WSJ’s Mossberg reviews Mac OS X Lion: ‘The best computer operating system’

13 years ago

“Lion is a giant step in the merger of the personal computer and post-PC devices like tablets and smartphones. It demotes the venerable scroll bar at the side of windows and documents, relying primarily on direct manipulation of documents and lists. It eliminates the need to save your work, automatically saving every version of every document. It resumes programs right where you left off. It can display programs, or an array of all your app icons, in multiple full screens you simply swipe through. And it elevates the role of multitouch gestures and adds new ones,” Walter S. Mossberg writes for The Wall Street Journal.

“I’ve been testing Lion on four Macs, and I like it,” Mossberg writes. “I believe its many new features — 250 in all — make computing easier and more reliable. I found upgrading easy, and compatibility with existing apps to be very good. Only one app I use frequently proved incompatible, and its maker says a new revision solves that problem.”

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“There are, however, downsides to anything this new and major. In my view, the biggest of these is that switching to Lion will require a major adjustment even for veteran Mac users, though it will be easier for those who use iPhones or iPads,” Mossberg writes. “Lion will significantly increase the learning curve for Windows users switching to the Mac… [However] Apple provides settings to return to traditional scrolling, the classic Mail layout, and to turn off gestures and other things.”

Mossberg writes, “Lion is very different. It’s a big leap, and gives the Mac a much more modern look and feel for a world of tablets and smartphones. If you are willing to adjust, it’s the best computer operating system out there.”

Read more in the full article here.