OS X Lion
OS X Lion,[5][6] also known as Mac OS X Lion,[2] (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers.
Not to be confused with OS X Mountain Lion.Developer
Closed, with open source components
July 20, 2011[2]
10.7.5 (Build 11G63) / October 4, 2012[3]
Apple Public Source License (APSL) and Apple end-user license agreement (EULA)
Apple - OS X Lion - The world's most advanced OS. at the Wayback Machine (archived June 9, 2012)
The world's most advanced desktop operating system advances even further.
A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Special Event on October 20, 2010. It brought many developments made in Apple's iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications, to the Mac, and includes support for the Mac App Store, as introduced in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard version 10.6.6.[7][8]
On February 24, 2011, the first developer's preview of Lion (11A390) was released to subscribers to the Apple Developer program.[9] Other developer previews were subsequently released, with Lion Preview 4 (11A480b) being released at WWDC 2011.[10]
Lion was released to manufacturing on July 1, 2011,[11] followed by its final release via the Mac App Store on July 20, 2011. Apple reported over one million Lion sales on the first day of its release.[12] As of October 2011, OS X Lion had sold over six million copies worldwide.[13] Mac OS X 10.7.1 was the last version of Mac OS X released under CEO Steve Jobs. 10.7.2 and later were released under CEO Tim Cook. 10.7.5 added Gatekeeper.[14]
Lion is the first version of macOS that did not support 32-bit processors and is also the final release whose development was overseen by Bertrand Serlet, considered to be the "founding father of Mac OS X".[15]
Although originally paid, Apple later allowed free downloads of the OS, especially for customers of older and no longer officially supported Mac computers, starting on June 30, 2021.[16][17] The same practice was applied to its successor, OS X Mountain Lion.
Reception[edit]
Reception for OS X Lion at launch was mixed; complaints include the fact that the normal "save" workflow had been disrupted by the Autosave/Revert workflow.[94] Other highly criticized decisions include the change to "natural scrolling",[95] hiding of the scroll bar,[96] the omission of the iSync program necessary to synchronize a Mac with non-Apple mobile devices,[97] as well as abandoned functionality in Exposé[98] and Spaces.[99]
However, in an extensive review of the operating system, Ars Technica recommended Lion.[74] They noted that it feels like it is the start of a new line of operating systems that will continue to be influenced by Apple's iOS platform.[74] The review also compared the introduction of Lion, along with its new conventions that change traditional ways of computing, with the original Mac OS X and when it replaced the classic Mac OS.[74] Macworld stated that Lion was a "radical revision", praising the changes made to the operating system to be more user friendly to new Mac users who are familiar with the iOS interface, while criticizing the limited utility of the interface. Ultimately, the magazine considered Lion an operating system worth getting, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.[100] guardian.co.uk called Lion a substantial improvement from its predecessors and considered it a "steal" given its price.[101]
On the other hand, Gizmodo stated that the new interface "feels like a failure" and concluded by saying that "it doesn't feel like a must-have upgrade".[102] Ted Landau of MacObserver also had serious criticism of Lion, reversing his earlier praise of Autosave and writing, "Auto Save takes irritatingly long when working with large documents. Still others lament the loss of the Save As… command, noting that the new Duplicate option is not as convenient to use. The consensus is that none of this would matter much — if you could disable Auto Save. If you like how it works, leave things as is. Otherwise, get rid of it. But Lion offers no way to turn Auto Save off. This is the heart of the "my way or the highway" complaint. A posting sums it up: "The new features are intrusive, non-respectful of the users' choices, and cannot be changed."[94]
Due to Lion's enhanced security features, including application sandboxing, Dino Dai Zovi characterized Lion's security as "a significant improvement". He also said, "I generally tell Mac users that if they care about security, they should upgrade to Lion sooner rather than later, and the same goes for Windows users, too."[103]
The 10.7.3 update was released with bugs, so Apple removed the standard download from their server and instead recommended that users download the Client Combo update instead, which can fully update a 10.7 system to 10.7.3.[104]