The purpose of Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is to make OS X easier to use and also more like iOS. A lot of users already see Mountain Lion as better than Lion because Apple made changes that can be easily appreciated by the average user. This is especially so for users who have iPhones or iPads. About 50% of the changes make OS X to look more like iOS. The following are a few changes that you can easily appreciate.
iCloud Integration
With Mountain Lion, iCloud users can now synchronize documents much more easily between Macs and iOS devices. If you have a document saved in iCloud, any editing that is done on that document is instantly available on all other Apple devices that you use. The Documents Library gives you easy access to all the documents that you have on iCloud and developers can create iCloud-enabled apps through the API.
Messages
iChat has been replaced on Mountain Lion by the very popular iMessage. This produces a cross-platform system that makes it possible for users on iPads, iPhones and iMacs to chat with one another. It also has unlimited messaging which allows sending of HD video, high-quality photos and other attachments up to 100MB. Your chatting is only limited by the limitations on your mobile plan. The iOS version of the application can route messages through Wi-Fi whenever it is available.
Game Center Now Available On Mac
Game Center is now available on Macs. For those who do not know it from iOS, this is a social gaming platform that allows you to look for new games online or play against someone on the internet. If you have a Mac, you can now play with another person with a connected Mac, iPhone or iPad. Game Center also allows in-game voice chat, multiplayer games as well as notifications of game invitations and friend requests.
The New Notification Center
In Mountain Lion, system and app messaging are unified and all messages have a consistent look and they are available in one place. If you use a two finger swipe from the right edge of the trackpad, the Notification Center appears conveniently at the right hand side of the screen. Alternatively, you can bring it up by clicking the button for the Notification Center at the upper right corner of the screen. It changes to blue when you have new notifications. Apps pop up for five seconds before disappearing but alerts pop up and stay until they are dismissed.
Gatekeeper
There are still other changes that you might be interested in but the last one that we will talk about is security. Security is strengthened in Mountain Lion with Gatekeeper which provides a strong defense line against future threats. Gatekeeper is able to prevent malware by only permitting apps that it considers safe. This is somehow restrictive because the permitted apps are those that are downloaded from the Mac App Store or written by developers licensed by Apple. However, you can choose a setting that will allow you to run apps that you downloaded from other sources.
