Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion") hasn't been with us long, but I'm already considering what I want to see in Mac OS X 10.8. Features I'd love to see include:


° The ability to rename, delete and trash folders from the Open and Save dialog boxes. Apple should pay big bucks for Default Folder and just roll this into the operating system.

° An expanded Disk Utility that can optimize and defrag Mac volumes.

° The ability to start up from a Time Machine back-up and carry on working, like we can when using SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner. In other words: system cloning.

° Auto-font activation in FontBook.

° Receipts in Mail so you know when sent email has been read.

° Support for multiple TimeMachine backup profiles that are location aware so it will automatically switch from one backup volume to another when I move between home and work.

° The return of color to toolbar icons, sidebar icons, windows and scrollbars. I mean, c'mon, Apple ... grey icons in Lion?

° iBookStore support. If I buy an iBook, I want to be able to read it on my Mac as well as an iOS device if I so choose.

° A configurable Launchpad.

° Even more advanced speech recognition.

And you have to wonder what Mac OS X 10.8 will be dubbed? Sabretooth would be the logical follow-up to Lion, but that's probably best saved for Mac OS X 10.9, with Mac OS X 11 starting a new codenaming scheme altogether.

-- Dennis Sellers