[dc8900]

As the title states! Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion preview: Notification Center, iMessage, AirPlay and more | The Verge

what's more interesting is Messages, meaning we can communicate with iMessage devices! Messages beta ready for download | Macworld and interestingly, its out for beta, meaning we can be the first guinea pigs!

EDIT: should mention that you need at least 10.7.3 to run the Messages beta

[NewfieDrool]

Looks interesting, thanks for the heads up.

[hybridtheory]

Hi

Nice one, I'll download the beta and try it out tonite.

Baz

[davemackenzie]

At this rate, It won't be long before OS11 will be out!!!
I really don't understand how they deem those few updates as a new class of OS. Most of the messaging features can be done already with 3rd party apps (Free aswell)
But then again, I'm neutral, MS for certain jobs, and Apple for certain jobs etc!

[gkpm]

Downloading Messages now! Great news that it's now all integrated.

As for the OS it looks like they're really tying up those loose ends.

[awsm]

I saw this in my twitter stream earlier and thought it was joke. Watched the preview and looks pretty good imo and pretty much what we've been expecting a tighter integration with iOS.

Official Apple preview page: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain...o-mountainlion

Makes a lot of sense as it keeps people sucked into the whole Apple economy and I imagine will encourage many people whose first Apple device is something running iOS to strongly consider a laptop/desktop as a future upgrade for the tighter integration.

Same thing can be seen happening with Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 etc.

[gkpm]

Mac display mirroring via Airplay sounds very interesting, just noticed that's going to be in too.

[dc8900]

Something else that is quite interesting, Apple have renamed Mac OS X to simply OS X, Apple officially renames Mac OS X to OS X, drops the 'Mac' | The Verge

[awsm]

Yeah I just noticed that too reading Grubers blog post: Daring Fireball: Mountain Lion

[E-com]

a few thoughts on messages, after using it for a couple of hours:

doesnt seem to sync up anything in iMessage from before installation. Anything sent from messages goes straight to the phone too, pretty swiftly, i havent checked if anything sent to the phone will send to messages without prior conversation though.

notifications: phone will buzz like crazy as it receives the notification of a message and that disappears as you read it on messages. this could get tedious.

seems good though

[RobM]

Everything about this seems fantastic, even moreso if you're an iOS user as some of the best and most useful features of iOS can now be shared and managed with your Mac computer! Reminders and Notes getting their own Apps is enough to please me, but iMessage is EXACTLY what I've been banging on about in the iPhone discussions for over a year! iChat, iMessage and Facetime in one App that works consistently across all platforms. Perfick.

It does give the impression that this is all a long time in the making and perhaps wasn't quite ready to launch with Lion.

I just hope we don't get the same stupid 'dumbing down' OSX comments that we had with Lion. This is additional functionality, it's not OSX becoming simple old iOS.

[dc8900]

Originally Posted by RobM

I just hope we don't get the same stupid 'dumbing down' OSX comments that we had with Lion. This is additional functionality, it's not OSX becoming simple old iOS.

lol, to be fair, as a member of the 'dumbing down' brigade, my issue was mainly GUI changes (I still can't stand Lauchpad or mission control) as Lion did have considerable improvements 'under the hood', as I'm sure Mountain Lion will have. Stuff like Messages etc is of course welcome as, as you say, it's an additional feature.

[Officer M107]

I'm a little unhappy after paying £29 for Lion only 7 months ago it looks like Mountain Lion is a new OS not a update and will have a price for-coming !
It better be cheap !

[dc8900]

Originally Posted by Officer M168

I'm a little unhappy after paying £29 for Lion only 7 months ago it looks like Mountain Lion is a new OS not a update and will have a price for-coming !
It better be cheap !

Apple tend to update the OS at around the 18-24 month mark, this is still a preview and they have indeed, only opened up the developer preview (link here: Apple unleashes OS X Mountain Lion Preview to Mac Developer Program -- Engadget), so it will be at least another year before this OS gets released for retail purchase.

EDIT: reading the verge article again, looks like they are now aiming for 12-14 month update cycles, so it would be July/August at the earliest.

[E-com]

hmm, confirmed with a test that messages only receives stuff sent to iMessage if a message has been sent from messages first.

[Officer M107]

I've read it's out in the summer !

OS X Mountain Lion is scheduled for a public launch in "late summer", with pricing yet to be announced. (taken from Mac Rumors)

[bprentice2010]

Originally Posted by E-com

a few thoughts on messages, after using it for a couple of hours:

doesnt seem to sync up anything in iMessage from before installation. Anything sent from messages goes straight to the phone too, pretty swiftly, i havent checked if anything sent to the phone will send to messages without prior conversation though.

notifications: phone will buzz like crazy as it receives the notification of a message and that disappears as you read it on messages. this could get tedious.

seems good though

As you say it does have a few little bugs but remember it is Beta Software.

[blue max]

Just wonder where Apple are heading with this...

As a graphic pro, Adobe need to be onside with the OS's. They are not up to speed with Lion, so this is another nail in their coffin.

They are turning their backs on the graphic industry which was traditionally their bedrock and focussing on the domestic arena. I do feel that with their neglect of the semi-pro market (between the mini and the pro, but naked without a screen), we are losing our historical allies.

I have stuck with Apple through thick and thin, but I'm worried. Really worried.

Graham

[RobM]

Graham - I'm very interested to hear your thoughts (as somebody who uses the Pro side of Apple computers) on why Apple are turning their back on the Pro market.

They are doing very well in the consumer market for sure, but to my limited knowledge of the Pro graphics industry I wasn't aware that Apple had cut anything out of the OS that you'd rely on, to make it less 'Pro'. But as said, my knowledge is limited and it's an interesting subject

[blue max]

Originally Posted by RobM

Graham - I'm very interested to hear your thoughts (as somebody who uses the Pro side of Apple computers) on why Apple are turning their back on the Pro market.

They are doing very well in the consumer market for sure, but to my limited knowledge of the Pro graphics industry I wasn't aware that Apple had cut anything out of the OS that you'd rely on, to make it less 'Pro'. But as said, my knowledge is limited and it's an interesting subject

Well, I have been looking at this site:
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

And it fills me with horror.

All is well with snow leopard. I fear there will be many issues by upgrading and I can't afford to face issues.

Graham

[RobM]

I see... that's the fault of lazy App developers though, I don't think that can be blamed on Apple or OSX. All operating systems change and evolve over time, as we're seeing here with OSX, also with Windows 8 and the changes that brings and I dare say (but without that much knowledge) that Linux variants are the same and also change and evolve over time. It's not up to Apple to re-develop third-party software

If I owned a software house and made software for any OS that I wanted to keep current and on-market, I'd put compatibility with new OS versions near the top of my priority list. In fact, that's why Apple release developer previews like this so early!

[dejongj]

I'm downloading it now

[bpsmith]

Originally Posted by dejongj

I'm downloading it now

Do let us know how it is!

The comment about spending for £29.99 for Lion only 7 months ago and there's already something new just cracked me up. That's a steal for a new OS!

[blue max]

Originally Posted by RobM

I see... that's the fault of lazy App developers though, I don't think that can be blamed on Apple or OSX. All operating systems change and evolve over time, as we're seeing here with OSX, also with Windows 8 and the changes that brings and I dare say (but without that much knowledge) that Linux variants are the same and also change and evolve over time. It's not up to Apple to re-develop third-party software

If I owned a software house and made software for any OS that I wanted to keep current and on-market, I'd put compatibility with new OS versions near the top of my priority list. In fact, that's why Apple release developer previews like this so early!

I'm not suggesting it is Apple's 'fault', just that the pace of change is increasing in general and it is more pandering to the domestic market at the expense of it's traditional core market.

I love change and the benefits it brings, but to sideline your core market after all these years is a bit of a kick in the teeth for loyal support.

Guess I'm a minority these days though.

Graham

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by bpsmith

Do let us know how it is!


!

Still downloading welcome to countryside Internet. I'm going to put it on a virtual machine though.

[Officer M107]

Originally Posted by bpsmith

Do let us know how it is!

The comment about spending for £29.99 for Lion only 7 months ago and there's already something new just cracked me up. That's a steal for a new OS!

It is a cracking price but an upgraded OS only 7 months !!!!

[bprentice2010]

Originally Posted by Officer M168

It is a cracking price but an upgraded OS only 7 months !!!!

By the time it is released in late summer (august/september) it will be about 12-15 months.

[zebs]

Originally Posted by Officer M168

I'm a little unhappy after paying £29 for Lion only 7 months ago it looks like Mountain Lion is a new OS not a update and will have a price for-coming !
It better be cheap !

Where did you pay £29 for LION?

Should be £20.99 in UK ($29.99 in states)

[awsm]

Originally Posted by Officer M168

I'm a little unhappy after paying £29 for Lion only 7 months ago it looks like Mountain Lion is a new OS not a update and will have a price for-coming !
It better be cheap !

I find it hard to follow this train of thought as upgrading isn't a requirement it's optional. If Lion or SL is sufficient for how you use your Mac and you don't wan't or need the additional functionality for the nominal price then skip the Mountain Lion release.

It's not like Lion will become any less functional and will likely still receive a few critical patches.

[dc8900]

Originally Posted by awsm

It's not like Lion will become any less functional and will likely still receive a few critical patches.

Each version of OS X tends to get security updates until two OSs later e.g. Leopard got security updates until Lion was released and Snow Leopard will still receive updates until Mountain Lion is released.