Posted by Greg Mills
I will post updates to this story all day as news comes out about Lion.
The Apple Store is down with the famous "We will be back soon, We are busy updating the store for you and will be shortly" In addition to the Lion OS release, a number of hardware products are expected to be released as well.
The new Mac OS Lion is released today. For the first time an OS is being sold on line as a download. The release is rather large, about 3.5 Gigs, so have a fast internet connection or expect it to take a while. There is a small migration app to jump from Snow Leopard to Lion you need to download first. Use the software update under the Apple logo on your screen.
So far all is quiet on the Apple App Store and Apple Web site but the internet is about to melt down!
Lion is loose! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-lion/id444303913?mt=12&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
I will return after downloading and getting back up under Lion..... After logging in to your Apple Store/iTunes Account, you click to buy Lion and a Lion logo flies down to the dock as a progress bar under the logo turns from white to blue, you know the download is going on.
I have cable modem and it is still slow. Apple will let users go their local Apple store and download using Apple's fast WiFi to download and install Lion.
The Apple Store is back up and Mac Mini and MacBook Air have been refreshed with faster processors and the new Thunderbolt ports. The new MacBook Air is priced starting at US$ 999 and the Mac Mini at US $599.
An hour later.... I have Lion up and running. It took a while to download due to the size of the file but then, it had to actually install on my MacBook Pro. The installation took about 40 Minutes.
Lion seems crisp and has a lot of new features to get used to.
The Launch Pad button, sort of a rocket on a round metallic looking round icon, launches a screen with all your apps presented in an icon form. Just click one to open any of the apps on your computer.
Two fingers swiped up or down on the touch pad scrolls the window you have open... Feels backward to what was used before.
Swipe up with three fingers to open Mission Control, a sort of super window showing all windows you have open at once. You click the one you want.
Safari has a new security feature under the Privacy tab in preferences. "Limit website access to location services: Deny without prompting is the default. This provides relief from being tracked by advertising companies without your consent. Also under Safari Preferences are easy to edit auto-fill and automatic log-in preferences for web sites.
Mail has been remodeled with new icons to do common tasks. Also, you can now add GMail or other web based email accounts to Mail. There is a new layout that gives you more room to view your mail.
More soon, as I poke around in Lion... I am still getting used to the new gestures to scroll up and down....
Be sure to check for software updates after loading Lion onto your computer. Some updates are requried to run Apple apps on Lion properly.
