Among the awesome features in Lion are:

New Multi-Touch® gestures that enable you to view Mission Control, switch between open apps, a two-finger scroll, tap to zoom, pinch to zoom, and swipe to navigate (which means that if you have an iMac or a Mac Pro, you will probably want to go and get yourself a Magic Trackpad).

System-wide support for full screen apps, which allows you to have multiple full-screen apps open at the same time.

Mission Control, a unification of full-screen apps, Dashboard, Exposé, and Spaces that gives you a view of everything running on your Mac.

Launchpad, which is a new home for all your apps.  No need to go hunting around in your Applications folder anymore.  One click on the Launchpad icon in your Dock and you get a full screen view of all your apps.

A completely new Mail.app, which will have the dual-column layout and conversation views similar to the ones iPhone and iPad owners are familar with.

Auto Save, which eliminates the need for manual saving AND lets you revert to the last saved version if you’re not happy with the changes that you’ve made. Versions allows you to see every new version of a document each time you open it, and you can move between versions in the timeline to compare or revert to an earlier version.  I know so many of our clients will be thrilled to have these two features.

Before downloading this upgrade from the Mac App Store you MUST verify that you meet the following two (2) criteria:

1.  Your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor to run Lion.

2.  You must be running the latest version of Snow Leopard.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to set up an appointment so we can help you upgrade your machines when Lion arrives.

Busy, busy week here at NeedMacHelp! Sorry for the belated post!

Ars Technica’s thorough review of Snow Leopard

Apple’s list of software that is incompatible with Snow Leopard

Apple’s support document on printing and adding printers in Snow Leopard

Macworld’s guide to installing Snow Leopard*

*NOTA BENE: We always recommend that our clients check in with us before installing ANYTHING.  For all other Mac users out there who are itching to install Snow Leopard, please make sure you backup your machine before installing!

The following improvements and fixes are included in the update:

• Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2.
• Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4.
• Resolves an issue in which certain resolutions might not appear in the Display pane in System Preferences.
• Dragging an Aperture image into Automator now invokes an Aperture action instead of incorrectly invoking an iPhoto action.
• Resolves an issue that could prevent importing of large photo and movie files from digital cameras.
• Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.
• Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.
• Improves iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDav.
• Addresses data reliability issues with iDisk and MobileMe.
• Improves overall reliability with AFP.
• Improves overall reliability with Managed Client.
• Improves compatibility and reliability for joining AirPort networks.
• Improves Sync Service reliability.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.
• Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.
• Includes latest security fixes.

As always, please BACKUP before you install the update.  Also, you may want to visit MacFixIt’s site here and here for reports of issues that some users have experienced with this update.

So far they have noted issues with the following:

• Computer hangs at the blue screen upon start-up after the installation of the upgrade.
• Disappearance of certain display resolutions.
• Buffalo external hard drives are not being recognized post-update.
• A few users have reported video issues on their MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
• Inability to print to PDF and some programs crashing when during printing.
• Bluetooth ceasing to work after the update.
• Option to disable trackpad when using a mouse appears to disappear in certain MacBooks with the new update.

For info on workarounds and solutions where available, check out MacFixit articles here and here.  As always, the team at Need Mac Help recommends backing up before the installation of any update.  We also recommend installing the combo update.

For users who feel they absolutely must upgrade right away, please read Apple’s support document regarding the update.

iMovie 8.0.2 fixes an issue with projects having a size of 0 KB.  Trying to open these projects caused iMovie to quit at launch.  This update also patches a problem where full-screen mode wasn’t able to be accessed on some systems.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/imovie802.html

Aperture 2.1.3 improves overall stability and provides fixes for issues related to the integrity of the Aperture Library database and compatibility with specific file types.

For more information on the image compatibility and Aperture Library fixes, see the Apple Support document about the update:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2683

According to Apple Support, Server Admin Tools 10.5.6v1.1 provides several improvements, among them:

System Image Utility – when deploying a system image created from a volume, the target computers will no longer have identical local KDC files.  Also adds NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers.

Server Admin – fixes an issue that could cause Server Admin to stop responding when propagating permissions on a folder which is on a volume other than the boot volume.  Also adds NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers.

The download for Server Admin Tools 10.5.6v1.1 can be found here:

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Server_Admin_Tools_10_5_6v1_1

• Freezing at “configuring installation” screen
• Mail crashes
• Network issues
• Time Machine backup failure
• Problems with DFU mode

If you are anxious to install the upgrade, we recommend first reading the instructions on Apple’s website and to consider installing the larger Combo update.