Mac OS X Lion, the latest iteration of the Mac OS X operating system, will be released today.
We knew Lion would be stalking its way on to the Mac App Store at some point in July, but at an earnings call yesterday Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer, revealed that it would be available today.
OS X Lion is an unusual update because it's download-only. You can buy and download it via the Mac App Store, but you won't find Apple selling it on a disk. If you do want to buy it, it costs £20.99, which we have to admit is impressively cheap. Once purchased, you'll be able to install it on all the machines you have registered to your Apple account.
To install, you'll need the latest version of OS X Snow Leopard (seriously, how did they get to snow leopard before lion?) and your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 or Xeon processor. That should cover every recent machine, but to make sure you're compatible, click 'About this Mac' from the Apple icon at the top left of your desktop, and check your processor there.
Lion takes inspiration from Apple's iOS mobile operating system and packs a host of new features, including the ability to swipe between running programs using multi-touch gestures, AirDrop for wirelessly transferring files to and from nearby Macs, and -- wait for it -- full-screen windows.
At the time of writing Apple's website still says, "Coming in July," but that will change at some point today. We'd recommend frantically hammering this link until the update goes live. Or if that sounds tedious, read up on Lion's key features ahead of its launch.
Are you keen on OS X Lion? And how do you feel about Apple making its updates download-only? Sound off in the comments, or on our Facebook page.
- Read our full review of Apple OS X 10.7 Lion here.
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Comments 9
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gwailofilms 20 July, 2011 11:25
Review, please! Fanx. :-D
anonymous 20 July, 2011 11:28
Microsoft must be very worried that Lion now allows you to resize windows from any edge or corner, or merge two folders with the same name together! I will definitely be upgrading to Lion for all the really good features and improvements, but if you want a good laugh - go to the website and read the '250 improvements' page to see how desperate Apple has been to find things they can count as an improvement. Another one is a higher resolution cursor at larger sizes!
Anonymous 20 July, 2011 12:24
It will be released in the UK at 4.30pm, in the US at 8.30am apparently... Don't quote me though.
thechillieguy 20 July, 2011 13:02
Apple app stor eis currently down as they are updating it. Hopefully this is a sign that Lion is finally going to Roar to the worlf and all the Rumours will finally be true.
thechillieguy 20 July, 2011 13:08
OOps will repost the above but now have a new keyboard. Apple App store is currently down as they are updating it. Hopefully this is a sign that the Lion will finally be free to Roar and let loose to the world and all the Rumours will finally be true. Lol at the amazing improvements, cannot wait to see the high resolution curson lol.
Anonymous 20 July, 2011 13:52
its outtttt
EvilJoe39 20 July, 2011 13:59
how will reinstalling work? Have to reinstall snow leopard then upgrade once more?
anonymous 20 July, 2011 14:14
Hello. Well, excited about trying new Lion OSx. Can't download it. It's available (14.12 today, GMT) but the app store immediately tells me I don't have enough memory. I have the Intel Core II Duo processor in my iMac with 2GB memory but it's not enough. So there. What load of crap.
Anonymous 22 July, 2011 09:19
I got lion for mac mini and lost my hdmi out to my monitor! phoned apple and they showed me how to reset P-RAM, which solved problem.
Now as for the 200+ updates, realistically there are 3: launchpad (meeehhh), full screen (meeehhh) and mission control (meeehhh). probably not worth £21. I think the only people to benifit are touch pad users.
Early adopter beware.
PS - make sure you read about how to make a boot disk before you install!!