Mountain Lion integrated with iCloud. So, when users turn on the computer for the first time, they were given the option to sign in with Apple ID, and then automatically be set up iCloud, FaceTime, iTunes Store, as well as the Mac App Store. A new messaging application features called Messages, replace iChat features. Similar to the iOS, embedded features Reminders and Notes, and Game Center.There is also a Notification Center to alert the user if there is mail, new messages and so on. Check out the early Mountain Lion build on a loaner MacBook Air. Highlights of what's coming:
iCloud
Apple's cloud-based service, launched last fall, now has 100 million accounts. You'll be able to tap into the clouds to set up a new Mac with your Apple ID account credentials. A Documents feature will let you view, create and edit the same documents on your Mac as on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. In a cloud-based Document Library, you can organize documents into folders by dragging one on top of the other similar to the way in which you can create folders containing the apps you have on iOS devices. Apple is opening the technology to Mac developers so that various Mac apps can work with Documents in the cloud. But the feature was not built into the developer preview that I had access to.
Messages
Apple's iChat instant messenger and chat service is being replaced by iMessage, the Mac version of a feature that arrived with iOS 5. The result: You can send messages to or from a Mac to anyone who has an iOS device. Conversations in iMessage are kept up to date across all your computers and devices. And you can send pictures, high-definition video and other attachments up to 100 megabytes in size. You can also send group messages and receive a "read receipt" that lets you know when a person has seen your missive. Through a typing indicator, you will know when the recipient is readying a response. There's also a FaceTime button within the Messages app that lets you launch a video call. And Messages works with the same instant-messaging services that iChat supported, including AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk and Jabber.
Reminders and Notes
Other iOS 5 features come to the Mac. Reminders are a handy way to track your to-do lists. A built-in Share button inside Notes lets you share your note via e-mail or message.
Notification Center
As on the iPhone or iPad, Notification Center is a central repository for calendar reminders, incoming e-mail, new messages and more. On those iOS devices, you can pull down notifications by dragging your finger from the top of the screen down. On the MacBook Air, I was able to make the Notification Center come and go with a new gesture — moving two fingers left across the trackpad after starting the gesture off the trackpad. If your Mac doesn't have a trackpad, there's a tiny icon in the upper right of the screen to click.
Twitter is now integrated through Mountain Lion. So in the Safari browser, Preview, Photo Booth and Quick Look, you can select Twitter to tweet from within the app. If you choose, you can add a location to your tweet.
Game Center
Apple's social-gaming venue in iOS — there are more than 20,000 Game Center-enabled games in the App Store — is coming to the Mac.
AirPlay Mirroring
If you have an Apple TV box on the same network as your Mac, you'll be able to exploit this to wirelessly stream whatever is on your Mac screen to a high-definition television connected to Apple TV.
Gatekeeper
Through the years, Macs have famously avoided the scourge of viruses and malware that have plagued Windows PCs. But Apple is keeping up its guard with new security technology.
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