12 New Features in Mountain Lion

The latest operating system for Mac, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, was released on July 25th. Even though up here in Vermont we still think it should have been called Catamount, we are excited about the new features that Apple has added. The following are the top 12:

1. iCloud

You only need to sign in once with your Apple ID to set up iCloud in Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Messages, Safari, the Mac App Store, and FaceTime. Once this is set up, you can use “Documents in the Cloud”. This service allows you to edit a document and the changes appear across all of your Macs and iOS devices.

2. Notes

You can use Notes to keep track of whatever’s on your mind. You can attach photos, movies, and links to your notes. To make sure that they are always easy to find, you can pin important notes to your desktop.

3. Facebook integration

Mountain Lion makes it possible to share photos and links with comments and locations with one click. Your Facebook friends and profile pictures are added to your Contacts automatically. You will also be able to receive Facebook notifications and update your status message from Notification Center (see below). These features will be available with a free OS update that is expected to be released this fall.

4. Dictation

This feature will allow you to talk to input text everywhere that you can type. It will work with every app, works with the built-in mic, and does not require any set-up or training. Dictation currently supports English, French, German, and Japanese.

5. Messages

This feature will be familiar to anyone currently using iOS 5. It allows you to send unlimited messages to anyone on an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or another Mac. You can switch between your devices and keep the conversation going seamlessly. Messages also allows you to send and receive contacts, photos, and even HD video.

6. Notification Center

This is another feature taken from iOS. You will be notified about new emails, messages, calendar events, reminders, and more. The notification banners will appear right on your desktop and then hide themselves. You can swipe anytime to reveal the Notification Center.

7. Safari upgrades

The new Smart Search gives one search field for both web addresses and search terms. Safari also has new and improved iCloud integration: iCloud tabs allows you to view open tabs on all of your devices.

8. AirPlay Mirroring

This feature allows you to wirelessly share whatever’s on your Mac to your HDTV. Anything that appears on your computer’s screen will appear on your TV. Please note that this requires an Apple TV and one of the following Macs:

• iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)

9. Reminders

Create reminders for yourself and you will be notified at the time and date of your choosing.

10. Sharing

Mountain Lion has added a Share button to many of the built-in apps. This allows you to post to sites like Twitter, Vimeo, and Flickr as well as share links, photos, videos and documents using Mail, Messages, or AirDrop.

11. Power Nap

Even while it sleeps, your Mac will stay up-to-date. Your Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and Find My Mac are all automatically refreshed, and if you are connected to a power source your computer will still do Time Machine backups and software update downloads. Please note that this feature requires an Apple-installed solid state drive to work.

12. Game Center

All of your Mac and iOS games are organized within the new Game Center app. You can play multiplayer games between Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Please note that installing Mountain Lion requires the following:

• OS X v10.6.8 or later
• 2GB of memory
• 8GB of available space
• Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
• Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.

Supported Models:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
• Xserve (Early 2009)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

Download Mountain Lion here.