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Here’s everything Apple didn’t tell you about OS X Mountain Lion

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 · 9:09 am · 69 Comments

“AirPlay mirroring, dictation, and Notification Center stole the show during the Mountain Lion portion of Apple’s WWDC keynote last week,” Kevin Smith reports for The Business Insider.

“With more than 200 new features, there’s still a lot to unpack with Apple’s new desktop operating system,” Smith reports. “It was impossible for Apple to cover everything during the presentation, so check out these other features that will enhance your Mac experience this July.”

Smith covers:
• AutoSave
• Improved Dashboard
• Facebook Integration
• Game Center
• Gatekeeper
• Deeper iCloud integration
• Mac App Store improvements
• Notes
• Photo Booth Improvements
• Full screen on any display
• Photo Stream screen saver
• Backup to multiple locations using Time Machine

Read more in the full article here.

Categories: News

Tags: Mountain Lion, OS X, OS X Mountain Lion

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Comment Feed

69 Comments

M

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:12 am · Reply

And you can connect via screen sharing into a user account that isn’t currently active..so some can be using the Mac, and you can remote into it without disrupting the current user. Sweetness for me and my work Mac
- progressiveagentprovocateur
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 11:48 am · Reply
  
  The online thieves are going to love that “feature”.
- Drennyn
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 8:04 pm · Reply
  
  That works in Lion already.
theledger

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:13 am · Reply

Full screen on any display and AirPlay are worth the price of admission.
- M
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:29 am · Reply
  
  Airplay screen sharing (Mac to Apple TV) doesnt work with all Macs. It’s particular about what video card you have, from what I hear. Fullscreen on secondary displays is a welcome fix to what should have been introduced in Lion.
  
  ML is a worthy upgrade from Lion for sure. Lion feels like a beta compared to it. If you like Lion.. count on upgrading to ML as it is way more refined and fixes some of the quirkiness in Lion.
  - K.C
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:10 pm · Reply
    
    @M
    From what you hear…. Really!
    
    Screen sharing works on all Macs and it has nothing to do with what you heard and it isn’t the issue at all with the video cards used, some people just don’t know how to set up a router that is non Apple designed to let it work correctly, proper ports need to be allowed, and old routers that are non Apple have had a problem letting through the correct ports.
    
    Also if Remote management it turned on then it stops screen sharing unless you set remote management to control screen sharing correctly.
    
    Listen, first time I heard of it and it works fine on my Mac Pro 2007, Mac Mini 2009 & 2011.
    
    So please enlighten us with a link and proof, if not your blowing in the wind.
kentkd34

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:36 am · Reply

Hope we have control over when auto-save functions and when it is not. Its a mess now.

I own the computer, own the documents on my computer.

End of story.

I regularly run 20 separate apps, normally run 5 or 6 apps to do one project, as it is Lion absolutely does not have the capability of properly cataloguing all of the changes that occur in projects an files. Searching versions arbitrarily created by Lion? Would I allow someone in another city to drive my car based upon what they see on a video screen? Of course not, but that is the analogy that we are working with.

I want complete control of my content. There are still some of us out there who use our Macs to create content for a living. We have very different needs than those for whom the Mac is some kind of entertainment device.

Always look twice, carefully, at those who want to “help” you.
- M
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:44 am · Reply
  
  Its better..
- 3l3c7ro
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:54 am · Reply
  
  I guess that automatic transmissions and automatic spark advance are things you can’t stand in a car. Of course you don’t want the signal lights to decide how often they flash when you select them too.
  - Nic900
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 10:00 am · Reply
    
    horrible comparison… Sorry but it is
    (auto advance etc that is)
  - mossman
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:03 pm · Reply
    
    Yes, race car drivers can’t stand automatic transmissions in their cars.
    
    Yes, even amateur photographers sometimes want a real optical zoom, and some control over aperture and exposure instead of pre-sets, convenient as they are.
    
    Way to bring up a stupid analogy. Some people need more control, period. And not for obviously irrelevant things like signal light cycle times, which have zero bearing on how a driver handles the car. Not everyone is like you, and that’s a good thing.
    - TheConfuzed1
      
      Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:09 pm · Reply
      
      The Mercedes-Benz driven by Michael Schumacher is an automatic.
      
      Trust me, he isn’t complaining about that.
      - mossman
        
        Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:27 pm · Reply
        
        Unless he’s racing that Mercedes-Benz professionally, that doesn’t counter my point at all.
        
        Formula One doesn’t allow full-automatic transmission. F1 cars are semi-automatic, so drivers still control when they shift up or down.
        
        NASCAR is manual transmission too.
    - 3l3c7ro
      
      Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:31 pm · Reply
      
      Obviously, Apple provides no way to turn off the offending automatic backups. Of course people who ‘need’ the control can’t ignore the saved files and do their own thing.
- DJ
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 10:25 am · Reply
  
  Absolutely agree.
- progressiveagentprovocateur
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:08 pm · Reply
  
  +1
  Autosave of versions is a security nightmare, is unneeded. I want 1 version saved on my schedule, backed up LOCALLY on a device I own.
  
  All this cloud shit is going to be great until the inevitable happens and a bunch of people are robbed blind.
  - M
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:39 pm · Reply
    
    As far as I can tell.. it does not autosave to iCloud. In text edit, at the top of the toolbar where the document name is, there is a pull down menu. When you start typing on a new or old document, “edited” appears next to the name. The pull down menu then includes “Rename, Duplicate, Move To (icloud or local), Lock, Last Saved, Browse All Versions.
    
    It is autosaving.. but not like it did in Lion.. and doesnt take over your workflow. Editing images in Lion was freaking impossible due to versions telling me documents were locked.. and then reverted back to pre-edited versions. This is much, much better.. and is more like autosave in word.. but this actually works. Browsing old versions is actually helpful.
- Jeff II
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 6:39 pm · Reply
  
  Actually the “Save As…” command has made it back into ML. Just hold down the option key when you select the File menu. For once Apple listened to the crowd that roared!
  
  I don’t know about disabling auto-save but I’m sure there’s a way to do that in Terminal.
Bryan J Blumberg

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:39 am · Reply

Will it support iBooks?
- cousar
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:00 pm · Reply
  
  If it does, I’ll buy 650 MacBooks next summer.
- M
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 2:14 pm · Reply
  
  It doesnt now.. But there are apps for that. Safari doesnt do RSS now either.. there are apps for that too, I guess.
  - Bryan J Blumberg
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 2:32 pm · Reply
    
    @M, could you please tell me which Mac OS app will support iBooks? For example, an iBook document has a suffix of .ipub, which I tried to open with Adobe Digital Editions. Unfortunately, due to Apple’s digital rights management (DRM), the Adobe app cannot display the book. So, which app are you suggesting that I use? Also, what app runs on Mac OS that can access the iBookstore, so that I can buy a book in the first place?
    - ichanmb
      
      Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 6:08 pm · Reply
      
      you could try BookReader (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bookreader/id448943039?mt=12). it can open .ibooks format, but still it cannot open DRM encrypted e-book
Hint

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:55 am · Reply

Yes to all but the Faceberg integration…Steve would never have let that one happen.
Lordthree

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9:56 am · Reply

Lion is fscking terrible.
tbone

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 10:30 am · Reply

Quit with the feature list.

does ML fix the Finder memory leak> Does it let me decide how and when to save files? Does it let me decide when to back them up and how?

Is Time Machine as smart as Carbon Copy Cloner?

Is the Finder stable? Are open/save dialog boxes any smarter than they were in 1992?

Lion is abysmal. They ought to give ML away for free to fix the instability that Lion introduced over 10.6.8.
- M
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 10:32 am · Reply
  
  yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes
- progressiveagentprovocateur
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 11:47 am · Reply
  
  They could start by fixing Safari. The heavy caching slowly corrupts your session until the spinning beach-ball of death rears it’s Microsoftian head. Funny how Chrome- built on Webkit-does not have this problem.
  Someone tell Dave Hyatt to get it fixed.
- Sucker
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:26 pm · Reply
  
  I wish Time Machine/Time Capsule would allow hooks so that I can integrate them with an online Backup service such as Carbonite, Mozy, SOS, or hey, get this, iCloud, so my backup server can handle the load of uploading the files remotely.
tbone

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 10:32 am · Reply

Oh, and I don’t want social network integration in the OS. That’s what apps are for. The pathetic attempt to cuddle up with the privacy gouging assholes at Facebook reminds me of the strategy of your enemy is my enemy. So you are my friend.
- praus
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:23 pm · Reply
  
  Do you belong to Facebook? I don’t. How does this affect you if you’re not on Facebook?
  - RevDrX
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:02 pm · Reply
    
    It makes you feel smarter, other than that, it would have no effect.
Snapper

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 11:01 am · Reply

I don’t want Facebook anywhere near my computer
- progressiveagentprovocateur
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 11:43 am · Reply
  
  +1
  You mean you don’t want to tell the local crack head via FarceBook you are going on a European vacation for 2 weeks so he can rob you blind? Or friend Viagra?
progressiveagentprovocateur

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 11:40 am · Reply

• AutoSave (Turn the shit off)
• Improved Dashboard (Wish I could delete)
• Facebook Integration (BS)
• Game Center (more BS)
• Gatekeeper (Unneeded BS)
• Deeper iCloud integration (still more unneeded BS)
• Mac App Store improvements (how about quality SW)
• Notes (more unneeded BS)
• Photo Booth Improvements (worthless BS eye candy)
• Full screen on any display (largely unneeded BS)
• Photo Stream screen saver (more worthless eye candy)
• Backup to multiple locations using Time Machine (server type app on client OS)

I’m sadly beginning to think that Snow Leopard was the apex of OS X and that it’s all downhill from that point. I’m truly not seeing $19 worth in the “upgrade”

People with limited data wireless internet (5 GB/month is common) are really going to enjoy having all this cloud BS blow through their data cap.
- JB Tipton
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:03 pm · Reply
  
  Yes! All of these bullshit “features” are answers to a question nobody asked.
  - progressiveagentprovocateur
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:09 pm · Reply
    
    Exactamundo
  - Garbag
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:11 pm · Reply
    
    JB, could I please have a million$s?
- Garbag
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:07 pm · Reply
  
  Jee, what ya think about scotch tape and rubber bands?
  - progressiveagentprovocateur
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:09 pm · Reply
    
    We’re not discussing Microsoft.
    - Garbag
      
      Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:16 pm · Reply
      
      Steady as she goes.
- praus
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:25 pm · Reply
  
  Just because you don’t need or won’t use a feature, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist. There are users for whom some of those features are perfect.
  - progressiveagentprovocateur
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:36 pm · Reply
    
    Compared to what needs fixing, they are trinkets. I do not object to FarceBook as long as I can turn it off- completely. Same for cloud and autosave.
    - praus
      
      Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:45 pm · Reply
      
      Even in the current OS, all the cloud stuff is something you have to turn on. Why would it be any different in the new one?
      
      As for Facebook, if you don’t have an account (like I don’t) and/or you don’t enter your account info into the OS then it’s essentially off.
      
      To the auto save thing…I just don’t get the vitriol spewed in it’s direction, I love that feature in Lion. I don’t have to think about saving documents anymore, it’s awesome.
- Jeez.
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:42 pm · Reply
  
  Wow, progressiveagentprovocateur! That’s quite a list of all of the things that you don’t need from Mountain Lion. I’ve got a tip for you, Apple DOES make a version of OSX that doesn’t have any of those things in your list. It’s called Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
  
  Me? I’ll upgrade to Mountain Lion.. There are a lot of new features that I could care less about, but there are a few that I welcome too, improvements to the Mail app, Notifications, Reminders, Messages, Dictation, Airplay mirroring, deeper iCloud… and $20.00 is worth it to me for the few features that I do want.
  
  In other words, rather than focusing on the crap that you don’t like/don’t need, see if there’s anything there that you do welcome and focus on that and ignore or don’t use the other stuff. If there’s nothing there that you welcome or something that breaks a feature you use right now, then just don’t upgrade to it. Also, when you say things are “unneeded” you mean that their unneeded to YOU. In case you are unaware, Apple makes their OS’s for the masses, not just for you. For example, I welcome the deeper iCloud integration even if you don’t. If you really do want an OS that has everything that YOU want and nothing you don’t, then you better start learning how to program and write your own customized OS, because that’s the only way there will be an OS that only has only the things that you want and nothing you don’t.
  
  (By the way, iCloud isn’t an all or nothing thing, you can choose what to sync in the preferences, so you can turn on bookmark, address book, and calendar syncing and turn off photo and document syncing to keep the data use low if your worried about blowing through your data cap.)
  - Garbag
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:58 pm · Reply
    
    Jeez?
    
    “progressiveagentprovocateur” is all about the B and the S.
    
    Elaborately! Adamantly!
  - Garbag
    
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:06 pm · Reply
    
    Look!
    He just threw an office chair across his monkey cage!
    Familiar?
- MEES
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 3:29 pm · Reply
  
  Yep, mostly BS.
  
  Instead,
  Add Siri integration, MobileMe like services, to say the least.
- Mark
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 4:26 pm · Reply
  
  I agree with you. Snow Leopard was the apex of OS X. Lion (and apparently Mountain Lion) are largely application level upgrades with few credible operating systems improvements.
- Derek Currie
  
  Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 2:41 am · Reply
  
  • Gatekeeper (Unneeded BS)
  
  Well, I will point out that Gatekeeper is ‘buzz word compliant’ within the computer security field as it provides app certificate security, theoretically killing off ANY chance of Trojan horse infections when used properly. This can be absolutely critical if you are the admin of a Mac or a network of Macs and you’ve got ‘LUSERS’ on the loose who will download and install any damned thing they’re emailed or can scour out of the sewers of the Internet.
  
  In any case, as an admin you can completely turn Gatekeeper OFF if you so desire. Apple’s XProtect will continue to work in the background as well improved ASLR.
  
  I write about this stuff HERE.
Jump

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:24 pm · Reply

I have absolutely zero interest in FaceBook integration. FaceBook is far too invasive the way it is. If there isn’t a way to turn it off it is a deal killer to me.
- praus
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:47 pm · Reply
  
  How would you not be able to turn it off? Just don’t enter any Facebook account info, problem solved.
marko

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:29 pm · Reply

Will I be able to use Airplay with Keynote…to utilize my TV as a secondary presentation screen, with my primary screen showing the presenters screen?
Tine

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:52 pm · Reply

I really hate to be that person but someone needs to say it: the former centrepiece of Apple’s OS, the almighty Finder, has completely lost its importance as of the last two releases. What the fuck happened to the company that used to be at the forefront of workflow and cutting edge interface design? I mean, it’s 2012 and we still have a Finder browser without tabs or split windows! Speaking of tabs, we all know that the only reason Safari has tabs, is competition from Firefox, Opera & co.

Let’s be honest, how many professionals use the current OS without first installing extras like Forklift, PathFinder, Alfred, ABFR, DragonDrop, Leap, Yep, FontExplorer, VLC, dupeGuru etc? But no no, instead of looking at productivity issues, Cupertino decides to shove fucking FaceBook down everyone’s throat. WTF?!

TL;DR: Dear Apple, just because there is a shitload of money to make with FB teens and casual users in general, please realise that a big part of your user base use your OS for actual work.
- praus
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:51 pm · Reply
  
  How is Facebook being shoved down your throat? Do you think some one from Cupertino is going to show up at your house and make you enter your Facebook login as soon as you download the new OS? I for one don’t use Facebook and don’t plan to enter any Facebook account info, problem solved.
  
  There are however, a lot of people who do use Facebook. Some even need to use it for their career. For those people, the Facebook integration could be an invaluable tool.
  
  Why do you believe that just because you don’t need something, no one else should, need, or want, or use it?
- Derek Currie
  
  Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 2:32 am · Reply
  
  @Tine, Oh @Tine, you are soooo right about the Finder. It is DESPERATELY craptastic in 10.7 Lion. I’ve nagged at Apple. I keep hoping each new 10.7 update will restore it to health…
  
  At least I can say that in 10.8 the Finder is [Censored for your protection]. And that’s a good thing. Meanwhile, there continues to be a place in the world for PathFinder and the various replacements for Spotlight.
- gypsy
  
  Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 1:37 pm · Reply
  
  Apple is not Microshit: it doesn’t try to be all things to all people. The fact that there are extras that are missing from the OS is good for Apple developers and shows that Apple fosters a need for developers. They create those extras and more. Every Mac user has the option of picking and choosing what they want to add to the OS without Apple loading it down from top to bottom with options that I or you might not need or want.
  
  Thats why the App Store is successful and why so many developers are making money. I don’t want a 200 lb gorilla on my machine, but I like that fact that I can pick and choose the lightweight extra that I need to fulfill a single use. And if you don’t the newest version OS, don’t buy it.
LordRobin

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 12:53 pm · Reply

Improved Dashboard? Wow, and here I kinda figured the dashboard was going away. I’m glad to see it’s not, as I still make significant use of it.

——RM
- praus
  
  Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 1:51 pm · Reply
  
  I use the Dashboard all the time as well. Glad to see it’s sticking around.
Derek Currie

Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 2:25 am · Reply

dictation

I don’t think I’m breaking the NDA by mentioning that dictation comes at the price of removing one very old related Mac technology. At least that is the current state of the beta. I’ll let you figure out what it is…
- Derek Currie
  
  Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 2:26 am · Reply
  
  Then again, maybe that old technology was removed to make way for something to replace it? Hmm. Could be, could be. Not sure, just conjecturing!
  - Hg Wells
    
    Friday, June 22, 2012 - 12:56 am · Reply
    
    I’ve always loved Speakable Items! But it’s been in serious need of substantial upgrading for YEARS. I’ll be excited to see what we all know will be replacing it coming soon.
    
    Maybe I should have said that I have love the POTENTIAL of Speakable Items…and that potential is just about here.
Sean

Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 3:44 am · Reply

What Apple did to Finder in Lion was remarkable. Instead of granting access to every area of the OS, they just let you go to what matters. Apps, Docs, Downloads, Desktop and Trash. Pictures, Music, and Movies is taken care of for the most part. Getting to the Library isn’t hard and you shouldn’t really be in there. The Macintosh HD folder should’ve been off-limits from day one, yet we kept it on the desktop since then. It is really the front lawn of the OS. New folder from selection is awesome. Keep both items is awesome. Resize from any side of a window is awesome. If you think you need more control, then you’ve failed. Organizing files shouldn’t be a ‘process.’ It should be simple and easy. Get it done so you can actually work on something before quitting time.
- Derek Currie
  
  Friday, June 22, 2012 - 8:45 am · Reply
  
  But I’m all over the Finder all day long and keep wondering how much of my day is wasted WAITING FOR IT TO DO SOMETHING. Why am I waiting for it to list all the files in a folder? This happens when I’m merely navigating. This happens when I’m saving PDFs for articles. And it’s not a caching problem because this happens over and over again with the same folders during the same login session! None of the tricks to dump and rebuild services, databases or indexes matters. Reinstalling the OS doesn’t help. Repairing the OS doesn’t help. <– There's one really stupid bug in the current Lion Finder.
  
  Here's another: Why is there no Finder feedback while making a Command-F Spotlight search as to whether the search is ongoing or has stopped? I want complete search results and have no way of knowing if Spotlight is finished or not!
  
  It's sloppy coding of fundamental features that I doubt requires a brainiac to solve.
gypsy

Thursday, June 21, 2012 - 1:16 pm · Reply

After reading the previous posts, both pro and con for ML (and Lion), I came to a single conclusion for the cons:

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Get over yourselves.

No one, including Apple is forcing you to buy into the new ML OS version. I continue to use Panther, Tiger and I like Lion a lot. Would I buy ML? I wont know until I read comments and articles of other users and get a real sense of what would affect me and my use of it.
- 2ndmate
  
  Monday, June 25, 2012 - 3:22 pm · Reply
  
  Right, and Windows 8/Metro is just around the corner! Useability City! Take that, Apple!
  - gypsy
    
    Monday, June 25, 2012 - 3:30 pm · Reply
    
    And my last choice for an OS would be anything MS !!! And if that was my last choice I’ll go back to snailmail, an abacus, writing by hand or a typewriter. And for my audio and viewing pleasure I’ll use my old LPs, cassettes and a VCR.
    - 2ndmate
      
      Monday, June 25, 2012 - 4:25 pm · Reply
      
      You can borrow my car. It can play 8-track tapes. Donna Summer, anyone?
      - gypsy
        
        Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - 1:55 am · Reply
        
        Oh, I forgot about the 8 tracks. Ahhhhhhh, the good ole days !!