Apple releases Mac OS X Lion on the Mac Store

Consumer Reports News: July 20, 2011 04:38 PM

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Apple released Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on Wednesday, the first major update to the company's operating system since 2009.

Lion features about 250 upgrades and tweaks, many of which mimic features that are available on iOS, the operating system for the iPad and iPhone.

Among the most notable new features:

Multi-touch gestures. You can tap, swipe, scroll, or pinch your fingers on your trackpad to control your Mac. For example, swiping up with three fingers brings up Mission Control, which allows you to see all the programs currently running on your Mac. Swiping to the side with three fingers lets you scroll through full-screen apps, much like one would do on an iPad.
Full-screen apps. You can expand apps such as iMail, iCal, Safari, Preview, iPhoto, iMovie, and PhotoBooth to fill your whole display.
Launchpad. Pinching with all five fingers lets you see all your apps, similar to the way they're viewed on iOS. Every app you purchase appears in Launchpad.
App updates: Other apps, such as Mail, iChat, iCal, Photo Booth, and Spotlight, have been updated to feel more like their iOS versions.

Unfortunately, there is one catch: Only Mac users who have previously installed Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.6 or higher will be able to install Lion.

Lion is available for download through the Mac Store for $30.

Sources:
Mac OX X Lion: Yes, it's worth the upgrade [msnbc]
With OS X Lion, Apple touched upon the next decade of the OS [TechCrunch]

—Evan MacDonald