Mission Control aimed to present more information to the user about which applications and windows were open, and it added better support for navigation via multitouch trackpad gestures. In 2011, Apple introduced OS X 10.7 Lion and merged Spaces, along with Apple’s window management feature Exposé, into a new feature called Mission Control. In effect, Spaces gave users with a single screen, such as those using a MacBook or iMac, the ability to take advantage of some of the benefit enjoyed by those using multiple displays. Users could assign applications specific to each task to one of these “spaces” and then easily switch between them with a keyboard shortcut or mouse-click. It allowed users to have multiple virtual desktops that could each contain unique sets of application windows.
Spaces, introduced in 2007 as part of OS X 10.5 Leopard, was Apple’s own virtual desktop implementation. One of the best features of previous versions of OS X that has now been greatly diminished was Spaces.įormer Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrating OS X Leopard's Spaces during WWDC 2007. Unfortunately, much functionality was also taken away or modified as Apple continued to fine-tune its desired OS X experience. Recent versions of OS X, starting with Lion and continuing with Mountain Lion, have introduced some great new features for Mac users.
