Apple has released a developer preview of its upcoming desktop and server operating system, OS X Mountain Lion allowing developers to test out the latest version of the prerelease software.
Mountain Lion is its ninth major release has been built with iCloud in mind for easy setup and integration with apps
It will come with Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, including Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring.
The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a security feature that protects from malicious software by offering control over apps that are installed on Mac.
Mac Developer Program members can access the preview release now and upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store in late summer 2012.
Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller said the Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better.
"The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system," added Philip.
The new offering includes Messages app which allows sending messages, photos and videos directly from Mac to another Mac or iOS device and its Notification Center feature offers access to alerts from mail, calendar, messages, reminders, system updates and third party apps.
The company has now made available a beta of Messages for Lion users, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion.
Mountain Lion also has AirPlay Mirroring, which can wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream on Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV and includes enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari.
Chinese users can also upload video through Share Sheets directly to video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo allows microblogging.
