Apple releases dev preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with AirDrop, FileVault

So it looks like they are removing the need for the Quit command and the Save command, and are adding automatic document versioning.<p>In other words, Apple has finally brought the key features of Lisa OS to the Mac. It took a little longer than expected.

Am I reading this right? That Lion Server is included in the normal OS X Lion release?<p>That's pretty awesome if so. Means I'd be willing to fork over the cash for one of those Mac Minis to use for Calendar/Contact syncing instead of using MobileMe.

Block-level full disk encryption would be a huge win, eliminating dependence on PGP, which is pretty close to abandonware at Symantec (a recent 10.5 dot release corrupted PGP WDE drives, for instance). Presumably, if it's cool enough to have a brand name at Apple, it'll also gracefully handle hibernation, which no FDE currently does.<p>Fingers crossed!

Still no talk about resolution independent UI or some sort of DPI scaling. I have to wonder how people are using OS X on their 27" iMacs with very high-res screens. My eyes bleed on my 17" MBP with 1920x1200 - Windows DPI scaling works quite well for the most part.

Apple has updated their page on Lion with descriptions and screenshots of (all? At least all those mentioned in the linked article) its new features: <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/</a>

From Apple's Mac OS X Lion page [0]:<p><pre><code> "When you’re done with AirDrop, close *the Finder* and your Mac is no longer visible to others." </code></pre> I wonder if that's a typo and they really meant 'Finder window' instead of 'Finder'. In the current Mac OS X, you can relaunch the Finder but you can't keep it closed.<p>If the copy on the Lion page is accurate, then Apple is moving towards operation without the Finder, replacing it with Launchpad and Mission Control. I can see how that could work for first-time Mac users, especially those who already have an iOS device.<p>It reminds me of At Ease [1], an environment that hid the Finder from new users, offering something similar to Lion's Launchpad.<p>[0] <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/</a><p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Ease" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Ease</a>

Mail 5 looks almost exactly like Sparrow: <a href="http://sparrowmailapp.com/" rel="nofollow">http://sparrowmailapp.com/</a><p>Although, if Mail 5 is inspired by Mail on the iPad, it's probably more fair to say that Sparrow looks almost exactly like Mail on the iPad. Also, is that right that the developer preview is being distributed via the Mac App Store? How does that work?<p>I will say though, I'm looking forward to impressing potential clients with some fancy swiping at the coffee shop :)

Anyone else catch this tidbit from Apple's site?<p><i>File Sharing for iPad: Lion Server delivers wireless file sharing for iPad. Enabling WebDAV in Lion Server gives iPad users the ability to access, copy, and share documents on the server from applications such as Keynote, Numbers, and Pages.</i><p>This sounds like the OTA iOS file sync we've been waiting for.

Any reports from HN users who have done the upgrade?

From the article: <i>"Resume, which conveniently brings your apps back exactly how you left them when you restart your Mac or quit and relaunch an app;"</i><p>I really really hope they offer a "blow it away and restart from scratch" option for apps. Having to delete and reinstall apps on the iPad that have properly crashed (as in fall over, and then when restarted just crash straight away again†) is annoying.<p>I actually preferred the 'inferior' way of doing things back when iPad was single tasking, because hitting the home button would undo most programmer screw-ups.<p>†Not sure how they manage this, probably via some settings in their core data that they read in and then get borked up again each time. My theory is that removing the app and then putting it back in works because the persistent storage for that app gets reclaimed when removed.

I'm really excited about the new version of wiki server. (Scroll all the way down to the bottom)

Netkas has confirmed the following about Lion: &#62;Lion requires hardware with a Core 2 Duo processor or better. A lot of apps are sandboxed. OpenGL 3.2 support<p>I'm happy about the OpenGL 3.2 support. But what about 4?

No word on an HFS+ replacement.<p>Also, what's AV Foundation? Is this what QuicktimeX was supposed to become? Will we finally get codec plugins without having to program for the crusty old Component Manager?

Finally. Apple is getting rid of the default, always-on, scroll bar.

Tried it briefly, but Dropbox won't even install on it. In addition, Evernote doesn't work (it seems to be relying on a private API that doesn't exist anymore) and NewsRack sync with Google Reader is completely hosed due to a memory leak that I'm assuming is a problem on 10.7 (but not 10.6 for some reason). Needless to say, I'm going back to Snow Leopard for now, since Dropbox is a vital tool for me.

Does vmware fusion's support for installing OS X Server guests allow Lion Server?

Anyone else catch the new power key to the right of the eject key on what looks like the 13"? Maybe I'm slow, but I was pretty sure the last generation still had a circular power button - is this from today's update on the machines? Scroll down to "Gestures and Animations" <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/</a>

Its funny, but the first thing I thought of when I read about Versions is the old Vax/VMS file versioning system(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Files-11#Disk_organization_and_naming" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Files-11#Disk_organization_and_...</a>). That feature alone saved me tons of re-work in college. :)

Full-screen apps, increased emphasis on gestures, an app store... looks like they're trying to add an iOS feel to the user experience (at least within apps that use the new features).

if I enroll for $99 now would I still get a dev preview of Lion? I am already an iOS member.

Is it me or is Aqua being dropped?

no fullscreen mode for safari?

Screenshots or it did not happen!