Lion will be available for 21 this July, exclusively as a 4GB download through the Mac App Store so you'll need to be already running 10.6.6 Snow Leopard. This is extraordinarily cheap MacOS X 10.5 Leopard, the last major release, cost 85 when it was released back in October 2007.
It's unclear if there will be an alternative delivery method for Mac users without fast broadband connections or how users will reinstall and troubleshoot their computers tasks which have traditionally required a physical boot disc. We suspect Apple may include a utility allowing users to create a bootable USB flash drive for such tasks, similar to the one included with the MacBook Air.
How will I be able to deploy Lion to my office full of Macs if it's an App Store-only download?
Good question. Currently, apps bought from the Mac App Store can be installed on up to five Macs associated with your account, so it's likely Lion will benefit from the same generous licence terms generous for home users that is. We're still awaiting word from Apple on how volume licensing for greater numbers of clients will work.
That Mac App Store seems like more trouble than it's worth.
That remains to be seen. The Lion version of the Store will allow apps to have iOS-style features such as in-app upgrades and push notifications. More significantly, App Store-bought apps will benefit from sandboxing so security holes in one app can't be used to exploit another app or the system itself in theory at least.
Golly, that sounds exciting.
Yes it does. We'll bring you a full review as soon as we can.
-
Developers urged to remain vigilant amid continued Miasma malware risksNews The Miasma malware package uses legitimate OIDC tokens, making it indistinguishable from routine code updates
-
Euro-Office ‘sovereignty’ claims questioned in scathing open letter by LibreOffice maintainersNews The developers behind LibreOffice have questioned Euro-Office’s sovereignty credentials and use of a Microsoft-based document format
-
AI is coming to Ubuntu: Canonical exec teases future AI features and agentic workflow capabilities for version 26.10 — but on a ‘strictly opt-in basis’News A range of new AI features are coming to Ubuntu over the next year, according to maintainers, but only providing they’re of “sufficient maturity and quality”.
-
Windows 10 extended support costs could top $7 billionNews Enterprises sticking with Windows 10 after the October deadline face huge costs
-
Tiny11 review: Windows 11 with only 2GB of RAMReview A version of Windows 11 for older machines that don't meet the full requirements
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux becomes foundational operating system for Cohesity Data CloudNews New strategic partnership between Red Hat and Cohesity aims to drive innovation in the data security and management space
-
Ubuntu shifts to four-week update cycleNews Critical fixes will also come every two weeks, mitigating the issues involved with releasing prompt patches on the old three-week cadence
-
AlmaLinux follows Oracle in ditching RHEL compatibilityNews Application binary compatibility is now the aim with 1:1 now dropped
-
How big is the Windows 10 cliff-edge?ITPro Network With some comparing the upcoming Windows 10 end of life to Windows XP, we ask members of the ITPro Network for their insight
-
Everything you need to know about the latest Windows 11 updates - from bug fixes to brand-new featuresNews Two new cumulative updates are on the way and will be installed automatically on Windows 10 and Windows 11 machines
