Mac OS X Lion Pocket Guide

What Lion Can’t Do

Lion does a lot that previous versions of OS X couldn’t, but there are also some things that previous versions did that Lion can’t.

Likely your biggest frustration will be programs you have that Lion won’t run. The two previous versions of OS X (Leopard and Snow Leopard) could run applications built either for PowerPC-based Macs or Intel-based Macs. Snow Leopard pulled this trick off by using Rosetta, code that dynamically translated PowerPC code into instructions that your Intel-based Mac could use. Lion doesn’t include Rosetta, so it won’t run any applications except those built with Intel-powered Macs in mind.

If you want to check whether an application will run in Lion before you install Lion, right-click or Control-click the Finder icon of the application in question and select Get Info from the pop-up menu that appears. If you look at the Kind list item and see either “Universal” or “Intel,” the app will run in Lion; if you see “PowerPC” instead, forget it. Once you’ve installed Lion, it’s easy to spot programs that won’t run: they’ll have big, white No symbols on ’em (Figure 1-12).

Figure 1-12. Not much of a loss in this case

What else is gone? If you’re one of the people who really enjoys the animation that traditionally accompanies a new OS install (you know, the peppy music with “Hello” zipping by in fifty languages), you’re in for a disappointment: the opening animation is gone. When Lion gets done installing, it’s time to get down to the business of setting up your Mac.

Also missing from the equation is Front Row, but that isn’t as a big of a loss as it sounds like. DVD Player can go full screen, so you can get that immersive movie experience when watching DVDs, and sites like Hulu can also take over your entire screen if you wish. iSync is also MIA; one surmises that the demand for this application has dwindled steadily since the introduction of the iPhone and other smartphones. Finally, the Applications folder doesn’t appear in the Dock by default (though it will still be there if you upgraded from Snow Leopard). You can always add the Applications folder to your Dock (see The Dock), but Launchpad replicates its functionality nicely.

Aside from the loss of Rosetta, the functionality losses in Lion are minor and are far outweighed by the benefits you get from adopting the latest version of OS X.