With OS X Lion, Apple is shaking things up by integrating mobile OS features — derived from popular devices like the iPhone, iPod and iPad — with a desktop-class OS.  Announced in June 2010, Apple’s OS X Lion is finally available for end consumers. OS X Lion is currently available only as a digital download through the MAC App store for Intel powered Macs. It costs $29.99, which will be charged to your Apple ID’s linked credit card should you decide to purchase it. The size of the download is a whopping 3.75GB and even on a 2MBps connection, it will likely take a few hours to download.

Considering that most ISPs in India have FUP (fair usage policy) limitations even on their unlimited data plans, a 4GB download is not an option for everyone. Later, you will have the option of buying Lion on a USB drive (just like the Snow Leopard installation came on a USB drive with the Macbook Air). This is expected towards the end of August, pegged at $69.99. An Additional $40 for a 4GB USB drive is a bit of overkill, even by Apple standards. Note that once you purchase Lion, you can install it on all your authorised machines without having to pay separately for each machine. However, it will still have to be downloaded onto each machine if you don’t have the Apple USB drive.

MAJOR  CHANGES
Aiming for a more simplified approach to desktop computing, Apple has taken inspiration from iOS. For starters, setup is a painless process – just make a few initial selections for various settings and Lion takes 20-30 minutes to install. Lion brings in over 250 new features and out of those a few are visible in your face, whereas a lot of others hum away in the background – visible only when specific apps are launched. One of the major changes is the integration of multi-touch in the operating system. Navigating through the system is much easier (though it takes a few hours to get used to it). The two most prominent features are called Misson Control and Launchpad. Mission control works in the same fashion as Expose and shows all open applications in a single panel — allowing you to switch between running applications quickly. Launchpad, on the other hand, lists all your apps in the same fashion as you get on iOS devices — your application icons placed across the screen spread across panes that can be ‘swiped’ across. Select and hold an icon and it will start shaking, allowing apps to be removed in the same way as on an iPod/iPad. Drag and drop an icon over another to make a folder — almost feels like using an iOS device with a trackpad instead of a touchscreen. The other addition likely to make an impact on all the users is the full screen mode. All apple apps such as Mail, Calendar and Preview can now be used in full screen — providing a larger work area.

OTHER  ADDITIONS
Resume and Autosave are two more features that many users will find very useful. Resume, as the name suggests, allows you to resume your entire desktop the way it was after a restart/shutdown. A pop up box comes up asking if you want to restore your session when you choose to restart or shut down your system (applications should be running in the background).

If your system crashed or was forced to shutdown, then the dialog box comes up after the restart and if you don’t select an option it will automatically restore your session. Autosave simply keeps saving your work automatically for files created using TextEdit or Preview much like Microsoft Office does on Windows.

There have been tweaks done to the Finder as well. The most noteworthy additions here are AirDrop and All My Files. Airdrop allows OS X Lion users to connect with each other wirelessly without the need of connecting to a common Wi-Fi network. In a Finder window it is visible as an option on the left side and when selected it gives you a view of all the Macs running Lion in the vicinity.

All My Files is another addition in the Finder which displays all the content on your hard-drive sorted as per your need (type, name, last accessed, size). This makes it easy to find specific files and determine what is taking up space on your drive.

There are other little feature additions to security, iChat, Safari and other applications as well which bring in some useful tweaks to the overall operating system. Mail, iCal and Address book have been updated to an interface similar to what you get on the iPad.

SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?
At $29.99 (roughly 1,350) , the Lion update is not a lot to pay considering that you get some big new features. It’s worth it even if you use some of the 250 features. The enhanced interface with full screen apps support and multi-touch gestures alone make it worth spending the money. Find a high-speed download line and start downloading it right away.