Today at the Back to the Mac event, Apple [AAPL] also announced Max OS X Lion. The Lion version will be the 8th major release in the series when it arrives in the summer of 2011.
New features in Mac OS X Lion include the Mac App Store that brings to App Store of the iPhone and iPad to the Mac. The store is different in regards to what apps will be available, but the principles behind it are the same in that users can can easily download apps that run in full screen from the store with just one click. The Mac App Store will be launching in 90 days time for Snow Leopard and in November, developers will be able to begin submitting apps for approval at launch. The developer program is opening today over at the Apple developers site.
As well as bringing a new App Store to the Mac, Apple also introduced Launch Pad that brings an iPad style layout to your download apps where you can see the individual icons in a grid organised as you want in folders or direct on the desktop.
Mission Control was another feature announced today for Mac OS X Lion. Mission Control is a service that lets you have a comprehensive view of everything you have running on your Mac. The service works with Expose, Spaces, Dashboard and full screen apps and lets you see everything grouped together in the appropriate places. Gestures are used on the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad to activate the features such as two finger swipe downs that bring up a list of apps or slides to the side to switch to another desktop.
Overall it looks like quite an impressive set of features, especially with the new App Store.
Full details over here.
so excited for Lion!