OS X Yosemite new interface, features unveiled
Apple officially announced OS X 10.10 “Yosemite” at its World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, 2 June 2014.
The update to Apple’s operating system for their personal computers will feature changes to the user interface and a number of new features to core apps such as Mail and Apple’s web browser, Safari.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, said that they “refined the toolbars and the window materials”, focusing on clarity but also utility.
This includes the use of transparency throughout the user interface, consistent typography between the system menus and applications, and a “dark mode” aimed at professionals who find the bright user interface elements of OS X distracting.
Changes to existing features
Like the rest of Yosemite’s user interface, the OS X Notification Centre will also make use of the translucency now available in the operating system.
It will also include a “Today View” which shows items such as upcoming appointments, and which can be extended with widgets and apps.
OS X’s system-wide search feature, Spotlight, has also received a UI overhaul, now showing its search field (and results) in the middle of the screen rather than right corner.
In addition to searching your local machine and performing basic arithmetic, Spotlight will also show items such as the search term’s Wikipedia page, as well as let you perform unit conversions.
Apple has also announced iCloud Drive, which now lets users upload any file to the service and organise it into folders of their own making. It also lets you access files from iOS devices.
iCloud Drive will also be receiving Windows support, Federighi said.
MacBook running OS X Yosemite (press shot)
Mail, Safari updates
New features coming to Apple’s mail client include Mail Drop and Markup.
Mail Drop automatically uploads large attachments to iCloud rather than sending it attached to mail messages. This will be transparent to Mail.app users, while those on different mail clients will receive a link to where they can download the file.
Files are encrypted when they’re uploaded, Federighi said.
Safari has done away with the favourites/bookmarks bar, instead showing your bookmarks when you click on the search bar. The Safari search bar now also returns Spotlight results.
Continuity
The final set of features Federighi announced were called “Continuity”. This centres around sharing features and content between Apple devices.
In particular, the OS X file network file transfer system Air Drop now works between OS X and iOS.
“Handoff” lets you start an activity on one device and continue it on another, such as starting an e-mail on an iPhone and finishing it on a Mac.
iPhone users will also be able to answer calls on a Mac, using its as a speakerphone.
Availability
OS X developers are able to access the developer preview immediately, while Mac users will get a free update to Yosemite “this fall” (between September and November).
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