Mountain Lion Release Date: Apple Upgrade Likely to be Downloadable on July 25, Sources Say

As PC users and manufacturers anxiously await the release of Windows 8 in October, Mac users will get their dose of OS upgrades in just weeks.

If Apple follows its move from a year ago, the operating system should be released on July 25, following the company's earning's report call for the second quarter of 2012 on July 24, according to CBS. Apple recently released a developers version of the Mountain Lion, a near finished version of the operating system, on Monday 

Mountain Lion Features

Mountain Lion was announced in February and its features were presented at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The OS's new features include a new messages app that integrates iMessage, voice dictation, Game Center, a notification Center, and eventually system-wide Facebook integration.

According to ZDNet a security feature known as Gatekeeper will also be available on Mountain Lion.

The operating system will also integrate Apple's mobile operating system IOS, which runs on both iPhones and iPads.

Mountain Lion will retail for $19.99 at the Mac App Store. Any user who purchased a Mac on June 11 or after will be able to obtain Mountain Lion for Free.  

Here are the upgrade steps from Apple's website:

Step 1:

Your Mac must be one of the following models:

- iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)

- MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or 2009 or newer)

- MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)

- MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)

- Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)

- Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

- Xserve (Early 2009)

If you are running Lion, you can find out if your current Mac qualifies by clicking the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, choosing About This Mac, then clicking More Info.

Step 2:

While you have the About This Mac window open, check what version of OS X your Mac is running.

If you are running Lion (10.7.x), you're ready to update to Mountain Lion. Go to Step 3. If you are running Snow Leopard (10.6.x), update to the latest version of OS X Snow Leopard before you purchase OS X Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store. Click the Apple icon and choose Software Update to install Snow Leopard v10.6.8, the latest version.

Step 3:

Open the Mac App Store from your Dock to buy and download Mountain Lion. Then follow the onscreen instructions to install it. If you don't have broadband access, you can visit any Apple Retail Store to get help with downloading.

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