Jul 20, 2011 13:17 GMT  ·  By

After a year of anticipation, Apple has finally let loose its biggest cat - Lion - in the Mac App Store.

The eighth major release of Apple’s eye-catching and highly-advanced operating system, OS X Lion brings more than 250 new features, and is available today as a $29.99 download, Cupertino has confirmed.

The screenshot displayed above stands as evidence that Mac OS X version 10.7 is now live in the Mac App Store.

“Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we’re thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

Schiller explains to those who are interested in grabbing the new OS that “Lion makes upgrading a Mac easier than ever before; just launch the Mac App Store, buy Lion with your iTunes account, and the download and install process will begin automatically.”

Apple’s official report announcing Lion touts some of the key features, including Mission Control, Launchpad, the all-new Mail app, new Multi-Touch gestures, Auto Save and Versions, AirDrop, and others.

Lion borrows key elements from the iPad version of iOS, combining touch-style overlays and animations with the Mac OS customers have come to love and appreciate over the years.

In today’s press release, Apple also confirmed that users who cannot reap the benefits of a broadband Internet connection will be able to download Lion at Apple retail stores.

As expected, the Cupertino technology giant also confirmed that Lion will be made available on a USB thumb drive through the Apple Store for $69 this August.

For customers looking to purchase Mac OS X Lion Server, the Client version of Lion will be required. Lion server costs $49.99.

Download Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Download Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Server