At WWDC2014 today, Apple announced the next version of its desktop operating system, OS X 10.10 Yosemite. And it’s a beast! OS X Yosemite comes with an even cleaner design and lots of features inspired by iOS, being centered around a central theme “Continuity” OS X 10.10 Yosemite comes with a flat design, translucent panels and the same lack of gradients and textures as iOS 7 ( and iOS 8 ). The app icons feature a new, flatter design and the dock and windows have sharper corners. App windows can adjust their colors based on the background. Just like iOS. A nice addition is a new, user-selectable, “dark mode” theme which dims the entire interface. Apple claims that it will allow you to better focus while working, Craig Federighi calling it a focus on “clarity, but also utility.”
Apple has also expanded Notification Center with a new “Today” view for calendar, reminders, weather etc, and it can also be extended even further with third-party app widgets.
Spotlight has also been redesigned and improved with extra functionality, including instant results for web searches. Basically Spotlight now looks and acts just like Alfred or Quicksilver.
Apple has also introduced a new iCloud Drive service today, which integrates all files stored in a iCloud account into the Finder file browser. With iCloud Drive you can browse your file stored in the cloud, organize them into folders and tag them just like any other type of files on your computer. iCloud Drive files will also sync across Mac computers and even Windows PCs ( via the web ).
Apple has also improved OS X’s Mail app with MailDrop, a new feature that allows users to attach large files to emails with their iCloud accounts, bypassing the attachment size restrictions many email services have. Mail was also improved with the ability to edit attached images with simple text and arrow overlays.
Safari received a significant revamp in OS X 10.10 Yosemite. It comes with a cleaner design and better search integration. Safari’s integrated share menu has been expanded with recent people you’ve texted with and RSS feeds. Also, there’s a new tab view that shows thumbnails of all open tabs. On stage, Apple said that Safari can run now JavaScript code faster than any other browser on the market.
With OS X 10.10 finally supports AirDrop between OS X and iOS, meaning that you will be able to transfer images and other data between your iOS device and your Mac without using a cable. With OS X 10.10, users can seamlessly transfer a Pages file From their Mac to an iPhone or iPad, and using location awareness email messages that are composed on an iPhone can instantly be continued on a Mac ( and vice-versa ).
It is now possible to start up a mobile hotspot directly from your Mac without even having to touch your iPhone.
While being available across iOS and OS X for a while now, iMessages was also improved on both platforms and the services now supports traditional text messages too.
With OS X 10.10 Yosemite, you can receive/make phone calls on your Mac, and even take the call. Your Mac will basically act like a giant speaker.
OS X 10.10 Yosemite will be available for free this fall. Developers can get the first beta today, and a public beta will be available this summer.
