Oct 21, 2010 09:06 GMT  ·  By

The eight major version of Apple’s Mac operating system is scheduled to debut Summer 2011, packing numerous enhancements among which Apple recently highlighted just a few.

Today, we’d like to look at Apple’s sneak preview of two of these new features, namely Launchpad - the home for Mac apps, and Mission Control - dubbed by Apple “Mac command central”.

Launchpad

As its name implies, Launchpad is a new home for all of your Mac apps on Mac OS X Lion.

“Launchpad makes it easier than ever to find and launch any app,” Apple says.

During yesterday’s keynote, Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed that OS X Lion’s Launchpad is the result of combining key features from the iPad with key features from Mac OS X.

“Similar to the Home screen on iPad, you can see all the apps on your Mac elegantly displayed just by clicking the Launchpad icon in the dock,” Apple explains.

The image below shows exactly what the Mac maker is talking about.

Review image
Review image
With Launchpad, apps can be organized in any order or grouped into folders, while the user can swipe through multiple pages of apps to find the one they want (click to enlarge). Credits: Apple

Mission Control

This new Mac OS feature is tasked with unifying several key functions that now live separately in Mac OS X (Snow Leopard).

Those are the extremely useful Exposé, Dashboard, and Spaces.

Mission control also merges these with Lion’s ability to run apps in full screen, for zero distractions.

“Mission Control is a powerful and handy new feature that provides you with a comprehensive view of what’s running on your Mac. It gives you a bird’s-eye view of everything — including Exposé, Spaces, Dashboard, and full-screen apps— all in one place,” Apple’s description of the new feature goes.

Review image Mission Control presents users with a unified view of every app and window running on their Mac, so they can navigate anywhere in an instant. Credits: Apple

“With a simple swipe gesture, your desktop zooms out to Mission Control. There you can see your open windows grouped by app, thumbnails of your full-screen apps, Dashboard, and even other Spaces, arranged in a unified view,” the Mac maker elaborates.

Mission Control also incorporates a brand new version of Exposé, which presents all the windows running on a Mac grouped by application.

Lion’s new Exposé also shows thumbnails of full screen apps, Dashboard and even other Spaces.