The ninth major release of Apple’s desktop operating system is now available as a download from the Mac App Store. Mountain Lion is available as an upgrade from Lion or Snow Leopard for S$25.98.
Mountain Lion OS X, Apple’s new desktop operating system is available for download today.
Mountain Lion features more than 200 new features, including iCloud integration, the all new Messages app, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, Facebook integration, Dictation, AirPlay Mirroring and Game Center.
Facebook integration will be available in an upcoming software update to Mountain Lion, while Dictation supports English (US, UK and Australia), French, German and Japanese.
New features for China include significantly improved text input, a new Chinese Dictionary, easy setup with popular email providers, Baidu search in Safari, and built-in sharing to Sina Weibo and popular video websites Youku and Tudou.
Pricing & Availability
OS X Mountain Lion is available from the Mac App Store for S$25.98.
Mountain Lion requires Lion or Snow Leopard (OS X v10.6.8 or later), 2GB of memory and 8GB of available space.
A complete list of system requirements and compatible systems can be found here.
OS X Server requires Mountain Lion and is available from the Mac App Store for S$25.98.
The OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date upgrade is available at no additional charge from the Mac App Store to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller on or after 11 June, 2012.
Below are some of these key new features.
- iCloud integration, for easy set up of your Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Messages, Reminders and Notes, and keeping everything, including iWork documents, up to date across all your devices.
- The new Messages app, which replaces iChat and brings iMessage to the Mac, so you can send messages to anyone with an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or another Mac.
- Notification Center, which streamlines the presentation of notifications and provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps.
- System-wide Sharing, to make it easy to share links, photos, videos and other files quickly without having to switch to another app, and you just need to sign in once to use third-party services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo.
- Facebook integration, so you can post photos, links and comments with locations right from your apps, automatically add your Facebook friends to your Contacts, and even update your Facebook status from within Notification Center.
- Dictation, which allows you to dictate text anywhere you can type, whether you’re using an app from Apple or a third party developer.
- AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send an up-to-1080p secure stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV, or send audio to a receiver or speakers that use AirPlay.
- Game Center, which brings the popular social gaming network from iOS to the Mac so you can enjoy live, multiplayer games with friends whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
- The new Gatekeeper, which makes downloading software from the Internet safer.
- Power Nap, which automatically updates your apps and system while your Mac is asleep.
- A faster Safari browser.
“Today it is a real hassle and very frustrating to keep all your information and content up-to-date across all your devices,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iCloud keeps your important information and content up to date across all your devices. All of this happens automatically and wirelessly, and because it’s integrated into our apps you don’t even need to think about it—it all just works.”
• The App Store and iBookstore can now download purchased iOS apps and books to all a user’s devices, not just to the device they were purchased on. Simply tapping the iCloud icon will download any apps and books to any iOS device (up to 10 devices) at no additional cost. The App Store and iBookstore now let a user see his/her purchase history.
• iCloud Storage seamlessly stores all documents created using iCloud Storage APIs, and automatically pushes them to all of a user’s devices. When document is altered on any device, iCloud automatically pushes the changes to all the other devices. Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps are already using iCloud Storage. Users get up to 5GB of free storage for their mail, documents and backup — and this does not include the storage for music, apps and books purchased from Apple, as well as the storage required by Photo Stream. Users will be able to buy even more storage, with details announced when iCloud ships this fall.
iCloud
Scott Forstall – Apple’s senior vice president of iOS – paraded 10 of the promised 200 new features for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
The iOS 5 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at 
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, briefed WWDC 2011 attendees on the eighth major release of Apple’s desktop operating system, which features more than 250 new features and 3,000 new developer APIs.
Mac OS X Lion will be available in July as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard from the Mac App Store for US$29.99. At about 4GB, it is the size of an HD movie from the iTunes Store. Mac OS X Lion Server requires Lion and will be available in July from the Mac App Store for US$49.99.
