Apple encourages developers to sign up for Developer ID ahead of the Mountain Lion release this Summer

With the release of Mountain Lion just a few months away, Apple has begun preparing the Mac Developing community for the new Gatekeeper feature.

Developers are reporting having received an email from Apple encouraging them to sign up for the company’s Developer ID program so that their apps can be properly signed ahead of the launch of OS X Mountain Lion later this year.

The reason behind the Developer ID Program is that it will give users some form of safety, knowing that the developer of an app is actually who they say they are, furthermore Gatekeeper will prevent malicious apps from being installed on the OS. Furthermore if the Developer is found to be breaching the trust, then Apple can simply revoke the Developer ID associated with that developer, preventing applications signed with the ID from running and causing further harm to users.

This marks the second such mass emailing to encourage adoption of Developer ID among the Mac developer community, previously Apple sent out a similar mail in February with the announcement of  OS X Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion is expected to be released in “late summer” and will undoubtedly be a featured topic at Apple’s sold-out Worldwide Developers Conference in early June.