Software Review: OS X Lion V. 10.7 For Apple MacBook Pro

*Note: the following review comes from the writer's personal experiences with Apple's latest version of the OS X Lion desktop operating system for the Apple MacBook Pro. The writer is not receiving payment or compensation of any kind from Apple for this review.

After making the transition from a PC notebook to my recently-purchased 15" Apple MacBook Pro, I was a bit hesitant of adjusting to what I had read was the most "revolutionary" desktop operating system on the market: Apple's OS X Lion (which has replaced Apple's previous Snow Leopard OS software). Sure, Apple always markets their software as groundbreaking and innovative, but I knew the true test would come after taking the OS for a spin myself. Having test-driven this desktop operating system before my MacBook Pro purchase, I knew it was without a doubt exactly what I had been looking for in a notebook operating system.

OS X Lion version 10.7 offers users "over 250 new features, including multi-touch gestures, Mission Control, full-screen apps and Launchpad," according to Apple's official web site. What you won't hear from Apple is that OS X Lion also comes with a few annoying bugs and system issues. I know that by now the suspense must be killing you, so let's take a look at a few of this update's most amazing features, shall we? And while we're at it, we'll look at those nasty bugs.

MultiTouch Gestures, Mission Control & Launchpad

If you're coming from an iOS mobile device world, you should have very little trouble adjusting to the new MacBook multitouch trackpad. Unfortunately, if you are transitioning from a PC laptop trackpad or two-button mouse, you will have a little practicing to do. But hang in there, these multitouch gestures are one of the core components to this OS upgrade.

While viewing your desktop (Finder), swiping three fingers to the left or right will allow you to move seamlessly from your desktop to your dashboard (a nice panel full of customizable widgets like Fandango movie showtimes, a dictionary, an ESPN app, a language translator, weather app, dictionary, clock, calculator, unit converter, flight tracker and even sticky notes for writing yourself reminders), as well as move between full-screen apps (a new addition in this OS X Lion upgrade).

Swipe three fingers vertically across the trackpad and you will enter into Mission Control view (also accessible via your F3 shortcut key), a nice multitasking feature that "gives you a bird's-eye view of everything on your system." If you're anything like me, you tend to have several projects and applications running at the same time. With Mission Control, everything is instantly visible and accessible. Your desktop will zoom out and give you a complete view of every open app, program and window on your Mac. For users who love to multitask, the importance and convenience of this feature simply cannot be overstated.

A four-fingered pinch inward on the trackpad will give you instant access to your Mac's Launchpad: a full view of every available app (standard and installed) on your Mac. The Launchpad can also be accessed via the F4 shortcut key. To exit Launchpad, reverse your four-fingered pinch outward on the trackpad, or simply tap the F4 shortcut key again.

The MacBook's new multitouch trackpad also incorporates a two-finger scroll (perfect for moving forward and backward while viewing webpages in your Safari browser), tap to zoom, pinch and zoom (perfect for users coming from the iOS world), and swipe to navigate. After mastering the aforementioned gestures, I felt all the more in "touch" with my Mac. Every action I performed was highly interactive and direct.

Full-Screen App Viewing

A major improvement over Snow Leopard has come in the form of full-screen app views for many of the standard and downloadable apps for OS X Lion, including your Mac's Mail, Calendar, iTunes and Safari windows. Users transitioning from a PC world will simply think of this as the "maximize" feature. The full-screen viewing applied to apps and software I downloaded and installed after purchasing my Mac as well, such as the Evernote for Mac productivity application and Snag-It for Mac, an image and screen capturing software. Both Evernote and Snag-It came with full-screen viewing options.

The Mac App Store

Of course, one of Apple's strengths has always been its ability to provide users with unparalleled access to a plethora of free and purchasable applications through its popular and attractive App Store market. And now the same luxury you enjoy on your iPhones, iPods and iPads is available right on your Mac. In the Mac App store, accessible either from your dock or Launchpad in OS X Lion, you can browse through thousands of applications designed to make your Macbook all the more powerful and useful.

A few personal suggestions on apps that will help you get started with your new OS X Lion experience: Pages (Apple's word processor, compatible with Microsoft Word users: $19.99) and Keynote (Apple's presentation program, compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint users, also $19.99). For productivity fanatics, I suggest installing the Evernote desktop application to your Mac (free), as well as to your iOS or Android-powered mobile device.

FaceTime

Apple's high-definition video calling application is now available for the Mac. With a wi-fi connection, you can quickly and easily make video calls to anyone on an iPhone 4, iPod Touch (running iOS 4 or later) or iPad 2.

Resume, Auto Save and Versions

How many times have you closed an application on your Mac by accident while in the middle of an important task and wished you could reopen it right where you left off? With OS X Lion's "resume" feature, now you can. In my opinion, this is one of the most simple, yet useful features in this new desktop operating system from Apple. If you have several tabs open in your Safari web browser and exit the browser, it will reopen at any time with every browser tuned into the last web site you were surfing. The "resume" feature also applies to several of the standard applications that come with your Mac.

Auto Save is a built-in, standard feature on your Mac that regularly saves and backs-up any projects you happen to be working on, such as a document in your Pages word-processor or a slide presentation in your Keynote application.

E-mail

Finally, Mac OS X Lion has given your e-mail experience a serious upgrade. With a formatting structure to Microsoft Outlook, it also takes advantage of the full-screen app viewing. Now, you can see all of your e-mail folders on far left, alongside a slightly larger column displaying your most recent e-mail messages with the first few lines of the e-mail text, the sender and the subject line (if the sender filled this out). There is additionally a nice search bar in the top right corner for finding those pesky, little e-mails that have gotten away.

Summary

As someone who spent years on a PC, utilizing mostly Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, I can without a doubt say that I will never look back after transitioning to my MacBook Pro running OS X Lion desktop. The software truly takes advantage of every possible feature, and of course, Apple's Mac App Store offers several download-able programs to enhance your Mac experience all the more.

For users worried about the compatibility of Pages, Numbers and Keynote with Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint, I suggest purchasing Microsoft Office Home and Student edition for Mac. Not only is it cheaper than the business edition, but it will increase your compatibility between your Mac and PC users all the more. Although you can save your Pages, Numbers & Keynote documents as Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, little things like fonts and borders can get screwed up between the two software programs. Just break down and spend the $110 on Microsoft Office Home & Student edition for Mac. You'll be glad you did in the long run.