I have been a Mac user since 2007, although it feels like it has been much longer than that. I have been on board ever since Tiger and have upgraded every step of the way through the latest Lion release. My hopes for Lion were through the roof, especially since my computer had been non-operable using Snow Leopard (apparently a freak incident).
Now, onto Lion. Lion has been a good addition to the Mac's suite of OS releases, although it didn't provide the instant "free memory" that we were all pleasantly surprised with when they released Leopard. Because of that happening, every time I upgrade I am hopeful that 20GB will automatically re-appear, it has yet to happen and it doesn't happen with Lion either. The basic commands to get around are still the same, here are some of the pro's and con's I've seen so far...
1. They added a series of spaceship themed items in the dock, one is called 'Mission Control' and the other is 'Launchpad' (kind of funny since the US just cancelled NASA). Launchpad is a quick way to launch any program in your Applications folder that you would usually open through finder or Spotlight. Mission Control is a quick way for you to view all of your windows, what you would usually have to use Expose (found in System Prefs) to accomplish. Both of these are handy and are quicker ways to accomplish common tasks.
2. Safari while ran in Lion is SUPER SLOW! In fact, Safari is so slow, that I switched to Google Chrome. Chrome runs really fast and it's super convenient to do Google searches in your IP Address line. These are the sort of reasons why people give Mac's new OS time to "work the bugs out," it seems like Safari always starts out really slow.
3. Lion brings some good additions to iCAL. Although I don't understand exactly how it all works, the connectivity between Google calendars and iCAL is better than ever. They added a 'quick cal' function that is a shortcut to calendaring an event, it's very intuitive and easy to use.
4. REMINDERS is a huge addition to Apple devices. This new part of iCAL and the mobile IOS5 is probably one of my favorite things. This is a basic task list that is included in Lion and IOS5. So finally, there is a task list that syncs between iPhone, iPad and computer. I am actually surprised it has taken this long, but either way it has finally happened. Reminders also comes with the flexibility to add different sublists of tasks based on the different types of calendars you have on your devices. The only drawback to this is that you can't do a description of a new task, only a title. Even with that, this is a great add-on.
5. For anyone who uses, Adobe products, there are rumors going around that the CS5 products aren't fully compatible with the Lion upgrades. While this is partially true, unless you are a professional who fully utilizes all of the components of these programs, I think it doubtful that it will cut down on any of your capabilities. I have used both, and although all I use the programs for are basic functions, they have ran great.
6. iCLOUD was the most hyped part of this upgrade, but also definitely the least user friendly. This is one of the few times that I feel Apple didn't do something with the non-techie in mind. The first issue is transferring all of your data to the cloud, this proved confusing on many levels. iCLOUD is a web based, limited storage part of Lion and the IOS5 for Apple products. The main problem is that the CLOUD starts out with 5GB of storage. This 5GB is supposed to hold your iWORK synced files, new music/videos that you purchase or upload, contacts and photos. 5GB is obviously not enough space for very long to store all that stuff, but Apple is sells options to upgrade your storage if you want. My issue with this isn't selling the storage upgrades, my issue is that they only give you 5GB, you would think they would at least give you 8GB.
7. The last thing is less of a critique and more of a free piece of valuable info. On all Mac OS previous to Lion, everyone could see how much disk space they had remaining at the bottom of the Finder window they had open. But, Lion allows the user to toggle this information. It took me forever to find out how to make this information visible. So, I am going to share it so it can save you time! Hit ⌘ /
I overall give Lion a 9 out of 10. Careful upgrading!
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