Apple 
Apple’s attempt to bring iOS back to the Mac takes another step in it’s evolution today, with the announcement of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (developer preview) for Mac, bringing in Messages, Notification Center, AirPlay mirroring, and more to the desktop operating system.
The preview is available right now with the full version with over a 100 new features shipping this summer. Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Philip Schiller, stated:
“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better. The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”
OS X 10.7 Lion, the current version, was announced last year with the focus on taking iOS ideas back to the Mac. With Mountain Lion it looks like that focus is a bigger priority, bringing the best iOS ideas to Mac OS X.
Macs now have proper integration with iCloud just like the iPhone and iPad, on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Documents on iCloud are now a core part of OS X along with a simplified secondary file system to make it easier to keep copies of your important files.
“It just works. In more ways than ever. In OS X Mountain Lion, sign in once with your Apple ID and iCloud is automatically set up across your Mac.1 That means right away iCloud keeps your mail, calendars, contacts, documents, and more up to date on every device you use. So when you add, delete, or edit something on your Mac, it happens on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. And vice versa.”
Tim Cook, current CEO of Apple, previously described iCloud as more than just a service, being Apple’s strategy for the next decade.
Among the other iOS-inspired features is a new Reminders app that synchronizes across your Mac and iOS so nothing slips by you.
Now nothing slips your mind. When you have so much to do, Reminders helps you get it done. It’s all in a list. More than one, in fact. Make as many lists as you need and easily add to them. Set due dates and you’ll get alerts as deadlines approach. Check items off your lists as you go and keep track of what you’ve completed. And to be sure you don’t forget anything, iCloud keeps your reminders up to date on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Previously you had to sync reminders from the iPhone or iPad to Mac using iCal, which was somewhat moody. This new app ensures fluid syncing between the two using iCloud. Definitely going to love this one.
Pretty straight orward, You create a note on your Mac at home, update it on your iPad at a meeting, read it on your iPhone while on the go. That easy.
Think it up. Jot it down. Make it even more noteworthy with photos, images, and attachments. You can add, delete, and flip through your notes or do a quick search. Use the Share button to send your notes to friends or colleagues with Mail or Messages. Pin important notes to your desktop so they’re easy to get to. And take them with you everywhere.
All via iCloud. You’ll also be able to pin important notes on your desktop, or share them.
Twitter integration, built right into core Mac apps.
“Tweet right from your apps. OS X Mountain Lion keeps you on top of all things Twitter. Sign in once and you’re all set to start tweeting — and you don’t have to leave the app you’re in. Tweet links and photos directly from Safari, iPhoto, or Photo Booth with the new Tweet Sheet. Tweet comments and add locations. And when someone mentions you in a tweet or sends you a direct message, you’ll get a Twitter notification right then and there.”
Popular Social Network, Twitter, will be deeply integrated natively in a desktop operating system for the first time, similar to how it is in iOS 5.
You can now easily keep track of all your mail, message, twitter, and other alerts on your Mac just as easily as you do on your iPhone or iPad
By swiping to the left on your multi-touch trackpad, you can get to the pull-out list easily without interrupting your regular workflow. Tap on a new email or iMessage and you’ll be taken right to it.
There’s also Game Center, iMessaging, AirPlay Mirroring (let your Mac screen appear on your big screen HDTV, via the Apple TV) and Gatekeeper (middle ground between standard apps and App Store apps, signed by a developer but not approved by Apple) coming to OS X as well. Definitely a great update, and further sign that mobile phones and desktop operating systems are now becoming more integrated with each other than ever. In Apple’s case here, it increases like likelihood that users shopping for a new computer may be more likely to consider a Mac if they’re already familiar with and enjoy the experience they get from their iPhone or iPad. It would be interesting if Microsoft did something similar with Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, for the same reasons.
Only thing missing seems to be Siri. Full press release below. In the meanwhile, do you like that mobile operating systems are becoming more integrated with desktop operating systems? Or do you prefer the two stay seperate experiences?
Apple.com Mountain Lion Features
CUPERTINO, California—February 16, 2012—Apple® today released a developer preview of OS X® Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad® to the Mac® and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay® Mirroring. Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud® in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store™ in late summer 2012.
“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”
The developer preview of Mountain Lion features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat® and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalize your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone®, iPad or iPod touch®.
Mountain Lion presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari®, Quick Look, Photo Booth®, Preview and third party apps. Mountain Lion also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV®.
More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Mountain Lion uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime® and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.
Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.
Mountain Lion also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Mountain Lion makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.
Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch™ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile and mobile-related accessories.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
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Macs look all set to downgrade from PCs to devices.
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