WITH THE next version of Apple’s OS X operating system for its Mac computers, the company has one clear message: If you’re going to buy one Apple product, you might as well keep buying more.

Apple last week released a preview of the software, called Mountain Lion. It introduces features that move it closer to iOS, the software running on iPhones and iPads. While Apple is the world’s biggest smartphone maker, its share of the PC market is still small, so tying the two together could help it sell more computers.

The Apple move comes as Microsoft prepares a new version of its competing Windows software, Windows 8, which is expected to be available to consumers sometime later this year.

Windows 8, built to work on both traditional keyboard-centric computers and touch-based devices, represents Microsoft’s attempt to come from behind in the market for tablets such as the iPad.

Mountain Lion includes apps and features previously exclusive to Apple’s mobile devices: Messages, Notes, Reminders and Notification Centre. And it has a strong focus on iCloud, Apple’s online service for storing and synchronising data between mobile devices and Macs.

When users first start up Mountain Lion, they are asked to enter their iCloud credentials. This way, content like notes, messages and event reminders can be easily shared between multiple Apple devices. For example, if a user jots something down in the Notes app on an iPhone or iPad, it will appear in the Notes app in Mountain Lion on a Mac.

Apple’s iCloud is one of several new cloud services available from technology companies, including Amazon, Dropbox and Microsoft. Though the details of these services vary, they traditionally focus on storing files on online servers as opposed to a local hard drive, so multiple devices can have access to the data over an internet connection.

With the Mountain Lion update, Apple is calling the overall operating system OS X, instead of Mac OS X. This move and the continuing convergence between Macs and iOS devices raises questions about whether one day, the two products will run the same operating system. Gartenberg said he didn’t think that would be the case.

“When you try to unify those devices, you end up with weird devices,” he said. Apple is creating a similar look and feel for the two operating systems to create a sense of familiarity among its different computing platforms, which could make customers more loyal to the brand, Gartenberg said.

In other words, the similarities and new features mean that if you own an iPhone, it makes more sense to buy a Mac as opposed to a Windows PC. Or if you own a Mac, you might as well get an iPhone or iPad, as opposed to an Android device.

“Consumers don’t like change and they don’t like uncertainty,” said Stephen Baker, vice-president of industry analysis at the NPD Group. “When I, as the consumer, know that I can get a consistent experience across all my devices, it makes it much easier for me to buy products from that company since I know the learning curve will be short.”

Apple released the early version of Mountain Lion last Thursday for software makers to get a head start on making apps for the operating system. The official Mountain Lion upgrade is due for release this summer, one year after the release of Mac OS X Lion, Apple’s current Mac operating system.

In an interview with financial news wire Bloomberg Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice-president of product marketing, didn’t disclose pricing for the upgrade, but said Mountain Lion will be available only via download from Apple’s online Mac App Store and will be widely released in late summer.

The annual release schedule for OS X upgrades shows Apple is still aggressively pushing its Mac products, even though the iPad and iPhone now account for 72 per cent of the company’s total revenue. But many features in Mountain Lion are already in iOS, so it appears the Mac is still in the back seat, and iOS is steering the future of the company.

“Apple’s future is iOS,” said Phillip Ryu, chief executive of Impending, a company that makes iPhone apps. “It’s obvious OS X is playing catch-up and second fiddle. The Mac is in Apple’s future, but it’s not the destination.”

While each of the last four Mac upgrades has come about two years after its predecessor, Version 10.7 was released just seven months ago. Schiller said Apple was able to get an early start on Mountain Lion because of all the work done to prepare Lion, which reviewers said marked the most sweeping changes in OS X since its 2001 inception.

He said the company has so far shipped 19 million copies of Lion, making it the company’s best-selling release ever.

The new software will also make it easier to wirelessly mirror the Mac’s screen on a large-screen television hooked up to the company’s Apple TV adapter. – (New York Times Service, Bloomberg)