This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, and much of the time since, has been dominated by the talk and controversies of Apple’s new mobile OS. Yet despite the significance of this major mobile release, lest we forget that OS X is also a pivotal component of the Cupertino’s product line. OS X Mavericks 10.9 is also under constant development, and today, the fourth Developer preview of the upcoming Mac operating system has just been released.
Unlike iOS, the general consensus of OS X is that it requires very little by way of alteration, and Apple seems to have its system for applying incremental updates year-on-year pretty much ironed out. Last year’s Mountain Lion was essentially a slightly faster version of the preceding Lion, with a few iOS features thrown in for good measure.
Mavericks is much less forthright with the iOS-ification, focusing instead on improving those general user functionality with niceties like full-screen support for dual monitors, tweaks to the Safari browser, and plenty of others. One of the highlights of the announcement, for me, was the revelation of Finder Tabs, which will make Mavericks by far the easiest version of OS X to navigate. With the accompanying tagging feature, the days of files and folders strewn and stifling your progress may finally be put to rest.
The pressure undoubtedly be on the new Maps app Apple has been working on bringing to OS X Mavericks. Apple Maps for iOS 6 was a marked disaster, with CEO Tim Cook coerced into an open letter of apology in which he was forced to recommend the apps of some of the company’s fiercest rivals. With that said, iOS Maps has been duly improved and updated in recent times, and if development continues at the current pace, Apple’s mapping and navigation reputation may finally begin to rebuild.
On the subject of the OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4, those with registered dev accounts can apply the new update by using the Software Update feature over at the Mac App Store. Also, keep in mind that only supported Macs will be able to run OS X Mavericks, hence, if you’re boasting an older Mac, then you’re out of luck. Also, at the time of writing, the Mac Dev Center is down due to a security breach, hence if you’re willing to download OS X Mavericks from scratch, then you’re out of luck for a little while.
If you do happen to try out this latest release, be sure to leave your thoughts and opinions via the usual mediums below!
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