illo from macgazette.net

Be restful this evening, fellow Mac users.

The newest version of Mac OS X, version 10.7 (code named Lion) isn’t out yet, despite rumor sites that claimed it would be out by now. You don’t need to clog Apple’s servers to download it yet.

And don’t wait in line outside an Apple Store. This OS update will be sold exclusively as a download.

Why are you supposed to want it? For the “250+ New Features,” of course. Documents that auto-save themselves. Instant full-screen mode. Updated apps for mail, web browsing, address-book, networking, chatting, video calling/conferencing, security, backups and more. A “Launchpad” interface that looks like the iOS (iPhone/iPod/iPad) menu screen. A Mac App Store, just as convenient (and as censored) as the iOS app store.

But take this waiting time to prepare yourself.

Back up everything, just in case.

And check your applications folder. Thoroughly.

You see, Lion not only runs only on Macs with Intel chips, but it only runs applications written to be run on Macs with Intel chips.

It won’t run apps written for the previous, PowerPC-based Macs.

If you’re still using any Mac software that you haven’t updated since 2005-2006, you’ve got something to fret about.

Christina Warren from Mashable has a handy guide for checking if you’ve got soon-to-be orphaned apps on your Mac. It involves the System Profile utility, found at the “About This Mac” menu item.

If you don’t replace those apps with fresher versions (or substitutes) before you dump the current Mac OS from your ‘puter, you’ll still have your documents. But if those documents are written in the proprietary formats of orphaned apps, you won’t be able to read or revise them.

Unless, of course you set aside a bootable external hard drive, or a partition on your Mac’s internal hard drive, with the current OS X on it.