Apple’s annual developer conference kicked off this morning.
And unlike previous WWDCs, this year’s event puts a specific focus on developers
and the product that they’re actually working on – software. In contrast to
WWDC events in the past, all of the announcements this year were about the
company’s operating systems – Mac OS and iOS.
First one up is the newest version of Mac OS X – Yosemite.
Apple’s new operating system for its line of Mac laptops and AIOs bring a
number of improvements over its predecessor and unifies user experience between
Macs and iOS devices with design cues lifted from iOS 8.
For starters, the translucent interface elements of iOS have
been transferred to Yosemite. According to Apple, this gives users a sense of
place whenever they scroll their content, allowing them to see what’s more to
see in a page. The Cupertino company has also streamlined some of the
navigational components of Mac OS X including its tool bars and certain buttons
which can now have more than one function depending on the app you’re in.
OS X’s dock has also been revamped and now features a
simplified appearance with icons that provide a more consistent look and feel.
Moreover, Apple has changed the font on the entire OS from Lucida Grande to
Helvetica which is also used in iOS 7. Also, a number of apps on the OS have
received some sort of facelift including Safari, Mail, Maps and Messages.
But beyond the cosmetic changes, the biggest upgrades to
Yosemite are probably in the file management department. On one hand you have
the notification center that gives users a concise summary of the day’s events,
reminders and birthdays. The notification area also holds a number of widgets
like calendar, weather, stocks, world clock and reminders to name a few. Moreover, the new version of Mac OS X will allow a user to answer calls to an iPhone from a Mac.
Lastly, Mac OS X Yosemite has an improved Spotlight that
makes it easy for users to find the information they need whether information
sourced from the web or looking for specific files and documents on their
device. Apple has also introduced the MailDrop feature that enables users to independently host up to 5GB of data that can be remotely accessed by all mail users in the group. There's also a feature called Markup that allows consumers to draw doodles on an email.
Mac OS X Yosemite is now available for download to
developers, while a consumer roll out is expected to be in Q3 2014.
