Apple announces OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion preview, 100 new features, huge iPad influence

Apple’s drive to bring iOS back to the Mac continues with Messages, Notification Center, AirPlay mirroring, and more for OS X

Apple has just announced a preview of the next major version of their Mac operating system, OS X 10.8. It’s called Mountain Lion. The preview is available now and the full version, with over 100 new features, will ship this summer.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

The current OS X 10.7 Lion system was announced as a way to take iOS ideas back to the Mac, and Mountain Lion looks to accelerate this process dramatically. It’s not a port of iOS to the Mac, far from it. It’s the continued implementation of the best of iOS ideas on the Mac OS X system. Like Lion, some of the ideas will no doubt work better than others, but the path seems absolutely clear and Apple seems incredibly focused on getting there. Fast.

Especially noteworthy:

• iCloud is coming to the Mac in a big way. It will be available on signup, like iOS, and will offer not only push/store “sync” features but Documents in the Cloud as an alternative, highly abstracted way to handle files without the traditional, complex management.
• iOS apps like Reminders, Notes, and Messages are coming to the Mac, and traditional Mac apps are transforming to better mirror their iOS counterparts, like Calendar (iCal) and Contacts (Address Book)
• Game Center is coming to the Mac, as is Twitter integration.
• Notification Center will handle alerts, just like iOS, and Share Sheets will make it easier to share information on the Mac.
• AirPlay Mirroring will let your Mac screen appear on your big screen HDTV, via the Apple TV.
• Gatekeeper provides a middle ground between standard apps and App Store apps, signed by a developer but not approved by Apple.

No word on Siri, Apple’s personal voice assistant yet, but it’s early days. Apple’s Mountain Lion page is live, so check it out. Full press release below.

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