Industry News

The next operating system for Mac will make the computers more like the mobile devices which make up the lion's share of Apple's sales.

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed plans to incorporate features from the iPhone and iPad into the forthcoming "Mountain Lion," operating system. Some of the popular features to be included are: integration with Apple's online storage service, iCloud, the notifications app, gaming center, and Apple's messaging service.

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It is an attempt to help enlarge the market share of the innovative yet far from ubiquitous Mac,the Wall Street Journal reports. Apple's share of the personal computer market is 5.4% worldwide. Meanwhile, the iPad dominates the tablet market and the iPhones are among the bestselling smartphones in the world.

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"We see that people are in love with a lot of apps and functionality here," Cook said of the mobile devices. "Anywhere where that makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac."

Also available through Mountain Lion will be the ability for Macs to have their screens projected onto an Apple TV through a feature called AirPlay Mirroring. This function is already available for the iPhone and iPad, and has worried some media companies who sense Apple encroaching upon traditional television.

Despite the changes, Macs will continue to differ from their mobile counterpart in several important ways. A touchscreen interface is not in the cards. Neither is the iPhone's personal assistant, Siri.
Mountain Lion is set to be released late summer.