Apple has recently released the golden master version of the OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers and beta testers. This is likely the final version which will be rolled out before the public release on September 30th, two weeks after the release of the iOS 9.
The public beta release is done to discover hidden bugs and to gain feedback from developers who will likely be working on apps optimized for the El Capitan. It has been around since July, putting focus on two key areas: performance, which focuses on the OS’ ability to perform faster, and experience, which covers the assimilation of the tech giant’s own apps.
OS X 10.11 El Capitan is the successor of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, which has had its fair share of problems. Apple worked on eliminating. It is available for free on the Mac App Store.
The new operating system contains several enhanced and upgraded features, which are listed on its website. The Spotlight search now recognizes natural language (such as “slideshows I worked on last Wednesday”), and boasts additional search capabilities.
Other notable tweaks include improvements to the Split Screen and Mission Control features, Mail app, Notes, and Photos. Apple’s own web browser, Safari, will also have additional features, including Pinned Sites, and the ability to mute audio and video playing on all tabs. Maps will now feature public transport info, and support for Chinese and Japanese languages has also been improved.
With El Capitan, Apple has brought Metal to the Mac, improving the computer’s gaming performance and in running powerful apps. The company also boasts that daily activities like switching through and launching apps and loading PDFs have become faster.
September has been a busy month so far, so El Capitan is going to be an interesting way to cap it all off. Let us know in the comments if you’ve been using El Capitan so far and how you like it.
