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Lion Reviews Are Out: 'Great Value', 'Shakes Things Up', 'Very Few Bugs'

Wednesday July 20, 2011 12:13 pm PDT by Jordan Golson

Now that Lion has been released, NDA's are lifted and reviews are starting to come in. Here are some choice excerpts:

David Pogue - New York Times:
In Mac OS X 10.7, known as Lion, Apple went with the “shake things up” philosophy. It follows an old Apple pattern: embrace what’s cool and progressive, and ruthlessly jettison what it considers antiquated. That’s great if you love stuff that’s cool and progressive, and not so great if you hate people moving your cheese...

The Lion upgrade, in other words, is classic Apple: innovative to some, gimmicky to others, big leaps forward, a few stumbles back. It may never be the king of the jungle. But once the world’s software companies have fully Lionized their wares, and once Apple exterminates the bugs, Mac OS X 10.7 might be something even more exotic: a fast, powerful, good-looking, virus-free, thoroughly modern operating system.
Walt Mossberg - All Things Digital / Wall Street Journal:
There are, however, downsides to anything this new and major. In my view, the biggest of these is that switching to Lion will require a major adjustment even for veteran Mac users, though it will be easier for those who use iPhones or iPads. Lion will significantly increase the learning curve for Windows users switching to the Mac...

Lion is very different. It’s a big leap, and gives the Mac a much more modern look and feel for a world of tablets and smartphones. If you are willing to adjust, it’s the best computer operating system out there.
Harry McCracken - Time:
Most of the highest-profile changes share a unifying principle: They make a Mac feel a little less like a cranky, complicated personal computer, and a little more like a 21st-century appliance...

Lion feels, to revive an old OS X tagline, like a new Mac for your Mac. At $129, it would have been a meaty good value. At $29.99, it's a steal — the no-brainer upgrade that defines the notion of a no-brainer upgrade.
John Siracusa - Ars Technica (a staggeringly long review):
Though the Lion name suggests the end of something, the content of the operating system itself clearly marks the start of a new journey. Seemingly emboldened by the success of iOS, Apple has taken a hatchet to decades of conventional wisdom about desktop operating systems.
Jesus Diaz - Gizmodo:
I love Mac OS X. I've used it since the very first and painful developer preview, back in September 2000. I love iOS too, because its modal nature simplifies powerful computing, and, at the same time, empowers normal people. I hoped Mac OS X Lion was going to merge both perfectly. Sadly, from a user interface point of view, it has failed to achieve that. And by failing at this task, it has made a mess of what was previously totally acceptable.
Matthew Panzarino - The Next Web:
Yeah, yeah, but should I buy it?

The short answer is yes. OS X Lion offers enough value in its security enhancements and improvements to features like Exposé and Spaces, in the form of Mission Control, to justify the $29.99 price tag alone. There’s really very little reason not to purchase the upgrade if you’re already a Mac user on Snow Leopard.
So, Lion appears to be worth $29.99 but as with any dot-zero release, users are encouraged to backup first and be careful about using it for mission-critical applications until Apple -- and your fellow users -- have gotten all the bugs out.

[ 542 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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Avatar
Aduntu
104 months ago
I can't stand anything Gizmodo. I haven't read an article on there since they paid a photographer -- paparazzi style -- to get pictures of Steve Jobs' house. I wish they'd go under.
Rating: 28 Votes
Avatar
AAPLaday
104 months ago
That Lion teddy is ace!
Rating: 25 Votes
Avatar
i.mac
104 months ago
Could any one really expect a different comment from any one from Gizmodo?

Losers...
Rating: 21 Votes
Avatar
wordoflife
104 months ago
I honestly didn't think I would like Lion at all and was going to stick with Snow Leopard. But impulse got the best of me and I installed it anyways.

I LOVE LION.

It's ridiculous how nice it is. I was not expecting to be surprised at all.
Rating: 21 Votes
Avatar
zioxide
104 months ago

Could any one really expect a different comment from any one from Gizmodo?

Losers...


its ok, nobody cares what that blog says anyways. they lost what little credibility they ever had a long time ago. nothing different than some random clowns on blogger now as far as i'm concerned.
Rating: 21 Votes
Avatar
MultiMediaWill
104 months ago
Lion is buggy is hell for me... :/
Rating: 19 Votes
Avatar
Small White Car
104 months ago

I'm with ArsTechnica on this one.

...

In my mind, Leopard was the last real update to OS X.


So you're "with" Ars in the sense that you came to the opposite conclusion they did.

Uh...what?
Rating: 14 Votes
Avatar
Schizoid
104 months ago
'Lion is very different'
I think he's mistakenly booted into Windows
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
Nugget
104 months ago

ars technica, though it has it's faults like every publication, has always produced OUTSTANDING OS X reviews with every major release, and their Lion review is no different


Yeah. I'd pay $29 just for Siracusa's review of Lion. :)
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
bob99
104 months ago
Gizmodo is a laughable POS of a site.

I find all the "IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!!" posts funny, I'd pay $29 for the new mail app alone. People expect a lot for $29 these days :)
Rating: 11 Votes

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