Apple was expected to release the latest version of OS X later this month and now if rumors are to be believed, the OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) will launch as early as next Wednesday, July 25, the very next day after Apple announces its quarterly earnings.
Apple launched OS X Lion last year the day after announcing quarterly earnings and it is expected that the company will follow the same pattern, according to 9to5mac.
The Cupertino tech giant will fix the price of its latest Mac OS at $19.99 and will be available at the Mac App Store. Meantime, Apple has launched the Gold Master seed of the OS X Mountain Lion. Build number of the seed is 12A269.
Top 5 Features
Apple brought many iOS features with Mountain Lion and introduced a gazillion of improvements. Check out the five features that we think are the best in the latest Mountain Lion OS:
1. Airplay Monitoring
Apple's AirPlay Monitoring is one of the most important features that lets users stream anything including music to Mac screen, to an Apple TV-connected television, just like iPad or iPhone 4S. This new feature of Mountain Lion will now help you to get rid of mini-DVI to DVI cables or VGA, or HDMI cables.
2. Dictation
Built on the same voice recognition technology, Dictation is definitely not Siri. Apple correctly declares "Talking is the new typing" and lets you get rid of typing on keyboard.
All you need to do is tap the 'Fn' button twice to initiate Dictation and with a third tap you can conclude. You can even put question mark or comma by just saying. Apple says the app trains itself to accommodate your voice and accent as you go.
3. Power Nap
With the new Power Nap feature, Mountain Lion OS X will update the key applications, software and OS automatically while you continue working. And the update will take place whether plugged in or running off the battery. This feature eliminates the frequent interruptions that Windows users often face with update messages.
4. Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper maximizes OS and platform security and combats malware by extending OS X's existing authentication-based installation routine. Gatekeeper makes your downloaded apps safer for you. With Gatekeeper you have three options to download apps. You can download and install apps from anywhere on the web or you can download and install apps from the safest Mac App Store or you can also use the Gatekeeper default option to install apps from the Mac App Store and apps from identified developers.
5. Notification Center
Just like the Notification Center Apple introduced to the iPhone in iOS 5 last year, the Mac OS Notification Center will keep you informed about all notifications starting from social networks messages from Twitter, Facebook, as well as a software update, a calendar alert, stock quotes, weather alert and many more. When new message arrives, it will pop up in the corner of the screen and you will be able to be updated with all notifications available at one catch-all location.
Other important features of Mountain Lion are Messages, Game Center, iCloud, Safari 6.0, Facebook, Reminders, Notes and Twitter.
