Apple's new Mountain Lion OS developer preview

This is an early OS developer preview of Apple's Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. We got a chance to check out some of the new features so you can get a quick tour of Apple's latest big cat OS in this slideshow.

Mountain Lion will be Apple's first major OS release since iCloud came into play. Now everything from setting up a new Mac to syncing your info across iOS devices and Mac computers becomes possible when you log in with your Apple ID.

Message replaces iChat

Bringing the iOS texting experience to your Mac, Message for Mac closely resembles iMessage for iOS devices, letting you chat across desktops and iPhones.

Remind yourself on all devices

Remember and manage tasks with synced reminders that will send alerts to your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Mac. Enter a reminder on one device and it will automatically sync with your other devices.

Synced Notes

The telltale yellow Notes app for iOS will now be available on the Mac as well, so all your thoughts, notes, and ideas will sync onto your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch automatically.

Notifications to the desktop

The notification options found on iOS devices will now be a part of Mac OS X as well. In Mountain Lion, just like in iOS, you can customize which system and application notifications show up.

Share Sheets make sharing easy

Hit the Share button in many of the Mountain Lion apps, and you'll get options to share what you're seeing onscreen with other people. The sharing feature detects the file type and gives you a list of appropriate sharing options based on that.

Twitter integration

As with the Twitter integration in iOS 5, Mountain Lion now has Twitter built in to your Mac. Sign in once to tweet from your apps, receive Twitter notifications, and view your Twitter friends' photos and usernames in Contacts.

Game Center for Mac

The popular social gaming network from iOS will now be on the Mac with Mountain Lion. See what your friends are playing, check the leaderboards, or discover new gaming friends that Game Center recommends for you. The Game Kit for developers even offers tools for creating multiplayer games that can be played on both Macs and iOS devices.

Gatekeeper protects your Mac

A major new Mac security feature, Gatekeeper helps you keep your Mac safe from malware with options to only download software from Apple-approved developers and third-party apps with an Apple Developer ID.

Twitter integration

Tweet from any supported app without having to switch applications. The interface is much like Twitter integration for iOS.

FaceTime directly from Message

Sometimes text doesn't get your point across. Quickly switch to FaceTime to have a face-to-face conversation straight from Message with a friend on a supported Mac or iOS device.