that the maximum number of users will stay on the latest version, so ensuring that the platform's diversity is continually driven forward.

Google has its challenges in that although free, Android comes at an integration cost to the hardware vendors and this cost is currently being absorbed (the more they diversify with their device range, the higher the costs); which I believe in many cases will underpin their reluctance to keep all but their sales determined flagship devices synced to the newest release.

Microsoft's situation is even worse than Google's I.e. all their revenue is generated from Software -- so moving the platform forward comes not only at a cost of OS (i.e. Microsoft's revenue), but also of integration (by the hardware manufacturers and/or Microsoft) -- either way the hardware vendors won't want to carry this cost, and the end users will probably start asking questions like:
  • Does Microsoft's software features justify the additional cost?
  • What is the real cost of staying with a Microsoft platform over the life of the hardware, considering Apple and Google are free?

Without a doubt Microsoft has a tough road ahead, it's primary differentiation feature is getting smaller and smaller as time moves on (I.e. that of being the platform with the most applications) -- many of the apps that were in the past PC only, now exist either on portable devices (smartphones and tablets) or have been ported to OSX.

So more than the price, I am really interested to see how Microsoft will compete in a space currently dominated by free software and updates.
 
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Well its not like everyone didnt see this coming from a mile away.

Their immediate saving grace is that android on tablet is still a bit of a dogs breakfast, which means app wise they should get to second place quite quickly considering the amount of devs who will be forced to build for metro on the desktop. Their hope is that they can convert millions of existing windows desktop users to metro, which should then convert to windows phone and tablet sales once windows 9 comes out running on all three.

But ja, its a tough position to be in. Not having a hardware business is going to prove to be a problem unless they can convert million of people to faithful metro lovers. Its going to be a tough sell. They are really betting the farm on people liking metro.

If it doesnt work, well, mac sales will spike.
 
I agree re the Android tablet failure, but given Google's tenacity I don't believe it will stay that way for too long.

Maybe one solution for Microsoft is to buy Nokia or other and try to emulate Apple, otherwise I'm not sure how in the long run their OS revenue model could be sustainable.

I think Mac sales are spiking re quality and spin off from iOS devices (I doubt that trend will change). I also think Microsoft's approach of incorporating both UIs should hopefully ease the Metro adoption. Either way I'm really interested to see where things go from here.
 
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