Mac OS X Lion Features Guide : New Version of OS X for Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, iMac, Mac Pro Available in July from Mac Store!

Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release of Apple's notebook and desktop operating system, will be available to customers come July this year as a download from Mac App Store for only $29.99.



We've taken the liberty of listing down the 8 key new features Mac users can expect from this new version of OS X --

1. New Multi-Touch gestures and fluid animations built into OS X Lion let you interact directly with content on the screen for a more intuitive way of using your Mac.

New gestures include tapping, momentum scrolling or pinching your fingers to zoom in on an image or web page, and swiping right or left to turn a page or switch between apps. All of Apple's current notebooks ship with Multi-Touch trackpads and desktop Macs can use the Magic Trackpad.


A feature that's obviously iPad-inspired.

2. Full screen apps are perfect for surfing the web, reading email or browsing photos. With a single click an app can fill the display and users can swipe from one window to another, between full screen apps, or back to your Desktop, Dashboard or Spaces without leaving full screen. Some of the apps that take advantage of this feature include iWork, iLife, Safari, FaceTime, iTunes, Mail, among others.





3. Mission Control combines Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces and full screen apps into one unified experience for a bird’s eye view of everything that's running on your Mac.

With a simple bear-paw-like swipe, the desktop zooms out to display open grouped windows, thumbnails of full screen apps and the Dashboard.



4. Launchpad makes it easier to find and launch any app. With one Multi-Touch gesture, all Mac apps are displayed in a full screen layout.



Users can organize apps in any order, group them into folders and swipe through unlimited number of app pages to find the one they want.



5. Mac App Store, built in Lion, is the place to discover great new Mac apps. Here, users can buy apps with an iTunes account, download and install them.

Apps install directly to Launchpad, and with Lion’s release, Mac App Store will be able to deliver new apps that can take advantage of features like Push Notifications and In-App Purchase.



6. Auto Save automatically and continuously saves your documents as you work while
Versions automatically records the history of documents while they are being created.

This provides an easy way to browse, revert and copy and paste from previous versions;



7. AirDrop finds nearby Macs and automatically sets up a peer-to-peer wireless connection to make transferring files easy and quick.



8. Lion features a completely redesigned Mail app with a widescreen layout. There's even a new Conversations feature that groups related messages into an easily scrollable timeline, intelligently hiding repeated text while retaining attachments and graphics as they were originally sent.

A new search feature allows users to refine search and even suggests matches by person, label and subject. Mail now includes built-in support for Microsoft Exchange 2010.



There you go, Apple fans! I hope you find this guide helpful.