About the dimmer effect: I haven't noticed anything.
I encountered these issues on an Intel iMac with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion):
-There is an arrow on the HUD which, I presume, is a new feature, but it's flashing randomly all the time
-TerraSync doesn't seem to work (I tried some airports with the on-the-fly download feature on but even after restarting several times there was no scenery), but the scenery at KSFO works
-This issue really makes me sad: MULTIPLAYER STILL WON'T WORK...
Even after trying the "solutions" given in the topics about the multiplayer on mac issue (leaving the IP address blank, inputting command-line options), I still have the same problem: FlightGear doesn't start up after checking the multiplayer box (but the multiplayer map shows up), and if I put in a command-line that should activate multiplayer, FlightGear starts up without going online. Does anyone have a real solution for this? MP hasn't worked on my Mac since the release of 2.0.0...
-I don't see any jetways at KSFO... And certainly no animated ones.
Nonetheless, I really like this release. It works quite fluid, the new sky and sea are beautiful, as are the clouds and the new taxiways etc. Thumbs up for Tat & the other developers
Nothing better than the elegance of flying.