With over 40,000,000 installs, OS X Mavericks has the fastest operating system adoption rate ever. The next version will be called OS X Yosemite. It’s got a new, refined design, that brings it closer to what we saw with iOS 7.
The OS X Yosemite windows have translucency, so they fit with whatever your background is. There are all new icons for the doc, all with a neat, flat and modern look. There’s also a new ‘Dark Mode‘, with a dark look, which is still translucent. The new app designs maximize window space for content, by doing away with borders.
The Notification Center is interactive, and allows you to add and edit widgets, so you can customize it to your needs.
Spotlight, the OS X search tool, is all new, with a big search bar that appears in the middle of the screen, and a fast preview of search results that appears as you type. When you search for an app, as well as that app you’ll also see your recent documents, and be able to jump right into them, instead of opening an app and then opening a document. Searching for other things will bring up maps, Wikipedia entries and more. It’s similar to what Windows 8 did with Bing search, but with Apple’s typically slick design.
iCloud Drive now automatically syncs all your documents on OS X, iOS and even Windows, so you have your documents everywhere.
Even Mail gets an update, which includes a new service called ‘MailDrive‘, which allows you to send attachments to anyone up to 5GB in size. If the recipient can’t receive attachments that large, they will get a link to directly download the attachment instead.
Safari does away with showing your favorites, instead integrating them into the search bar, which also works just like Spotlight. Apple also claims that Safari’s optimization gives you much longer battery life – up to two hours more for playing video, for example. There’s also a new tab view, and you can also mail content from the web to your contacts in a single click.
With OS X Yosemite, you’ll be able to work between your Mac and iOS devices seamlessly, with Continuity. Your devices will be aware they are near other devices, and can work together. You can pick up work from your mac on an iPad immediately, with a little icon that appears on the device.
OS X can now open a hotspot on your phone, with no setup, and receive text messages from non-iOS devices too. Most surprisingly, OS X is now able to take and receive calls – as we were shown on stage with a phone call to Dr Dre.
OS X Yosemite will be released for free in fall this year, and there will be a public beta over the summer. It’s available for developers from today.
