Apple's upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will feature multi-user screen-sharing, which could make it popular for business users. Apple will likely reveal more at WWDC 2011.
Apple's
upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" includes a feature that allows multiple users to
work on a machine concurrently, via individual graphical sessions.
The blog Apple
Insider, in a March 31 posting, suggested this multiuser
screen-sharing is "similar" to Microsoft's remote-desktop service, which allows
user access to a remote PC over a network.
The second
developer preview of Lion, termed build 11A419 and released March 30, is
intended to give IT pros in Apple's ecosystem some idea of what to expect when
the operating system's final version ships to consumers this summer.
Lion will
feature the new Mac App Store, with applications purchasable via the user's
iTunes account. The storefront launched Jan. 6 with more than 1,000 free and
paid applications, including the always-popular Angry Birds and more
productivity-centric programming such as AutoDesk. In taking its
mobile-applications model to the traditional PC realm, Apple evidently hopes to
create a new paradigm for installing and running programs.
But the
screen-sharing feature also suggests that Apple is continuing to think about
business power-users in addition to consumers. Although Microsoft's Windows
franchise continues to dominate the market for traditional PC operating
systems, Apple has seen increased adoption among both the enterprise and SMBs
(small and midsize businesses), thanks to its mobile devices, which increasing
numbers of employees want integrated into their workaday lives.
In February,
Apple released the first developer preview of Lion, with features such as
Mission Control (touted by Apple as giving users "a bird's-eye view of every
application and window running on your Mac") and LaunchPad, which displays all
Mac applications in a full-screen layout. Using the new AirDrop, users can copy
files wirelessly from one Mac to another. A revamped FireVault pairs full-disk
encryption for local and external drives with the ability to wipe a Mac's data
instantly.
Apple will
almost certainly talk details about Lion at its annual WWDC (Worldwide
Developers Conference), which will run June 6-10 in San Francisco. In addition
to its new Mac operating system, the company is also expected to delve a little
deeper into iOS 5, the newest version of its mobile OS. Whether the event also
sees the unveiling of the iPhone 5, which some rumors have set for later in the
year, remains to be seen.
WWDC 2011 will
feature technical sessions by Apple engineers, who will also offer code-level
assistance into development techniques.
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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