Apple released OS X 10.7.5 Wednesday, an update that adds the company's Gatekeeper technology to Lion for the first time. The update also includes a few bug fixes.
Gatekeeper is a system-level control over what can be installed on your Mac introduced with Mountain Lion. Users can decide whether they want only applications from Apple's Mac App Store (MAS), only apps from the MAS and apps that have been signed by developers through Apple's developer program, or apps from anywhere, as shown in the Mountain Lion screenshot below.
Mountain Lion Security & Privacy Security Settings with Gatekeeper Controls
Note that if we hadn't labeled the setting with a convenient “Gatekeeper Settings,” a square*, and an arrow, There's no way of knowing that this is what Apple means when it refers to “Gatekeeper” unless you already know. Sloppy, that, but now you at least know.
Be that as it may, the default setting is the middle one, Mac App Store and identified developers. The point is to keep malicious apps off your Mac, and Apple has now added the feature to Lion.
The 10.7.5 update also includes fixes that:
- Resolve an issue where icons in Launchpad may get rearranged after a restart
- Improve Wi-Fi reliability for iMac (Late 2009 and newer)
- Resolve an issue using Spotlight to search an SMB server
- Improve compatibility connecting to Active Directory servers
If you are running Lion, you can find the update in Software Update. You can also download a standalone installer from Apple's Support site that weighs in at 1.14GB.
Apple links to a more detailed KnowledgeBase article for the update that isn't yet live as of this writing.
*With apologies to Mr. Guthrie for being so square.