The New Features Of Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 3

We toured OS X Lion back when the original developer preview was released, but the most recent Developer Preview 3 has introduced a few new changes. Here’s a look at the latest stuff you can expect when version 10.7 is released later this year.

This is just an overview of the latest updates to the developer preview of Mac OS X Lion. If you want a broader overview, check out our original screenshot and feature tour of 10.7.

Reading List

Reading List is like having Instapaper built into your web browser, letting you save web pages to read later. It’s been hidden in Safari in previous versions of the Lion developer preview, but now it’s available for use.

Arrange By

The window toolbar in the Finder now has an “Arrange by” option, letting you quickly choose the arrangement of your icons in a given folder. You can also access these options via the right-click contextual menu.

New Wallpapers

OS X has always come with some great wallpapers and Apple often adds more with new OS X updates. Developer Preview 3 shows off the latest additions. They’re all nature shots, and if you’d like to check them out you’ll find the whole set over at Cult of Mac.

iCal’s Reminders are Back

Like many of the built-in OS X apps with iOS counterparts, iCal has a new skin (that looks like it’s made from skin). This isn’t new to Developer Preview 3, but what is “new” is the Reminders section. Previously known as “To-do” items, your tasks are now back in iCal with a new name.

Other Small Updates

Mission Control, which is Apple’s mix of the Dashboard and Exposé, now has its own app and control panel in System Preferences. Mission Control also lets you add new desktops while you’re using it, rather than having to use that brand new control panel. Apple’s also added a new boot screen and changed a bunch of other minor UI elements, such as scroll bars that change their colour to adapt to their background.

Despite OS X Lion slated for this winter and the WWDC right around the corner, it’s still pretty buggy and a bit of a memory hog. Undoubtedly Lion will improve quite a bit before its release, but in its current state that release may not be quite as soon as some would hope.

Republished from Lifehacker