Mac OS X Lion Guide

Mac OS X Lion recently roared into town. Learn about the new features and the changes with our online guide.

Wondering whether you should upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion?

To tempt all Mac owners, Apple has made the process easier than ever. With the ability to download directly from the Mac App Store, Lion is literally just a button away.

And at a price of $29.99 - who can resist?

But are you ready to take on the features of this mighty cat?

The problem with upgrading early is that there is not a lot of information out there on how to use it.

It's sort of like entering uncharted waters.

System Requirements

A good place to start is at the beginning. Can your Mac computer handle Lion?

Read our discussion about the Mac OS X Lion System Requirements here.

New Features

The new operating system boasts 250 new features.

This sounds fantastic - but if you don't know how to use them, they won't do you much good.

The terms Mission Control and Launchpad might make you think that we are talking about NASA - but these are just two of the new Lion features. They are joined by multi-touch gestures, air drop, versions, autosave and more.

Explore the new functionality here.

• Gestures - Learn about the new multi touch Mac trackpad gestures.
• Backwards Scrolling Lion feature - how to turn it off or should youleave it on?
• Mac Launchpad - What is it? And how do I use it?
• Saving documents in Lion - has become effortless due to Versions and AutoSave. But Save As in Lion has gone missing - find out how to access this feature.
• Mission Control Lion combines both Exposé and Spaces from Snow Leopard.

Changes from Snow Leopard

Of course, as is often the case - it is in with the new and out with the old. Some things have changed from the previous version of OS X.

Some people will applaud the changes while others will mourn their loss.

Learn about the differences and decide for yourself how they will affect you.

• Digital Color Meter - Under Snow Leopard, Digital Color Meter was the web design software Mac gifted to us. Under Lion it has changed - and NOT for the better.
• Java - Snow Leopard had Java built right in - Lion does not. Find out how to download Java for Lion here.
• Folder Icons - The process for changing Mac Folder icons is different from Snow Leopard. Here is how to change Mac icons in Lion.

Issues

Here are some problems that have surfaced with the new Apple operating system:

• Is the four finger swipe not working for you? This solved the problem for me.
• If you are having trouble with coupon printing in lion - then this solution might work for you.

Sometimes the biggest help comes from listening to each other.

If you have an issue, question or concern regarding Mac Lion - post it in our Mac forums. It is more than likely that someone else is going through the same thing.

Return from the Mac OS X Lion guide to the Mac Software Tutorials homepage.