The next version of OS X is El Capitan

Today, at Apple’s WWDC the company unveiled the next big version of OS X, Yosemite is out. Enter OS X El Capitan. The 11th version of the Mac operating system features refinements and polish. Apple seems to following the route as with Snow Leaped. El Capitan seems to be a minor refresh with fixes and refinements.

Naming…

Strange name Apple, but the latest release draws its name from a selection of rocks within the Yosemite National Park.

Improvements, Improvements.

It’s not just refining, some new features have come along for the ride. For starters, Mail now has gestures (like iOS) for deleting as well as the swipe down draft while using full screen. Spotlight has also seen some enhancements, you can now use natural language to search as well as getting weather results, the spotlight window is now resizable and and movable. Apple has also added better window management, working like Windows 8 and 10.

New Split View in OS X El Capitan

Safari has also seen some improvements. In the Keynote they sort of came and went but the browser now has pinned tabs and audio mute and it will take you to the tab and page which is making the noise.

Split View allows you to run two full-screen apps together, side by side. First seen on Windows 7 in 2009, OS X finally adds the feature six years later. For a while, third party apps have been available to do this, but they never run as well as the real thing.

Swipe the Mail

The new gestures in the OS X El Capitan Mail app

OS X El Capitan also brings some new gestures to the stock Mail app. Apple say that you can swipe on the messages to manage. Swipe right to mark an email as read, you can also swipe left to delete.

Mail also has some other cool tricks such as working better in full screen and the message you’re composing moves to the bottom of the screen, like iOS to easily add attachments. Tabs also help you manage multiple messages.

Mac and Gaming?

Not a topic which you associate with Macs, but Apple is bringing the Metal API to the Mac. Metal first saw it’s debut at last year’s WWDC on iOS. It’s not just games that are going to take advantage, Adobe has been working with Apple to bring the Metal API to Photoshop and Illustrator to see how it will benefit them and they are keen to adopt Metal. Epic Games also were on stage to demo their new game, Fortitude.

Spaces Bar

OS X El Capitan brings a revamped system for the desktop management on the Mac. Users can now drag a window to the top of the screen and drag one window on top of another.

Release

OS X El Capitan may have a strange name but it’s Apple’s next big release to compete with Windows 10. Developers can access the beta today with the public beta launching next month and the final build in the Fall (read October).

Developing…