As noted by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) Apple has sent out a mass email to Mac developers urging them to apply for a Developer ID in preparation for the new operating system's Gatekeeper security system.

The email says that while the Mac App Store is the safest place for users to download software for their computers, the company is concerned about protection from possibly malicious applications obtained through unmonitored channels, the article adds. To block these unwanted programs from making their way onto users' Macs, Apple has created the Gatekeeper security system which will be running behind the scenes in the next-generation OS X Mountain Lion.

Here's Apple's description of GateKeeper: "Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed."