After revealing quite a handful of exciting news bits earlier today, Apple now announces the release date and price of the OS X Mountain Lion. Noted to be the ninth major release of the desktop OS, this entrant boasts of offering over 200 interesting attributes. These include iMessage, system-wide Sharing, Power Nap, Game Center, Facebook integration, Notification Center, AirPlay Mirroring, Dictation and Gatekeeper.
Integrated with iCloud, the latest OS enables easy set up and update of contacts, mail, messages, calendar, notes and reminders. Furthermore, the new introduction also does away with the iChat feature and replaces with iMessage. This enables Mac owners to send notes, attachments, HD video and photos to an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and even another Mac with ease. It also supports IM services like Google Talk, Yahoo! and Jabber.
“The pace of innovation on the Mac is amazing, OS X Mountain Lion comes just a year after the incredibly successful launch of Lion,” stated Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With iCloud built right in and the new Notification Center, Messages, Dictation, Facebook integration and more, this is the best OS X yet.”
The Notification Center allows users to view OS X and third party app notifications in one concise area. Sharing pictures, links, videos and files with loved ones has now been made even easier via the system-wide Sharing button. Additionally, the Facebook built-in support enables social butterflies to post links, photos and comments with locations directly from the apps. As the company suggests, the Power Nap feature updates the MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air while they slumber.
The OS X Mountain Lion release date and price details have been revealed by the company. The latest OS is expected to pounce into the Mac App Store next month, tagged at $19.99. This inclusion requires 2GB memory, 8GB space and Lion or Snow Leopard OS X v10.6.8 or later.