Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Seems a very 'snow leopard' style update - very much a few new apps and some tweaks rather than major overhaul. Some of it seem very useful though - I like the idea of iMessage and Reminders being ported from iOS to Mac OS for a start.

Already posted in the news section
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15863

Hmm, it's all a bit Meh really, well it is to me being on Leopard 10.5 still.

I'd much rather they concentrate on making Lion stable and consistent than releasing these ever increasing frequency of major versions of OS X. I still think Apple aren't looking at the little details, with their increasingly sloppy approach to system updates - 3 dodgy updates released in the last month alone - and are galloping away at too fast a rate, without first making things as bug-free and stable as they can. But that's just me.

See, you say dodgy updates but I have not experienced anything dodgy with any updates recently.

Both iOS and OS X updates have worked with no problems. Also, the software itself once updated has been fine too.

Having swerved Lion I might do this upgrade.
As usual, wait and see.

I have to agree, the update process seems to be very robust now. Long gone are the days when any OS update had me nervously watching the progress bar and waiting for the reassuring startup “bong”. The advice doesn’t change though — always make sure you have a backup and leave the Mac well alone while the update takes place.

That said, the more third-party, system-level add ons that you have installed — think Growl, Quicksilver etc. — the greater the chance that an update will fail.

Well, I haven't sidegraded to Lion yet, but it looks like if I do that will be it for my trusty MacBook Pro.

It has been EOL'ed by 10.8. Despite being a 64-bit machine with separate GPU, Apple have deemed it old. Gone, it seems, are the days of decade-old Macs soldiering on with not-quite-the-latest operating systems. At five years, my Mac is stuck at Lion.

One day I may win the lottery, or earn enough dosh to upgrade to a newer machine. Until then, I must watch the Apple mothership sail on without me, while I sit on the dock, wondering what software will eventually keel over and die while I'm waiting for my ship to come in.

Err... isn't that exactly what used to happen? If you couldn't upgrade to the latest OS, you just... didn't. You kept on using your Mac for the things you were using it before. Your MBP could have another five years of perfectly acceptable use if you want it to. So therefore it will have lasted you a decade or more. Heck, I remember the kerfuffle when a load of Macs turned out to be unable to run System 7.0 because they couldn't deal with the multitasking add on. People just carried on using them as they were.


I'm sure there were people who were sat on the dock fed up as they watched the Titanic sail over the horizon. Not sure they stayed that way for long .

As it is, I saw a stat today that said Apple sold more iPads last year than they have sold Macs. Ever. Total. More iPads in one year that they had sold Macs of various flavours in 22 years. And don't even start about phones. I think we have to accept that these days while Apple may not actually be just a mobile device company, they'd be insane not to make mobile devices their bigger priority. In which case, OS X is going to become more like iOS than vice versa.

Jon

The mountain lions other commonly used names are Cougar, Puma and Panther.

OS X versions...

10.1 Puma
10.3 Panther
10.8 Mountain Lion

Does that mean 10.9 is going to be Cougar

I wonder when (if?) OS 11 comes out what the code names will be (or will it be too cool for code names?).

I'm going to predict they will adopt bear names: OS 11.1 Grizzly...

Yes, I know. My point was really that over the past few years more and more software relies on core features of the OS to provide functionality. If I can't keep up with the OS, I can't keep up with other software updates, and eventually (when I can afford a new box) I have to spend a fortune to upgrade all that software again so it works.

Pixelmator, for example, relies on the core graphics functions of Snow Leopard and Lion. Fortunately v2 currently works on Snow Leopard, but there's no guarantee v3 will. I use Aperture for my photography. Snow Leopard is currently supported, but you can bet eggs is eggs v4 will need Lion at minimum.

The software I use moves on with the OS. If I can't keep up, even at the slow rate I do now, I will quickly be left behind. Apple has said they intend to return to the 12 month OS update cycle with Mountain Lion.

I am quite happy to stay put, but I know that eventually it's going to cost me a lot more to catch up.

I know what you mean Heather, when I was looking at getting my MacBook people were telling me how a Mac could last beyond 7 years, and I took this to mean that it would likely be supported for around 7 years. Alas that doesn't appear so.

OK, so software that doesn't work on Mountain Lion?
VirtualBox - Causes a kernel panic when you try to run a VM!

I think people are being a little over dramatic. Your Mac will still work after 7 years chances are and will still be a usable device. Given the pace of change in IT, something still being usable after seven years, let alone supported, is near miraculous. Its only an issue if you have been conned into the 'must have new shiney' mindset. OK, so you might not be able to run the latest thing on it but you can still use all the software you were using the day before ML went on sale just as well. I don't really see there's any justification for all this 'oh woe is me'. Without intending to be too perjorative, it sounds a bit.... needy.


1) pretty much all the VM systems break on pretty much every new version of Mac OS. When you're doing such low level stuff, it's not exactly a surprise
2) it's a developer preview for pity's sake.

But it's just so unfair!

A blog post from one of the Panic Software developers about Gatekeeper. Non technical (well, not very anyway), well worth a read.