14 DAY TRIAL // Individuals chosen by Apple to test Mac OS X Lion, including the code-savvy enrolled with the company’s developer programs and select customers, are being notified by Cupertino that a second update to their Developer Preview 2 of Lion is now available. Xcode 4.1 Preview 4 is also up for grabs from Apple’s servers.
Available via Software Update to all those currently testing Lion, the 1.17GB download brings a few nifty changes that are immediately visible in some of the most popular built-in applications and functions of the operating system.
Some of these changes include new iChat bubbles, as evidenced by 9to5mac, as well as a new way to delete applications from the Launchpad interface.
Safari gains a new downloads menu that resembles iPad-specific drop-down dialogs, and the control bars scattered throughout the OS are now ‘cleaner’ according to those who’ve had an early glimpse at the updated Lion.
Another finding, perhaps more important for end users rather than for developers, indicates that Apple will launch the final version of Mac OS X Lion with a Find My Mac application.
The evidence comes from a 64-pixel .png image found in the OS’s resources which depicts the icon used by Apple for the Find My iPhone and Find My iPad applications.
Related to the Find My Mac discovery is a reference to “Find My Mac messenger” which suggests Apple will implement a way for users to employ an instant messaging client from the Finder to aid in finding a lost or stolen computer.
In addition to the Lion update, Apple today released a new version of the developer toolset targeting Mac and iOS programming - Xcode 4.1 Preview 4.
So far, there are no details as to what the new Xcode delivers, but it is fair to assume it was released primarily with the purpose of adding compatibility with the new version of Lion.