Apple Seeds OS X 10.7 Lion GM Build to Developers, Public Release Coming Soon

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Hold on to your tents and sleeping bags, you Apple fans. No need to go line up at your nearest Apple reseller to grab the latest iteration of the OS X operating system, codenamed 10.7 Lion. Lion marks the first time that Apple will be releasing an operating system as a digital download via the Mac App Store.

Apple has seeded a Golden Master of OS X to developers a couple of days ago, bearing build number 11A511. Apple also seeded GM builds of OS X Lion Server components, Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 7 and iCloud for OS X Lion Beta 3. GM builds are usually pretty much final builds which make it to final public release, barring any last minute changes or bugs.


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Typically, it takes about 2 weeks from GM to public release. However, being a digital download it could hit the Mac App Store earlier than expected. At the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple announced that the $29.99 update would be available in July, although it did not elaborate on a specific date.

Basic requirements for the 10.7 upgrade for users is that it requires users to first be Snow Leopard 10.6 users. Apple released OS X 10.6.8 a few weeks ago to prep users for transition to 10.7 Lion.

Lion packs over 250 new features which include full-screen applications, more multitouch gestures, Resume, AirDrop file transfers, AutoSave, and Launchpad (which is an iOS-like launcher).

There has been reports that a new, refreshed line of MacBook Air notebooks with 10.7 Lion will be released soon. The last MacBook Air refresh was in October 2010, where it featured an all-new design. Some retailers are indicating low or unavailable stock for the current MacBook Airs — usually a sign of new products coming soon. Can’t wait!

I’ll be downloading the GM build to test on my Core 2 Duo MacBookPro. Will be posting some highlights soon!

Vernon
Vernon is the founder and chief editor of Vernonchan.com. A graphic designer by profession, he has a deep love for technology, cars, gadgets, food, and travel. He tweets too much and is also known as a caffeine bacterium ("life's too short for bad coffee"). Bleeds Blue (go Chelsea FC!) and considers BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo cars to have in the garage--hallmarks of a true petrolhead.