Mountain Lion: Some Cons, Many Pros

When Mountain Lion was released last Wednesday, I downloaded it immediately, like any Apple fangirl would. However, I did my research before jumping in blindly.

I opted to install it on my home computer, a 27” iMac running Snow Leopard, and not my work computer just yet (a 2.66GHz i7 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM also running Snow Leopard). To be safe, I wanted to make sure all of my apps would work as they should after the install. And lemme tell you, I have a lot of apps.

While I have never been disappointed with an Apple OS release, I have learned that if I have tight deadlines and can’t afford for my computer to give me the business, it’s best to be as sure as possible that an update wouldn’t disrupt my workflow.

Here are some of the main factors I took into account when making the choice to update (or not):

• I’m running CS6 on my work computer, namely Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and InDesign, so I wanted to wait to hear more about any potential bugs and overall compatibility. So far, here’s the official word from Adobe.
• We have an extensive, powerful, all-encompassing database at Small Dog that has not yet been cleared by IT for use with Mountain Lion. Should be “officially” good-to-go soon, but why mess with Rebecca and crew in the meantime?

So, without further ado, here are some of my first impressions of Mountain Lion, some hyped, and some that I didn’t expect:

Pros:

• IT. IS. FAST. — There is a noticeable speed difference between Lion and Mountain Lion on my machine. Overall, my iMac is pretty pared down, so there aren’t any extra apps to account for slowing it down before.
• Unified Safari Address/Search Bar — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally searched for something in the address bar, so I welcome this unification. (There’s a glaring con, though, but I’ll get to that below.)
• Window-wide Tabs in Safari — It’s just a visual change, but I like that each tab now stretches across the browser window.
• Auto-complete/Auto-correct — In a few tests (and by that I mean, typing hastily with the intent to misspell words), both features seem much smarter. Fewer words just auto-corrected on their own, so quick typists can breathe a little easier.
• Automatic List Formatting in Notes — I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to make a quick list while taking notes; now, all you have to do is press the “-” button and then add a space for it to auto-format.
• Image Support in Notes — Now, with the Notes application on my desktop, I can use it much like I would Text Edit, except with better syncing and sharing abilities. That includes adding an image, which I’ve found to be crucial when I want to add a screenshot reference.
• iCloud Syncing and Organization in Notes — Overall, this is really seamless. Any note written on my home computer (as this was when I was writing the article) is synced through iCloud. Additionally, via an updated interface, categories can now be added within an email account, so browsing notes is much easier.
• Desktop Reminders — I love having reminders on my desktop machine—the app looks gorgeous on my 27” screen when I stretch the window into full vertical mode. It’s completely integrated with iCal, with the list of calendars is on the lefthand side.
• Sorting in Messages — Now out of beta, Messages feels more stable and easier to use. You can now sort your messages manually—before, it would just pop your most recent message to the top. Not being able to designate where my messages were in the window was one of my biggest gripes with the beta version—it was almost enough to make me switch back to iChat!
• Overall Aesthetics — The dock and the menu bar are now more opaque with a brushed metal-slash-frosted glass look. It’s cleaner overall. (I had used a hack to make the formerly transparent menu bar and dock in Lion more opaque before because I found it distracting.)
• Save As… Is Back (Sort Of) — I never got quite used to the Duplicate option (technically, I would always use Duplicate and Revert since my goal most often was to use a document as a template and then save a new version), so I was psyched to see that I could get this back if I wanted. You’ll find it via System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, and can read more here.

Cons:

There wasn’t much that I’ve found to be negative thus far, though it’s fair to say that I could discover more with further use. These are a couple of idiosyncrasies I noticed right off the bat—because they’re just that annoying.

• Network Dementia? — Mountain Lion doesn’t seem to remember network settings very quickly when waking it from sleep (Disclaimer: I seldom shut it down, but for once a week or so.) It’s taken minutes on several occasions to find and connect to my wireless network and I’ll often have to use Network Diagnostics jog its memory. (I haven’t tested this with ethernet, but I’m guessing that wouldn’t be a problem.)
• Snap Back! — I miss the snapback drop down history of my Safari web searches (you know, the orange little arrow icon). I can’t easily get back to my search term like I could with a dedicated Search field. Unless it’s a setting I haven’t found, my guess is that they’d have to update that really soon.
• Dragging Blues — In Mail, I can’t seem to drag multiple emails anywhere—to other folders, to the trash, etc.—it now just tries to move the first email my mouse lands on. This is very annoying when trying to mass-delete multiple spam messages.