Amidst all the hype surrounding the iPad 2, it might be easy to forget that Apple still develops a desktop operating system – one with its fair share of fan boys. However, fear not, development of OS X Lion is on schedule, and Apple has just released the developer preview

Mac OS X Lion, the successor to the Snow Leopard, was first previewed in the “Back to the Mac” event held in October. Check out our original coverage if you need a refresher. Lion is a major update which builds on many of the best features found in the iPad and the iPhone.

We already knew that it will feature multi-touch support, full-screen apps, Launchpad and Mission Control. However, there are quite a few other notable improvements that Apple hadn’t earlier mentioned. They are:

• AirDrop: A simple, hassle-free way to copy files between Macs wirelessly.
• Versions: A versioning system that will automatically save successive versions of your documents, providing a simple way to browse, edit and revert to previous states.
• Auto Save: A system-wide mechanism that will automatically save your documents as you work on them.
• Resume: Another system feature that can restore apps to the state they were in before you quit the app or shutdown your Mac.
• Mail v5: The new email client will feature grouped conversations, wide-screen layout and MS Exchange 2010 support.

The developer preview is now available to Mac Developer Program members through the Mac App Store. OS X Lion is expected to be released in summer.