OS X 10.7 Lion Galaxy Wallpaper Leaked

The last unveiling of a more polished OS X Lion featured plenty of aesthetic changes, including an all new wallpaper that has been leaked and made available for free download to anyone looking to give their Mac a little Lion feeling.

It didn’t take long for the ‘respected’ Apple developer community to break their NDA and leak the first pieces of imagery pertaining to OS X Lion when the first Developer Preview builds were made available last year.

So, why would this time be any different? Via 9to5mac comes word that Lion's new default wallpaper is available in all its glory at this address (high resolution).

After all, Lion is so aesthetically pleasant, even a leaked wallpaper can pique fans interest as they wait on the edges of their seats waiting for the final version of the OS to arrive.

Speaking of which, Apple has confirmed that Lion will not be made available on disc, nor will it be sold in retail stores on USB thumb drives (though we can expect the Air to have these inside the shipping box).

Instead, Mac OS X version 10.7 will be distributed solely through the Mac App Store, which basically means that you won’t be able to install it unless you have at least OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard running on your Mac.

“People have been doing the same things on computers for years. Clicking. Scrolling. Installing. Saving. With OS X Lion, we’ve challenged the accepted way of doing things by introducing new features that change the way you use a computer,” Apple says in a promo material on its web site.

Apple will announce the exact shipping date of Mac OS X Lion in July. The company has confirmed that Lion will cost $29.99 (US).

“Lion will be the easiest OS X upgrade and at about 4GB, it is the size of an HD movie from the iTunes Store,” Apple adds.

The Server version requires the Client Lion and will be available in July from the Mac App Store for $49.99 (US).