The IT Nerd

Now that I have OS X Mavericks installed on both the Macs that my Wife and I have, what’s the big deal? Well, Apple touts 200 new features and I’m not going to go over all of them here. But I will hit the highlights with the key features that you’ll care about:

• The Finder in OS X Mavericks has changed a lot. For starters, the look of the Finder borrows from iOS as many of the icons on the dock look similar between the two operating systems. One of the big changes in the Finder is that it allows you to tag your files. Tags offer a way to group files beyond where they reside on your computer. You can tag based on project, client, or whatever you want. Also, instead of having a bunch of windows open, you can open tabs just like you web browser. Finally new to Finder is a sharing menu that allows you to send files directly to iMessage, AirDrop, email, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
• Multi monitor support is much better in OS X Mavericks. For example, you can have an app take over one screen, but leave your others untouched. Or you can have menu bars and docks on each of your other screens, instead of just on one. Finally, you can use AirPlay-connected screens to extend your desktop wirelessly, via screens attached to an Apple TV.
• Notifications have really improved in OS X Mavericks. You can reply to iMessages, for instance, or emails right from the notification rather than starting the Messages app. Not only that, Apple has added notifications from web sites. If you let them, they can send you updates. Finally, taken straight out of the iPhone is the addition of automatic Do Not Disturb triggering when you’re mirroring your display out to TVs and projectors, or at certain times of day.
• Apple Maps has made an appearance in OS X Mavericks. Love it or love to hate it, it does have one interesting feature. Besides all the usual stuff such as 3D flyover, traffic, and the like, is the ability to beam directions to your iPhone for use in your car. It also leverages addresses in your address book as a springboard for providing directions
• iBooks on the desktop allows you to read books on your desktop, then pick up your iPad or iPhone and continue from where you left off. Or vice versa. It creates a cross platform experience that nobody else that I can think of can offer.
• Safari has had some major changes. First of all, it has extensive energy saving abilities that keep plug-ins like Flash from needlessly running down your battery if you have a laptop. Speaking of plug-ins, Apple has created a sandbox for plug-ins to keep them from being used to attack your computer. Think of the Flashback trojan from last year as an example of this. Plus, each tab you open up operates in its own memory space. That way one tab with an issue doesn’t take the entire browser down. Finally, this version of Safari adds some social flavor with Shared Links from your signed in social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.
• Battery life is improved in OS X Mavericks. You read that right. Software helps you to get better battery life on your MacBook. There are under the hood tweaks that keep applications from draining the battery and you can check on which apps those might be from the battery icon. Simply click the battery and anything that draining your battery will be shown after a few seconds. I’ve found that I definitely get more juice out of a full charge than I did before upgrading on my 15-inch MacBook Pro, though it’s hard to quantify exactly how much. But I do notice the difference.
• OS X Mavericks has memory compression that can take apps that are not currently in use and compress their memory usage so that apps that are in use get the maximum amount of memory possible and it doesn’t waste time shuffling data to and from your hard disk. That helps to improve performance and my MacBook Pro does seem to be a touch bit faster. This is going to be a key feature for those who are running 4GB or less in their Macs. I should also note that there are a number of other technologies that are under the hood to help your Mac to perform better.
• iCloud Keychain could be a godsend for those who hate to remember user IDs and passwords. This feature not only stores all of that and other items like credit card info in the iCloud, but this info is shared with your other iDevices so that Safari can automatically fill in this information as needed. Not only that, but this feature can generate reasonably strong passwords for you and store those too. Oh, it’s all stored with 256-bit AES encryption.

Here’s the bottom line. OS X Mavericks is an upgrade that will be of value to a large contingent of Mac users. You won’t use all 200 new features, but you’ll use enough of them that will make it worth your while. It will make your Mac better to use whether it’s from an application standpoint or battery life standpoint. Plus it’s free and you can’t beat that price. If you can run OS X Mavericks, I suggest that you do it. You will not be sorry.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Apple has stopped naming it’s operating systems after cats. Mavericks is a surfing location in California that is one of a number of places that inspires Apple staff. These places will be the basis of operating system names from this point forward.

This entry was posted on October 30, 2013 at 8:43 am and is filed under Products with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.