14 DAY TRIAL // Apple will undoubtedly showcase the next-generation Mac OS at a Town Hall event in Cupertino, California, scheduled to go live on October 20, 2010, at 10:00 am Pacific time. The software is believed to go by the name of “Lion”, and should emerge as the next major version of Mac OS X (10.7).
Invitations sent out yesterday to select members of the media reveal that Apple will begin a refocus on the Mac platform, following a year’s worth of iOS-goodness.
The email attachment shows a lion peering out from behind the company’s iconic logo, along with the message: “Back to the Mac”.
For those who follow Apple closely, it’s pretty much obvious that Cupertino is confirming plans to unveil a new version of Mac OS X, dubbed after a big cat, just like previous versions of the software (Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard etc.)
Rumor has it that technicians in Cupertino have cracked the desktop Multi-Touch, although it is much too early to speculate that Apple is planning to transition millions of computer users to a Minority Report lifestyle.
Basically, no one can really say for sure what this OS X Lion will bring, since Apple seems to have everything covered already.
Yet Steve Jobs may just pull one of his old tricks to make sure folks realize there’s more to computing than just pressing buttons.
Apple’s first step in showing people what they can do with their bare hands is, after all, the iPad. Therefore, it shouldn’t be too difficult to include at least some of the tablet’s functionality in the desktop experience.
But, as we said before, it’s anybody’s guess whether or not Apple even plans to alter desktop computing so dramatically, and on such short notice.
All we know is that October 20 likely holds at least one surprise announcement, and we’re not talking about the preview of Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” which, at this point, is pretty much imminent.