SYDNEY\u201412 June, 2012\u2014 Apple\u00ae today announced that OS X\u00ae Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world\u2019s most advanced desktop operating system, will be available in July as a download from the Mac\u00ae App Store\u2122. Mountain Lion introduces more than 200 innovative features including the all new Messages app, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, Facebook integration*, Dictation, Power Nap, AirPlay\u00ae Mirroring, Game Center and the enhanced security of Gatekeeper. With iCloud\u00ae built into the foundation of OS X, Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to keep your content up to date across all your devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pace of innovation on the Mac is amazing, OS X Mountain Lion comes just a year after the incredibly successful launch of Lion,\u201d said Philip Schiller, Apple\u2019s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. \u201cWith iCloud built right in and the new Notification Center, Messages, Dictation, Facebook integration and more, this is the best OS X yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using your iCloud account, Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up your Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Messages, Reminders and Notes. The new Reminders and Notes apps help you remember important tasks and jot down your thoughts quickly, while iCloud automatically keeps everything up to date. Documents in the Cloud works with iCloud-enabled apps including Apple\u2019s iWork\u00ae suite so you can always access and edit your documents on any device.<\/p>\n
The new Messages app replaces iChat\u00ae and brings iMessage\u2122 to the Mac, so you can send messages to anyone with an iPhone\u00ae, iPad\u00ae, iPod touch\u00ae or another Mac. You can include attachments, high quality photos and HD video, and your iMessages appear on all your devices so you can pick up a conversation right where you left off. iMessage includes group messaging, delivery and read receipts, typing indicators and secure end-to-end encryption. The Messages app also supports traditional instant messaging services, including AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk and Jabber.<\/p>\n
Mountain Lion streamlines the presentation of notifications, and with Notification Center you can see all your notifications from OS X and third party apps in one convenient place. You can customise which apps send you notifications, the type of notification you receive, and how many items are shown in Notification Center. When you want to focus on your work or watch a movie, you can choose to temporarily suspend all notifications.<\/p>\n
New system-wide Sharing is built into Mountain Lion, making it easier than ever to share links, photos, videos and other files. Clicking the Share button allows you to share 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 and Twitter are integrated with Notification Center so you can receive notifications when someone sends you a message or mentions you in a post or Tweet.<\/p>\n
With built-in support for Facebook, you can post photos, links and comments with locations right from your apps. Once you\u2019ve signed in, your Facebook friends automatically appear in Contacts with their profile photos. Your Facebook notifications work with Notification Center in Mountain Lion, and you can even update your Facebook status from within Notification Center.<\/p>\n
Dictation is built into Mountain Lion and allows you to dictate text anywhere you can type, whether you\u2019re using an app from Apple or a third party developer. Mountain Lion also introduces Power Nap, an innovative new feature that keeps your MacBook Pro with Retina\u2122 display and MacBook Air (second and third generation) up to date while it sleeps. Power Nap automatically refreshes Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Photo Stream, Find My Mac and Documents in the Cloud, and when plugged in, downloads software updates and backs up your Mac using Time Machine\u00ae.<\/p>\n
The revolutionary new Gatekeeper feature makes downloading software from the Internet safer by giving you control over which apps can be installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from anywhere, just as you do today, or for maximum security you can set Gatekeeper to allow only apps from the Mac App Store. The default setting allows you to install apps from the Mac App Store and apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. In addition to checking daily for security updates, Mountain Lion includes app sandboxing to keep misbehaving apps from compromising your system, and kernel ASLR for improved protection against buffer overflow attacks.<\/p>\n
Additional new features in Mountain Lion include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send an up-to-1080p secure stream of what\u2019s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV\u00ae, or send audio to a receiver or speakers that use AirPlay;
\n\u2022 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\u2019re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch;
\n\u2022 a faster Safari\u00ae with a unified Smart Search Field, iCloud Tabs that present your open tabs across your devices, and a new Tab View to quickly swipe through them; and
\n\u2022 over 1,700 new APIs that give developers access to the latest core OS and web technologies, as well as the newest features of OS X, including Documents in the Cloud, Notifications, Sharing and Game Center.<\/p>\n
Pricing & Availability *Facebook integration will be available in an upcoming software update to Mountain Lion.<\/p>\n Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SYDNEY\u201412 June, 2012\u2014 Apple\u00ae today announced that OS X\u00ae Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world\u2019s most advanced desktop operating system, will be available in July as a download from the Mac\u00ae App Store\u2122. Mountain Lion introduces more than 200 innovative features including the all new Messages app, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, Facebook<\/p>\n
\nOS X Mountain Lion will be available in July from the Mac App Store for a recommended retail price of AUD$20.99 inc. GST. Mountain Lion requires Lion or Snow Leopard (OS X v10.6.8 or later), 2GB of memory and 8GB of available space. For a complete list of system requirements and compatible systems, please visit:\u00a0apple.com\/osx\/specs\/<\/a>. OS X Server requires Mountain Lion and will be available in July from the Mac App Store for\u00a0a recommended retail price of AUD$20.99 inc. GST. The OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date upgrade is available at no additional charge via the Mac App Store to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller on or after 12 June, 2012.<\/p>\n