What’s new pussycat? Lion struts its stuff

Apple shipped seven named iterations of their operating system over the last decade and the first release of the next decade is just now coming into view. Thereupon, with the iPad fledged and iOS now coming full circle, this latest cat from Cupertino has a distinctively different look.

Apple’s Mac OS X Lion, which appears to be branded without the expected “10.7″ appellation, got a cursory showing at yesterday’s Back to Mac media event at the company’s 1 Infinite Loop campus before a roomful of tech journalists.

“Lion brings many of the best ideas from iPad back to the Mac, plus some fresh new ones like Mission Control that Mac users will really like,” said Steve Jobs. “Lion has a ton of new features, and we hope the few we had time to preview today will give users a good idea of where we are headed.”

Here’s what was on show for the gathered and my take on these technologies:

• Mac App Store — To be based in large part on the iPhone App Store model, this new Apple service will arrive within 90 days, though the “open” FUD mongers already claim the apocalypse is upon us. For users, this appears to be a big win as it will obviate installation and update hassles. Developers will have to suss out how they feel about it.

• Launchpad — Welcome to Apple’s transition away from the Finder, which has been an integral part of the Mac experience since 1984. This will be the home for your apps in the same way that software is managed and controlled on the iPhone and iPad. As an old Mac head, I’m very ambivalent about this development, though Apple can pacify the rest of us by maintaining access to the Finder and command line.

See also: Hands on with FaceTime for Mac beta

• Full-screen apps — Another step in the direction of a Finder-free future where gestures will replace, at least in part, mouse-based input and immersive apps are the rule. If this doesn’t slow me down when operating in multiple apps, it will be OK. Still, how will we watch video in one window while keeping an eye on email and editing in Photoshop if Finder goes away?

• Mission Control — Combines Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces and full-screen apps. Like a lot people, I use the first three sparingly. Not to beat a dead horse, but this another move away from the Finder. I see how this could work very well for consumers, presenting them a familiar interface across all of the company’s product lines. The question of how functional it will be for power users is an open question.

So, again, I’m ambivalent about the changes Apple says are coming in Mac OS X Lion. That is, the next-gen operating system looks like it will work very well on cars (i.e. MacBooks, iPads and iPhones), but it’s not looking promising for the desktop (trucks)…

What’s your take?

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• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is a winner, but not necessarily cheap
• Going on a Lion hunt just got easier
• Carbonite is broken under Lion
• Apple moving OS X to yearly updates when Mountain Lion leaps
• Lion to roar next week