OS X – Dig deep into Lion: The best overlooked, underrated features

17 useful features every OS X Lion user should know about

Computerworld – Apple billed this summer’s release of Mac OS X Lion as having more than 200 new features, but most coverage of Lion in the intervening months has focused on only a handful of them. While iOS-like navigation and app-launching interfaces, autosave/restore capabilities, AirDrop file sharing and an emergency restore partition are by all means important, there are a lot of helpful tweaks and enhancements that can easily be missed.

After spending several months really getting to know Lion, I’ve uncovered a plethora of little-talked-about functions that are well worth knowing about. Here are more than 15 new and useful features in Lion for you to explore.

What other unsung features have you discovered in Lion? Share your tips in the article comments.

File grouping in Finder windows

Lion’s well-known All My Files smart folder gives a bird’s-eye view of everything on your Mac with files separated by type — images, PDFs, text-based documents, spreadsheets and so forth. Each type of file displays preview icons of various files that you can scroll through, much as you would using cover flow view in the Finder or iTunes.

This file grouping option is the default for All My Files, but you can use it for any folder you’re looking at in icon view (but not in list, column or cover flow views).

Grouping files by type is useful, but the Finder’s new Arrange menu in the Finder window toolbar also lets you group files and subfolders by several different criteria, including by the application that created each file (or that is associated with the file if that application isn’t installed on your Mac); by the date they were last opened, added, modified or created; by the file sizes; and by the Finder label assigned to them.

Using the icon view in any Finder window, you can group 

files by a number of different criteria.

Protection for location information

Like the iPod touch and Wi-Fi-only iPads, Lion can use known Wi-Fi networks to determine the approximate geographical location of your Mac. This information can be requested by websites and other applications, as well as used with iCloud’s Find My Mac feature. The new Privacy tab in the Security & Privacy pane in System Preferences lets you choose whether your Mac can determine your location and, if so, which apps are allowed to use your location information.            More

Snow Leopard vs. Lion: Performance head-to-head

Since we had the 27-inch iMac on hand, we thought we'd see if OS X Lion introduced any performance changes.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

 

Despite over 250 new features, we aren't aware of any fundamental changes in Apple's new OS X Lion operating system that would impact performance after upgrading. It still offers 64-bit processing, and with Apple's tight control over Mac hardware components, there's no reason to anticipate a learning curve like Microsoft's partners had to deal with when Vista upended the Windows driver model.

Still, the version of iTunes that ships with Lion supports 64-bit processing for the first time. We also wonder about any performance impact from Lion's new auto-versioning feature. There's also the question of how well third-party programs will make the transition in these early days, since they might still be awaiting optimization.

With the 3.1GHz 27-inch iMac on hand from our review this past spring, we took the opportunity to see if Lion introduced any major performance variations compared with our Snow Leopard results on the same system.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Apple iMac 27-inch Snow Leopard (3.1GHz, Summer 2011)

63 

Apple iMac 27-inch Lion (3.1GHz, Summer 2011)

66 

 

Adobe Photoshop CS5 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Apple iMac 27-inch Snow Leopard (3.1GHz, Summer 2011)

236 

Apple iMac 27-inch Lion (3.1GHz, Summer 2011)

251 

More

How to prep your Mac for Lion

Computerworld - Now that Lion has reached "golden master" status, it may be just days before Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.

Only Apple knows the release date -- the latest rumors have it as July 6, maybe July 14 -- but you can prep your Mac now to make the upgrade go smoother and faster.

Make sure your Mac's CPU and memory meet Lion's 

requirements by bringing up "About This Mac."

Make sure your Mac can handle Lion

 

Lion's system requirements are slightly different than Snow Leopard's, so you need to verify that your Mac can run the new operating system.

Select "About This Mac" from the Apple menu, and look at the "Processor" and "Memory" items in the resulting pop-up.

 

For Processor, your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 or Xeon CPU.

As for Memory, you need 2GB or more.

You can't do much about a processor that won't run Lion, but it's easy and inexpensive to boost memory in a Mac. Crucial, one of the largest RAM sellers, prices a 2GB upgrade for a mid-2008 MacBook (the low-end model came with just 1GB stock) at $30 or a 4GB upgrade for $60.

You must be running Snow Leopard

 

According to Apple, you can only upgrade to Lion from Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard.
For now, Apple hasn't spelled out any direct upgrade path for users running Leopard, or Mac OS X 10.5, so if you're using that 2007 operating system, you'll first need to migrate to Snow Leopard, the OS Apple launched in August 2009.

Apple and others, including Amazon.com, sell a single-license copy of Snow Leopard for $29, or $49 for a five-license Family Pack.

For those still running Mac OS X Tiger and who have a Mac that meets the processor and memory requirements, the only option at the moment is to update to Snow Leopard using the $129 Mac Box Set.

A five-license Mac Box Set sells for $179.

Update to Mac OS X 10.6.8

 

Having Snow Leopard on your Mac isn't enough for Lion: You need to update the OS to version 10.6.8, which Apple released June 23.     More

With Lion set to roar, Apple issues security updates for Mac OS X

Lion, Apple’s newest desktop operating system, is set for delivery sometime in July, making this the last Snow Leopard update that many Mac users and admins will experience. 

 

Apple’s latest release, Mac OS X 10.6.8, fixes 40 security flaws and may be the last security update for its Snow Leopard version of the operating system. Apple has also issued security updates for its Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server edition, now at version 10.6.8.

The company has said its new Lion OS will be available at some point in July and can be downloaded via its App Store.     More