Apple’s latest revision to its world class operating system, likely nicknamed “Lion” in a series of big cat nicknames, has some amazing features that will likely move it even further beyond Microsoft Windows and other desktop operating systems.
There’s a Desktop App for That
The App Store paradigm has been a big hit for Apple. With users and developers hooked on iPhone/iTouch/iPad apps, Apple will likely bring an App Store variant to desktop users. Strict oversight from Apple’s approval process would make users more comfortable adopting new applications. For developers, it would create a new distribution scheme for applications, with Apple managing all payments and all delivery systems. Watch for a likely adoption of existing iPhone/iPad apps to also be available to desktop users, either outright on the screen or on the Mac’s Dashboard interface. The recent data center in North Carolina may or may not be involved with these initiatives.
Synced Web Storage
Apple’s Mobile.me and competing platforms, such as DropBox, are already great ways to store data. With OS 10.7, Apple will likely provide greater behind-the-scenes caching and syncing of offline data. Some users have reported that compared with Mobile.me, other systems operate much more rapidly, so it is likely that Apple will adopt some of the file sharding technology that is used to perform faster saves and refreshes.
iOS vs Mac OS
Apple will likely keep the “Mac” on the new OS moniker. It will not likely be renamed iOS despite commonalities in code bases.
Xcode: Programmers Rejoice
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A spruced up version of Xcode will likely morph into a “one window to rule them all” design that will simplify aspects of Mac and iPhone/iPad development. Interface Builder will likely become part and parcel of the IDE along with split screen file viewers. This will be a welcomed change, as over time more and more open windows have slowed the pace of development for some programmers.
New Cocoa frameworks will also likely appear to allow developers to use new OS features such as Face Time, Game Center, Air Play offline sync, etc.
FaceTime gets Big Time along with GameCenter and AirPlay
FaceTime on a big iMac and MacBook screen will likely appear with 10.7 Lion. iChat will likely be modified to incorprate FaceTime and be used simultaneously with iPhone and iPod Touch clients on the other end. Game Center will likely be adapted for Mac desktop gamers. Likewise, Air Play from or to iPad/iPhone/iTouch devices will likely be available to make Macs either media hubs or widescreen displays for mass media.
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October 13th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
sounds cool
my iMac would be a great TV with content streamed from my iPhone!
October 13th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Great article- thanks! Hope all of this does not turn out to be vaporware! Pwned FTW
October 18th, 2010 at 10:17 am
nice article, keep the posts coming
November 15th, 2010 at 10:32 am
DELETE THIS FUCKIN POST
December 19th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Exactly. The ‘Snapdragon’ happens to include a poor GPU, which you mentioned the specifics of in your comment. To that end I heavily dislike the idea of calling a phone with one of these SOCs ‘high-end’. My overclocked Droid performs general calculations nearly as well at the same clock speed as a Snapdragon at 1Ghz, but it’s 3D performance beats the Snapdragon easily - and Hummingbird just kills everything else on Android. It’s a shame Microsoft made Snapdragon the only currently supported chip for 7, as it’s going to limit game development in the long run. Shame Focus isn’t rocking a Hummingbird.
January 11th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
If you’re still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you’ll know which is right for you.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:00 am
Great job here. I definitely enjoyed what you had to say. Keep heading because you undoubtedly bring a new voice to this subject. Not many people would say what youve said and still make it interesting. Properly, at least Im interested. Cant wait to see extra of this from you.