Apple OS X Lion Roars Onto Mac App Store

Apple’s OS X Lion, with more than 250 new features, arrives in the Mac App Store this morning for a $30 purchase fee. Obviously, Apple is excited about their product, stating, “People have been doing the same things on computers for years. Clicking. Scrolling. Installing. Saving. With OS X Lion, we’ve challenged the accepted way of doing things by introducing new features that change the way you use a computer.”

With increased multi-touch gestures and a simpler interface, Apple is trying to bridge the gap between the successful iPhone iOS interface and its desktop operating system. Familiar gestures like tap-to-zoom and swipe-to-navigate have found themselves more integrated into OS X, while interfaces more similar to iOS’s app layout have popped up in OS X’s Launchpad. These will be ultra-handy with a MacBook with a trackpad, or with Apple’s Magic Trackpad accessory.

Launchpad for OS X Lion allows for quick app selection.

Additionally, as is their usual MO, Apple is trying to take the over-thinking out of computers and simply Let Them Work. With new features like Resume, Versions and Autosave, Apple allows users to work the way they want to without having to remember where files are, (apps reopen right where you left off), when to save them (your Mac automatically saves what you’re working on so you don’t have to), or what revision was the best (display a document’s versions side by side in an easily browsable timeline).

Personally, I’m looking forward to the revised Mail app. A ton of new features for this app alone mean a smoother interface, a stronger workflow and an easier approach. As someone who uses their Mail inbox as a “to-do” list, anything that makes Mail better and easier is A-OK in my book.

Further, Lion’s new purchase model changes the way Apple approaches software. From the success of its iOS AppStore to its mostly-successful Mac AppStore, Apple brings operating systems to the cloud, purposefully making the download of the OS an easy-to-do-at-home thing and reinforcing their It Just Works approach.

Apple has posted instructions on how to update your OS; you need Snow Leopard to run the update, because you also need Mac’s AppStore installed. It is also suggested you install today’s Migration Assistant update (found in Snow Leopard’s Software Update). Your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor to run Lion. Find out if your current Mac has one of these processors by clicking the Apple icon at the top left of your screen,  and then choose About This Mac.

No worries about multiple purchases. When you download Lion from the Mac App Store, you can install it on all your authorized Mac computers. Just sign in to the Mac App Store from each Mac and download Lion from the Purchases list.

Look for another post soon with our thoughts on the update and migration process. Until then, we’d love to know what you think of Apple’s OS X Lion in the comments section.