The release of Apple's new Mac OS X Operating System is imminent, but it is not yet absolutely certain what it will bring. The rumour sites have all kinds of nonsense both optimistic and pessimistic.

The biggest change seems not to be with the operating system itself but who it is aimed at and how they will use it. It appears that the underlying functionality is still there, it would be virtually impossible to cut great chunks of it out. Now that Apple are happy with their operating system they have set about simplifying the interface for the user, something that can be seen clearly in the iOS and recent release of FCP X. Apple have long been  touting the "It just works" slogan. The GUI changes that they have made in previous versions of Mac OS X and that it appears they will make in Lion continue this trend.

This fine for your average consumer, but many of Apple's traditional customers have more esoteric and specialist needs, and require an Operating System that provides the tools to allow them to setup and customise to meet their needs.

To do custom configuration these users many no longer have the necessary skills and for a first time in a while Macintosh configuration and usage will require a skilled and experienced technician

In the past with the right tools anybody could change the sparks plugs on a car, now you are lucky if you can work out how to open the bonnet to find them. You need a mechanic who knows what they are doing and has the right tools.

So what does this mean if you are supporting Macintoshes, well much of the easy stuff know how to do will work without any need for your assistance, making the daily need for support smaller. But for the more complicated stuff you will need to ensure that you have the necessary skills to get under the bonnet.

Additionally I think we will find that because some of the control has been taken away from the users that many of them will be reluctant to upgrade immediately, and possibly for some time. The skill set from Snow Leopard that you have built up will continue to be needed, both to support those that haven't upgraded yet, but more importantly it will give the necessary understanding of how the underlying Operating System under Lion works and clues to how make the changes that are no longer possible in the GUI.

So ensure that your Snow Leopard tool kit is polished and up to date as the Lion interface may well not give you the options that you need and you will have to lift the bonnet spanner in hand.