With new features like autosave, versions, and mission control, there's good reason to be intrigued by Mac OS X Lion. The new operating system carries the same intuitive interface as Snow Leopard, but adds a slew of new features, settings, and trackpad gestures.

To help you make the switch, we've rounded up our helpful Mac OS X Lion How-Tos.

If you're upgrading from Snow Leopard, start with our best practices for installing Lion before moving onto the tips, tricks, and hacks that we like best. Or, if you were lucky enough to pick up a machine with … Read more

Microsoft has finally added operating-system level support for viewing raw camera files. Yay! You'd think that once you've downloaded and installed Microsoft's Camera Codec Pack you'd immediately start to see those lovely image thumbnails. You don't. Boo! Though it's easy to get the thumbnails to render, it's not obvious how to do so.

First, make sure your camera's raw files are supported by checking the list on the download page. Unfortunately, some of the most recent popular models are missing, such as the Nikon D3100 and D5100, Canon EOS 60D, all of … Read more

Soon, CTRL-S is going to be a thing of the past. Mac OS X Lion brings us Autosave and Versions, two features that are going to save you a lot of trouble when editing documents.

With Autosave, Apple automatically saves your documents when changes are made. But instead of overwriting the previous save, changes are filed into different document "Versions," which you can browse and restore.

Right now, Autosave and Versions only work in a few Apple-branded apps like iWork and TextEdit, but expect to see integration into third-party apps soon.

Get started with these new, headache-saving features … Read more

If you're a seasoned Mac user, you'll immediately notice that navigation is different in Lion. There's an entirely new set of gestures, some of which are used for two new features: Mission Control and Launchpad.

Mission Control is Spaces' successor and allows you to navigate multiple desktops, full-screen apps, the Dashboard, and all your running applications. Think of it as a bird's-eye view of your desktop, allowing you to quickly access the apps you need.

Launching applications changed, too. Pinch with your thumb and three fingers, and you'll get a tiled view of all your … Read more

Sure, you can create an album in iPhoto and flip through the photos, showing those seated next to you in front of your Mac the highlights from your vacation or the latest snaps of the grandkids. A special occasion--wedding, anniversary, graduation, milestone birthday--however, may require extra treatment. To add music, engaging transitions, and panning-and-zooming Ken Burns effects to your photo presentation, try out iPhoto's slideshow feature. Creating a slideshow is quick and easy in iPhoto '11. I'll show you how after the jump.

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There are a number of methods for organizing and cataloging your iPhoto '11 library. You can dump photos into albums, and you can set criteria for ever-evolving smart albums. You can use the Faces and Places features to sort by people or locations. You can flag photos. And you can use Events to sort photos taken during a certain time period.

The above methods are very effective for helping you locate photos in a sprawling iPhoto library, but for a more granular approach, I suggest you try keywords. Keywords act like tags, which help you quickly search for a particular photo.

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The ability to digitally sign a document is sure to save you some time. Apple has rolled out a new feature in OS X Lion's Preview app that allows you to create a digital signature using your FaceTime camera, and then sign a document with relative ease.

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As with Facebook, there may be photos in your iPhoto library that you don't want the whole world to see. Now, you could delete those photos or remove them from iPhoto, but an easier and more temporary solution would be to simply hide them. It's a snap to hide photos in iPhoto '11. Hidden photos remain in your iPhoto library--they are just removed from view for those times when you are showing photos to a friend or family member who doesn't necessarily need to see the full breadth of your photographed life. You can hide individual photos, or you can hide an entire iPhoto Event. You can also hide photos based on iPhoto's Faces and Places features.

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OS X Lion changed the scrolling gestures that we were accustomed to on Snow Leopard by reversing the scroll gestures. Thankfully, Apple has built in a setting allowing you to reverse Lion's reverse scrolling.… Read more