Mac OS X Lion - There's Some Awesome New Features Coming...

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Mac OS X Lion - There's Some Awesome New Features Coming...

Instant messaging availability

See your buddy’s availability while in Address Book.

Social network profiles

Address Book lets you quickly access the social network profiles for your contacts, including Facebook. Press and hold an email address to select the appropriate profile.

Send files wirelessly

AirDrop is the simplest way to send files wirelessly to anyone around you.

Drag-and-drop file sharing

To share a file, simply drag it onto a person’s contact photo. Your Mac verifies that you want to send the file, then sends a request to the recipient. When the request is accepted, the file transfers to the person’s Downloads folder.

Saves as you go

Apps developed with Auto Save can automatically save changes to your document as you work, freeing you from manual saving and from the worry that you’ll lose your valuable work if the app quits. And because Auto Save saves all changes in the background, you can work without the distraction of pauses or progress bars.

Saves in place

Auto Save in Lion adds the changes directly into the file so there’s only one copy of the document on your Mac.

All My Files
Instantly view all the files on your Mac in a single window in the Finder. All My Files gathers all your files — no matter where they’re located — and displays them in an organized view. It’s smart about what it collects, showing only files you commonly open, such as documents, images, and videos, while leaving out system files.

Gesture navigation

In icon view, files in each group are displayed in rows of icons, so you can swipe through them quickly using your Multi-Touch trackpad or Magic Mouse.

Go full screen

Apps built to take advantage of the entire screen have a new full-screen button in the window title bar. Click it to expand the app window to fill the screen.

Multiple full-screen apps

You can have multiple full-screen apps running at the same time. Each app stays full screen even when you switch to another app or to the desktop.

New look

iCal features a streamlined new look that gives you more room to browse and edit your events. The calendars list reveals itself only when you click Calendars. So now almost the entire window is dedicated to your calendar, giving you a beautiful view of your events by day, week, month, or year.

Full-screen iCal

Take iCal full screen so you can see even more events and the details associated with them.

Day view

The new day view makes it easy to stay on top of a busy day. You’ll find a running list of your events on one side and a detailed schedule on the other, so it takes just a glance to get the information you need. The new mini month is always visible, making it easy to switch between days and quickly navigate your calendar.

Quick Add

Adding an event to iCal has never been easier. Simply enter a regular-language phrase like “Mary’s Birthday at 8 p.m.” or “Lunch with John” and let iCal add the event for you. Quick Add can turn your phrases into iCal events with the right name, time, and location. Just click the Add button (+) in the toolbar and enter your phrase.

Year view

Year view lets you see 12 months at a time, making it easy to jump between months.

Heat map

In year view, iCal displays a map using colors to represent availability for each day, so you can see which days have more activities.

Unified buddy list

iChat brings your buddies together in one buddy list no matter what service they use, so you can find them without hunting through multiple windows. And if someone has accounts on multiple chat services, iChat displays just one entry for the person in the buddy list. When you click your buddy’s name to send a message, simply choose the service you want to use.

Unified status

Share a single availability and status message with all your buddies no matter what service you use. Just select “Use the same status for all accounts” in iChat preferences. Deselect the preference if you’d like to maintain a separate status and availability for each service you use.

A home for your apps

Launchpad is a full-screen home for all the apps on your Mac. It creates full-screen pages to accommodate your apps and adds new pages as you add more apps. Find the app you want and open it with a single click.

Organize with folders

Group applications in folders. Simply drag one app icon on top of another and Launchpad creates a folder. Launchpad uses the application’s category (Productivity, Finance, Games) to suggest a folder name, or you can create your own. Each folder can hold as many as 32 apps.

Arrange apps any way you like

You can rearrange apps by dragging their icons to a new location or even to another page.

Widescreen layout

A new layout for Mail takes advantage of the widescreen display on your Mac. It neatly arranges your message list and open email side by side in full-height columns, so you see more of your messages.

Full-screen experience

Mail delivers a full-screen experience, so you can read and send email without distractions. With more room for your conversations and messages, you can browse your email more efficiently. Compose a new message, and Mail dims your inbox and slides in a full-height canvas so you can focus on your message and capture your thoughts.

Favorites bar

The favorites bar gives you one-click access to your mail folders. Its horizontal layout displays your favorite folders and their unread counts without cluttering up your window. Drag folders to the favorites bar to add them.

Redesigned message header

The message header displays only the information you need, so you can focus on the message. Click the details to see everything else, including recipients.

Conversations

Conversations in Mail gives you a new and natural way to read and manage your email. As email arrives in your inbox, Mail automatically groups related messages in conversations. And Mail numbers each message in a conversation so you always know where you are as you read.

Custom labels

Organize your mail with color-coded labels. Labeling a message takes just a click, and a colored flag is added to the message for easy identification. Mail creates folders for your labeled messages so you can get to them quickly. You can personalize labels with names like “Family” and “Work.” And you can use labels when you search to help narrow the results.

One-click archive

Quickly move messages from your inbox and save them for later with a single click.

See everything on your Mac
Mission Control brings together everything running on your Mac — open windows, full-screen apps, spaces, and Dashboard — in one bird’s-eye view. A row of thumbnails across the top of the screen represents Dashboard, desktop spaces, and your full-screen apps. The lower part of the screen shows an Exposé view of the open windows on your desktop. Click anything to instantly navigate to it.

Add and remove spaces

You can add and remove desktop spaces right from Mission Control. To add a space, click the new Spaces control (+) in the upper-right corner of Mission Control. Or drag an app or window to the Spaces control. To remove a space, click the Delete button (x) on the space’s thumbnail.

Bind application to a space

You can now bind an application to a particular space or make it available in all spaces right from the Dock. Press and hold the icon in the Dock and make a selection from the contextual menu.

Custom desktop pictures

Each desktop space can have its own desktop picture.

Full-screen Photo Booth

Photo Booth in OS X Lion delivers a full-screen view that takes advantage of the entire screen on your Mac. And it features a new look that makes you feel as if you’re in an actual photo booth.

New effects

Have even more fun with the built-in camera on your Mac. Choose from nine new effects that use facial tracking technology, so effects look great whether you’re front and center or left of center. Effects include Lovestruck, Dizzy, Frog, Nose Twirl, and Blockhead.

High-resolution photos

Photo Booth takes advantage of the high-resolution FaceTime camera in some Mac computers, so you can show off your smile in richer detail than ever before.

Full-screen Safari

Take Safari full screen and experience your favorite websites on a grander scale. It’s perfect for viewing more of your Gmail inbox, Facebook newsfeed, or Twitter trends.

Downloads list

When you download files in Safari, an arrow appears to the right of the Smart Search Field to show you the progress of your download. Click the arrow to see downloads. You can also clear downloads from the list or view them in the Finder.

Drag-and-drop downloads

You can drag downloaded files from the Downloads list to your desktop for easy organization.

Reading List

Reading List lets you save web pages to read when you have time.

Per-user screen sharing

You can remotely log in to a Mac with any user account on that computer and control it, without interrupting someone else who might be using the computer under a different login.

Go full screen

Take the screen-sharing application full screen in Lion so you can observe and control a remote Mac using the entire screen. It feels as if you are sitting right in front of the other Mac.

Records the history of a document

OS X Lion can keep an ongoing record of your document as it evolves. Lion records snapshots of your document as you make changes or reach important milestones.

Automatic versions

Each time you open a document, Lion automatically saves the current version. It also saves a new version every hour while you work, building a history of the document as you go.

Browse versions

Lion makes it easy to browse previous versions. Using an interface similar to that of Time Machine, you can browse the version history of a document to see how it looked at any time. A timeline shows all the versions that exist for the document. To view a previous version, simply click a specific date.

Side-by-side comparison

When you’re browsing versions, a side-by-side comparison feature allows you to see the current state of a document next to the previous one, so you can easily note the differences.

Other Features

Resize from any edge

You can now resize a window from any side or corner.

Overlay scroll bars

The new overlay scroll bars appear when you need them and fade away when you don’t, resulting in a more streamlined experience.

Interact with iTunes artwork in screen saver

Turn your screen saver into a jukebox. Just click an album to play the songs.

And the best part? It's only $29.99 and available from the Mac App Store sometime in July! Can't wait!