Anil Sharma

Mac OS X Lion – Must upgrade

Just upgraded to Mac OS X Lion (10.7) on the Macbook and iMac. As in most Mac updates, faced no issue at all. I’ve been playing around with Mac OS X Lion for some time and it’s really cool. Here are a few quick notings:

1. On the Macbook with a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 and 3 GB DDR2 RAM (Mid 2009),  Lion is as fast or probably faster than Snow Leopard.

2. Some of the Key new features of Lion over Snow Leopard are :

  • Mission Control – I would rate this as the most useful new feature. I’ve never managed to use Spaces effective, with Mision Control, I can use multiple desktop screens much more effectively.
  • LaunchPad – This too is useful, for the first time, I can see the whole host of Applications that are there on the Mac and think of using them. I also don’t have to clutter the Dock now, I’ve kept only very useful icons there and use the LaunchPad whenever I need any other application.
  • Conversation View in Mail and Multiple Flags – It’s made the whole Apple Mail experience different and my life simpler. Don’t have to keep searching for old mails now
  • Full Screen Apps and cleaner windows – Both cool features to increase valueable screen real estate. The vanishing scroll bars are really cool, they appear as soon as the mouse is on the window. Full screen applications are totally cool to use.

3.  Another thing I’ve noticed is that in Lion, the /User/Library folder is hidden. While this is ok for most users, I need that folder once in a while. A quick way to access it is to do a Option + Click on ‘Go’ in the Finder. This shows Library as an option in the pulldown menu.

4. Overall, the new OS feels fast and effective.  I would recommend all Mac users to upgrade.

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