Apple's development of the upcoming 10.7.2 release is progressing, with another beta build being released for testing today. As we have been mentioning regarding previous developer releases, the update will contain support for Apple's new iCloud services, which seem to be the focus of these testing efforts. Like the last build from less than a week ago, this latest one was released with "no known issues," meaning Apple may be in the final phases of testing before releasing OS X 10.7.2 to the public.
Apparently in addition to the new OS X release, Apple is making more adjustments to the iCloud service itself, and today has reset the iCloud backup system that has been in testing for past releases of the 10.7.2 beta. Hopefully these tweaks and testing efforts will result in a smooth transition to iCloud for current MobileMe customers.
iCloud, the OS support for it, and applications that interface with it will likely be out very soon, so be sure to prepare by creating a full backup of your system using Time Machine or another backup utility. Even if you do not use Apple's online services, the OS update will still be a substantial one, so to protect against anything going awry it's best to have a way to restore your system to the state it was in before the update.
Before installing the update when it is released, you might consider reading CNET's guidelines on preparing for an OS update to ensure that the update goes as smoothly as possible. We expect most users will have no problems at all, but there will undoubtedly be those who do experience problems either with the software itself or with the migration to the new services.
