Mac OS X Lion is here!

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is here. OS X, the desktop counterpart to Apple’s mobile iOS, has taken iPad innovation “Back to the Mac” with this release, including the iPad home screen-like LaunchPad for app management, automatic save and resume, etc.

“Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we’re thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Lion makes upgrading a Mac easier than ever before; just launch the Mac App Store, buy Lion with your iTunes account, and the download and install process will begin automatically.”

It’s also the first time a major Mac OS X version will be distributed online, through the Mac App Store. Gigabytes of download will be an interesting challenge for those with multiple machines, but especially for those with slower internet connections or restricted bandwidth. (Never mind what the launch day rush might do to the internet in general — Apple servers have gone down during iOS releases in the early days.)

UPDATE: Apple has announced that Lion will be available “later this August” on a USB drive for $69.

All that aside, we welcome our Mac OS X cousins to the goodness we’ve been enjoying for a while now in iOS. Who’s getting it?

Apple Press Info
Apple Mac OS X Lion Features
Mac App Store Link

[TiPb] [iDownloadBlog]