Apple Releases a System Upgrade For OS X Mountain Lion

Apple has released the latest update for its operating system, the OS X Mountain Lion, for laptops and desktops. The earlier update, released in February, was for iPhone and iPad devices which are now complete.

Announced along with the third quarter earnings release, Brian Blau, research director at tech research firm Gartner evaluates this latest update, in saying, “While there are a lots of new features this is not a major upgrade like the last version Lion was. But Apple has also been improving its Office-like software and creation applications along the way, so maybe it didn’t need such a big revision. And you have to bear in mind it is only charging $20 [£13.99 in UK] for the change.”

Some of these features include the use of the iCloud internet storage service, the iMessage service which allows text message chats between computers and handsets, a feature which allows users to share material on Twitter and an application which allows gamers to compare their scores with their friends.

Other features include adding Baidu as a search tool in the web browser and buttons to make sharing easy to the Sina Weibo microblog as well as video sites such as Tudou and Youku indicate Apple’s expansion plans in China.

However, with Microsoft releasing Windows 8 in October which allows users to run the same system on both their tablets and desktops can pose a challenge to Mac’s decisions to keep its Mac system distinct from iOS as it makes sharing much easier for the former.