7 Months after the launch of Lion, Apple has announce its successor, Mountain Lion. Catchy name right?

The Developer’s preview is now available for download, and the official release should be available around May/June (Summer in the States).

There is a serious range of new features that have been added, and some awesome IOS-ification of the the OS giant’s latest release. Check them out for yourself.

One of the biggest changes that we are going to have to accept right off the bat, is the new Mac Store-only option to download the OS. There will be no media in the form of DVDs or USB keys anymore at all. After the success of the Download options for Lion, Apple seems confident that this is the way of the future for App/OS management.

Amongst many other new features, here’s a summary of the biggest:

Messages:

Don’t you just love the new iMessages on the iPad and iPhone? Well now you will be able to start an iMessage conversation on your IOS device, and continue with it on your Mac with the new Messages feature. No more having to keep using your phone to message while you are work in front of your Mac. Is this the end of iChat? Feel free to go ahead and test out Messages-Beta on Lion here.

Reminders:

Loving the new reminders in IOS 5? Keep using them in ML now. Stay up to date with all reminders, on all devices with the iCloud integration. 

Notes:

Easy to create on your iPhone. Easy to manage on your iPad. Now easy to stay up to date on your Mac. All the same features apply, like inserting photos, and even allows you to pin notes to your desktop.

Notifications Center:

There is no question that you love the new notifications center in IOS 5. With all the new features that are being pulled into ML, it was clearly a no-brainer that Notifications had to be included, to manage all your new alerts. Banners pop up on the right, which can be activated or dismissed, just like on your iDevice, and with a quick swipe, the entire notifications center opens up too.

Share Sheets:

Many of the new Apps in ML are going to support Share sheets, the same way Safari does on your iDevice at the moment. Share a photo on Twitter. Send a link from Safari. Send a note via Mail. Everything is becoming connected and everything is shared everywhere, all the time. This feature  facilitates our social needs.

Game Center:

Now you can indulge in your multiplayer games with your buddies, and maybe some strangers, with the Game Center on your Mac.

AirPlay Mirroring:

Presenting at a meeting? Showing holiday snaps to the family? Now you can mirror your screen to any AppleTV in HD. This one is designed for the audience.

Gate Keeper:

To increase the security on your Mac, you now have 3 options to control how you can download apps. You can keep the same setting as Lion, which allows apps from any source, with no real security or guarantee. You can kick up the security a notch by only allowing apps from the Mac App Store and Apps with a Developer ID. Or simply set the security to the max, and only allows apps from the App Store. 

Although it is a quick release after Lion, Mountain Lion is going to be a hit, and I know that we will Enjoy!