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Mountain Lion: The Next Big Cat From Apple

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Intro

The new version of OS X from Apple — dubbed Mountain Lion — is now ready for download from the Mac App Store for $19.99.

Lion, the OS it replaces, was in many ways a new chapter when it comes to OS X versions. Lion was the first version to be available as a digital download. Requiring 10.6 Snow Leopard to be installed, Lion was a $29 download from the Mac App Store.

(Apple did offer Lion on a USB key in-stores for $69, but I digress.)

Notably, Lion brought many iOS features “back to the Mac,” as Apple claimed. Features such as Launchpad, the App Store, full-screen mode, gestures and more made the Mac feel more like home to the legions of iOS users considering Apple’s desktop platform for the first time.

(For kicks, check out my Lion review from last year over on Macgasm.)

So, does 10.8 carry that theme forward? Or does Mountain Lion back away from the “iOS-ification” of OS X?

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Apple’s Third Quarter Results⇢

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Here are the high points:

  • Quarterly revenue of $35.0 billion
  • Quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share (Up from $28.6 billion and net profit of $7.3 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter)
  • Gross margin was 42.8 percent compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter
  • 26.0 million sold iPhones in the quarter, representing 28 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter
  • 17.0 million iPads sold during the quarter, an 84 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter
  • 4.0 million Macs sold during the quarter, a two percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter
  • Apple sold 6.8 million iPods, a 10 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter

There’s more:

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MacAdvocate⇢

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Dan Frommer:

Apple has long been fortunate to have an excited fan base promoting its products and helping lure first-time buyers. But did you know that Apple used to distribute free collateral to help its biggest fans spread the message?

That’s what this is: The 1997 MacAdvocate CD-ROM, full of “why Mac?” presentations, free software and games, Apple TV commercials, and more. It came out shortly after Apple acquired NeXT, but before Steve Jobs had really started remaking the company around products like the iMac or iPad.

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On the Nexus 7: My Nerd Life Has Never Been More Confusing

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Overview

With rumors of a 7.85-inch iPad circulating, Google’s announcement of the Nexus 7 has perhaps suffered a little. That said, the Google-branded, Asus-built tablet has many nerds intrigued. Offering a stock Android experience on a $200 device, Google is trying to set the bar when it comes to smaller tablets.

Have they done it? Let’s find out.

Hardware

The Nexus 7 is a little lighter (and a tad thicker) than the iPad 3, and (as such) is great to hold in one hand. While the size difference between them isn’t that big, the Nexus 7 feels far more portable than the iPad.

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