Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Released

July 20, 2011 — by Per Christensson

The latest version of Mac OS X was released today, and I'm not lion.

Yes, Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" is now available for download from the Mac App Store. You can also get Mac OS X 10.7 from… nowhere else. That's right, the only way you can get the latest version of Mac OS X is via a digital download from the Mac App Store. As regular visitors know, I love when companies push the technological envelope. I also predicted 2011 would be the year of digital downloads. But even I think that making Mac OS X 10.7 available only from the Mac App Store is crazy.

You cannot buy Mac OS X 10.7 from anywhere besides the Mac App Store, not even from an Apple Store. Additionally, you need Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) in order to access the Mac App Store. If you have Mac OS X 10.5 or earlier, you first need to buy Mac OS X 10.6, then download Mac OS X 10.7 from the Mac App Store. It's rather ridiculous if you ask me.

The good news is that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is only $29.99. That's an unbelievably low price for a significant OS upgrade. It boasts over 250 new features, many of which appear to be pretty substantial. I'm excited to try it out, but I plan on waiting for at least a few weeks after most of the software incompatibilities have been discovered and ironed out. If you decide to upgrade, well, I hope you already have Snow Leopard installed.