I'm not feeling a lot of love for OS X El Capitan out there. That might not be surprising, given that it's firmly in the tradition of Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard–new-feature-light, speed-and-stability-focused OS X updates.
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference is always chock full of announcements. We're guaranteed to see previews of the next versions of iOS and OS X--after all, that's why developers flock to San Francisco for the event. But this year, substantiated rumors are swirling around a new streaming music service, a refreshed Apple TV, and truly game-changing new iOS features.
If there's a single app that defines the OS X experience, it's probably Safari. Not everyone uses it (many of my friends and family members prefer Chrome), but as the default browser it's the window on the Web for most Mac users. I've been using an early developer preview of Yosemite for the past few weeks, and it's clear that Safari is the stock Apple app that will change the most when users install OS X Yosemite upon its arrival this fall.
Though both operating systems are set to arrive this Spring (in Australia), we know a lot more about iOS 7 than we do about its Mac sibling, OS X Mavericks. But with a little digging through the keynote slides and through Apple's OS X preview website, we were able to find 12 things you may not have heard or noticed about the company's next operating system.
Watching Apple through the lens of public perception, it would be easy to buy into the idea that the company has been under siege of late. But even if that were the case, it's clear that Apple isn't buying the hype.
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it: find overlooked OS X tricks. Sometimes I hunt for them; sometimes I just run across them. Here's a collection that I bet includes items you've missed, too.
Even if the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence, there's nothing wrong with tossing the occasional glance at your neighbor's fetching petunia patch. What, weak metaphorical analogies aren't your thing? Let's start again then.
A key to Apple's success is the company's insistence on reducing options in the name of reducing complexity. Those who decry Apple customers as fanboys attack us and the company alike, saying that because Apple chooses to focus on simplicity, we and it must also be simple. That's the wrong interpretation of the facts.
If we can predict just one thing for Apple in 2013, it's this: The company will continue to release products. But we're going to predict more than one thing (because we're crazy like that): Apple won't close down the business and give its money back to its shareholders, and it won't stop developing its major product lines. Here's how we think that development could go this year.
If there's one thing there's an inexhaustible supply of it's negligence. The Big N appears everywhere and it's indefatigable. As soon as you let your guard down for a second, it jumps up, slaps you upside the head, and runs around causing chaos.
