Apple's Mountain Lion operating system is its most successful release to date. Since it became available in the App Store four days ago, it has been downloaded more than 3 million times, at $20 a pop.
Apple released its OS
Mountain Lion four days ago, and downloads from the App Store have already
exceeded 3 million, making it Apples most successful release ever, the company
announced July 30.
Available as a $20 upgrade
for machines currently running OS Lion or Snow Leopard, Apple calls Mountain
Lion the worlds most advanced desktop operating system. With
more than 200 new
features, its also said to make Macs, iPads and iPhones work together more
seamlessly.
Mountain Lion simplifies
the setup of iCloud; includes Facebook integration, AirPlay Mirroring, new
Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Messages, Reminders and Notes apps; is more
customizable; and has more sharing services, as well as Dictation features that
work with every app, right out of the box. Many of its new features also make
it
more
amenable for office use by small businesses.
In addition to new Braille
options, there are also more features for users in Chinanow the worlds
largest market for PCs and smartphones, and Apples second-largest market after
the United States. Mountain Lion makes it easier to type Simplified and
Traditional Chinese characters, features a Chinese dictionary, and makes it
easier to type, and catch typos in, Pinyin, the way of writing Chinese using
the Roman alphabet. (When a user inputs new Pinyin words into the user
dictionary, iCloud updates the dictionary across all of a users devices.)
Analytics and
advertising firm Chitika
noted
the fast user adoption right away, blogging on July 27 that the percentage
of Macs running Mountain Lion was at 3.2 percent after just two days.
It is rather impressive
for an operating system to capture 3.2 percent of market Web usage after just
48 hours on the market, the firm blogged. Such figures are likely supported
by a relatively low price point for the operating system, as well as an
expansive list of desired feature improvements.
With Mountain Lion, Apple
has also moved the desktops aesthetic and user experience closer to that of
the mobile experience on the iPad and iPhonejust as Microsoft has done with
Windows 8. Microsofts new desktop OS, which will also be run by laptops and
tablets, features the tiled, touch-optimized start screen of its Windows Phone
8 mobile OS. It represents a major refresh for Microsoftand is arguably a
refreshing modernizationso much so that users will also have the option of
switching to a more classic (i.e., old-fashioned) version.
While sales of OS-running
devices are on the rise, even as the overall PC market flattens, Microsofts
core software makes it onto a considerable number of Apple devices; its the
rare MacBook user who can do without Word or Excel.
A recent ad placed by
Microsoft suggests the company is looking to extend its footprint to Apples
iPad. While readying its own Surface tablet (and accessories),
Microsoft
has placed an ad looking for someone to join its software development team
and work on the design, implementation and testing of new feature work to be
part of Microsofts next move on the Mac and on iOS.
Follow Michelle Maisto on Twitter.
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