Apple's Mac OS X Lion: Worth the upgrade?

Apple has finally launched Lion, the much-hyped new version of its Mac operating software, which the company promises will make its desktop computers perform more like its wildly popular iPhone and iPad. Lion offers more than 250 new features, including multi-touch gesturing, full-screen app display and built-in access to the Mac App Store. Will enough people buy the Lion upgrade to help Apple continue its "roaring" trajectory?

Lion is the future of desktop computing: "Lion is a giant step in the merger of the personal computer and post-PC devices like tablets and smartphones," says Walter S. Mossberg at The Wall Street Journal. It makes computing easier and more reliable by demoting the "venerable scrollbar" in favor of tapping or swiping your touchpad to manipulate documents, and automatically saving everything you work on. This is Apple's "most radical" upgrade in years.

"Apple's Lion brings PCs into tablet era"

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Don't get your hopes up: With Lion priced at $29, Mac users won't balk at downloading it, says Ashok Govind at Lemonbase. But, "let's face it," Lion is not exactly "an enticer." To "squeeze the phone and tablet functionality into a Mac OS," Apple "had to sacrifice a few other well-loved features," including Spaces and Expose. And the full-screen concept to display mobile-like apps works on a phone or tablet, but "it's not the best idea" for multitasking laptop users.

"5 reasons why Apple's Lion OS will NOT become the Vista of Apple"

It's not perfect, but it's definitely worth the upgrade: "As with any operating system update, it's not all sunshine and kittens when it comes to Lion," says Rosa Golijan at MSNBC. Some will be bummed you have to buy it at the App Store instead of on a disc, others will complain that it's not a "perfect mirror" of the mobile iOS on a desktop. But the 250 added features, from "big little things" like improved auto-correction to big, big things like AirDrop for wireless file sharing, Lion is well worth the cost of an upgrade.

"Mac OS X Lion: Yes, it's worth the upgrade"