In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 8: Concluding Remarks
by Ryan Cushley
In reading this review, it is likely that you have realised I am somewhat torn. I am torn between the fantastic new features Apple is bringing forward with this release, but simultaneously distraught with the occasional lack of polish. Some aspects of the release work brilliantly (particularly Mission Control), but others, such as Launchpad, Full Screen and some of the visual changes just seem unfinished.
When Snow Leopard was released, for anyone running Leopard, it was a no-brainer to upgrade. Snow Leopard was the Service Pack that OS X long needed. Unfortunately, Lion appears to turn back the good work done by Snow Leopard in refining OS X and leaves bugs and glitches strewn all over. Again, this is disappointing, because the features Apple has created for Lion are oftentimes outstanding.
However, as any long-time user of OS X will know, a couple of months down the line, Lion will be stable, with most of the initial bugs rubbed out. Sure, this isn’t how software should be distributed, but it’s the reality of living on the bleeding edge. It must be noted that there is nothing in Lion that is absolutely show stopping; no bugs have caused a system crash for me, nor have they caused me to lose any work (partially thanks to auto-recovery in Microsoft Office). Upgrading should be done at this stage by the experimenters, the fanboys and the early adopters. Others should consider holding off for a few weeks until issues are resolved, especially crashing problems caused by Resume.
Momentarily ignoring stability issues currently inhibiting my complete approval of the upgrade, Lion is a really solid improvement to OS X. Building upon what has already been great, while bringing the best of iOS, Apple has produced an outstanding operating system for which they should be proud. Mission Control and Mail themselves would be worthy of my $29.99, but to get everything for that price? Unbelievable.
The direction OS X is moving is at present uncertain. It would be disappointing for Apple to waste time on further useless features such as Launchpad. Instead, Apple should focus on further streamlining OS X, and perhaps with 10.8, offering up that elusive visual overhaul.
There is no doubt that OS X Lion is a beautiful, mature release. It is obvious from using most features – everything from Mission Control to the newly-styled Dictionary popup that Apple has still got a tremendous team with fantastic ideas, and the company has indeed gone, ‘Back to the Mac.’
Aside from the aforementioned stability issues currently exhibited by Lion, it is hard not to fall in love with the sleek visuals, silky animations and this feature-heavy release. Once I switched to Lion several months back, I found it impossible to return to Snow Leopard. Taking that as an indication of the distinctly different, but positive nature of OS X 10.7, I must only recommend a purchase… after Software Update has worked magic. Seriously, leave it until August if you can wait – you’ll get a much better experience. With a little bit of polish, I have no doubt with some further refinement OS X Lion 10.7 will be the best release of OS X yet.
Lion will be released on July 20th 2011 through the Mac App Store.
July 15th: Subsequent to this review, I have published an article looking further in depth at why for many users, updating to Lion should wait.
Note: This review is based on the OS X Lion Golden Master release seeded to developers on July 1st. While this is still pre-release software it is likely that this is the final shipping copy. Should it not be, this review will be updated with any changes that occur with the final release.
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In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 1: Introduction
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 2: Installation
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 3: New Visual Changes
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 4: Launchpad and Mission Control
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 5: Full Screen and Mail
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 6: Auto-Save, Versions and Resume
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 7: Multi-Touch and AirDrop
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 8: Conclusion
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the excellent review.
While, indeed, upgrading to SL was a no-brainer (but involved many headaches), this time around I will wait to upgrade to Lion until end of 2011/ beginning of 2012 ( at least 10.7.2), if not later.
While working based on the new OS may be pleasant and make especially sense for the mobile macs, the new feature set just does not seem appealing to me: much eye candy and no real mention of advances in the professional/business area (crossing my fingersnfor the new samba for better integration in Active Directory, and in general MSexchange). It actually makes one wonder, how come development of this OS took so long.
However, my opinion might as well quickly and radically change once I actually start using it. Upgrading at this price point is just a matter of time (and stability).
I’m not impressed with the new features. To me it seems the OS is becoming dumbed down with more emphasis on look than function. I’m a staunch defender of Apple when haters mention “style over substance” but sadly I have to agree with them in terms of Lion.
Will any of the new features make my day-to-day use of OS X more productive? I doubt it. Enhancements like dragging from all corners have been available as 3rd party tools for years. I want to see more ground-breaking features on par with the likes of Spotlight, Expose and Automator.