For those of us who like our computers working smoothly, the latest Mac operating system Yosemite, which became available for download, will keep us from cussing out our desktops and throwing laptops out the window with all its greatness. And the best thing about Apple's new OS X? It's free. Check out the best innovations and new features inside Yosemite; it's a vast and glorious treasure. The two biggest words to describe it? Automation and integration.
Redesign
![yosemite review, finder]()
The first thing users will notice is the redesign of its layout, fashioning close to the (recent iOS 8) look. Flat and simple in appearance, the new look replaces 3-D icons with popping two-dimensional colors that take the design from sleek to modern and friendly. The flat gray trim of the windows is met by a flat color button strip (red, yellow and green in the upper left corner), which don't show their function unless hovered upon. The green button now offers full screen access instead of best fit, allowing for removal of the other full screen option and further its simplicity.
Apple also introduced a modern font, Helvetica Neue, that matches the iPhone and works well with retina display. That same sterling display also now features translucency in toolbars that allows colors of the desktop background to shine through unobtrusively for more visibility and lightness. In addition, users can switch to dark mode to help black out the toolbars for better night vision and to invert the layout.
Continuity
Mac and mobile are more connected than ever with their ability to work together to accomplish almost any task. Now users can receive calls and send texts from all devices, all synced together wirelessly, making communication easier and faster. Just about anything you can do from your iPhone, you can now do from your Mac. Just be kind enough to use FaceTime Audio so we don't have to look at your ugly mug on our beautiful big retina displays. Seamless and integrating for all devices involved, the only catch here is that it's forcing users to have all Apple products, otherwise this super-convenient feature is worthless.
New FaceTime
FaceTime? More like FacePhone! Not only did the app get an icon facelift; it also got revamped as a full-on phone. Taking and receiving calls, which ring like your iPhone, the new app allows you to dial out and talk through your computer with the convenient option to switch seamlessly to video and back again when you see how bad of a hair day you're having. Who needs a phone anymore?
Safari
Now by far the fastest browser, Safari has been taken to a much higher level in its speed and minimalist design. With your Favorites popping in a drop-down when you click on the URL box, Apple is showing how hard they're trying predict your next move so it comes naturally, almost like you're part robot (or the computer is part human). Not only will it behoove you to use Safari for speed, but its thin menu bars and lackluster approach offer a no-BS means for finding what you need instantly and for more window visibility. But with the redesign of Safari, integration is key with iCloud and Handoff requiring this browser as a prerequisite (well played, Apple). Finally, the iCloud Tabs button added to the righthand-side-identical to Safari's new iOS-allows you to pick up on your computer where you left off on your mobile device.
Handoff
![yosemite review, handoff]()
Start on one device and end on another? Why do I feel like a tech-izing manwhore going from device to device so nonchalantly? So long as the two (or more) devices are in short range of one another, Handoff allows you to jump mid-sentence, mid-text and mid-email from your computer to your phone to your tablet. In your dock and lock screen, the second device will pull up the app icon of the last app you used on your other device, giving you the option to open it up and pick up where you left off. Handoff will no doubt change a person's ability to work from the most convenient and appropriate device without missing a beat, working within the big apps like Safari, Calendars, Mail, Maps, Page (and more). Don't you feel a little slutty?
Spotlight
The tell-all icon is still in the upper right hand corner-designated by a magnifying glass icon-but when you click to use Spotlight, its search bar now comes up in the middle of the screen, allowing you to access anything on your computer, as well as anything on the web. If you start to type in a movie, predictive typing is a step ahead, offering you information, photos and showtimes for the movie before you're even done typing. It also offers Wiki pages, iTunes Store accessibility and app downloads. Who's in the spotlight now?
Better Apps
All the big apps were given redesigned icons this time around to match the interface, but many of the big dogs were improved upon as well. A few quick examples include Mail, which now allows the composer of emails to write on top with pen-like option before sending a message. Your penis drawings on Saturday night's photos will never be more easily sent. The Reminders app now fits the iOS version in both icon and design, and Pages looks a little more navigable than before, allowing users to organize their work a little more professionally. Between these, the Safari and FaceTime revamps and the (new affordable iOS 8 apps), this is looking to be one of the most innovative updates to Macs in some time.
iCloud Drive
Speaking of organizing more professionally, your cloud space has been taken up a few notches with iCloud Drive, an categorized list (much like on a hard drive) to organize all your iCloud keepsakes. Before, you could only access iCloud if you had the application open, but with iCloud Drive, you have access to all your iCloud information in the same place, accessible from all device, with icons like Music, Pictures and Movies. Now you can do more than just save individual items to the cloud while you work on them, but you can also drag anything you want onto iCloud Drive like you would a normal hard drive, similar to Dropbox. Now, doesn't that all make sense? Who's on cloud nine now?
Notification Center
![yosemite review, notification center]()
Last year's Mavericks OS X brought the Notification Center in the form of a sidebar on the right of our screen, accessible through the far upper right icon on the desktop menu bar. Now the notifications are accompanied by a new Today tab, stocked with widgets full of all the timely and current information, including the weather, stocks and birthdays you don't care about. The redesign comes most likely in anticipation of Apple removing Dashboard in the near future, essentially finding better uses for the limited buttons on your keyboard. But the Today tab offers widgets within, completely customizable just like Dashboard. Now doesn't that feel better?
Redesign
The first thing users will notice is the redesign of its layout, fashioning close to the (recent iOS 8) look. Flat and simple in appearance, the new look replaces 3-D icons with popping two-dimensional colors that take the design from sleek to modern and friendly. The flat gray trim of the windows is met by a flat color button strip (red, yellow and green in the upper left corner), which don't show their function unless hovered upon. The green button now offers full screen access instead of best fit, allowing for removal of the other full screen option and further its simplicity.
Apple also introduced a modern font, Helvetica Neue, that matches the iPhone and works well with retina display. That same sterling display also now features translucency in toolbars that allows colors of the desktop background to shine through unobtrusively for more visibility and lightness. In addition, users can switch to dark mode to help black out the toolbars for better night vision and to invert the layout.
Continuity
Mac and mobile are more connected than ever with their ability to work together to accomplish almost any task. Now users can receive calls and send texts from all devices, all synced together wirelessly, making communication easier and faster. Just about anything you can do from your iPhone, you can now do from your Mac. Just be kind enough to use FaceTime Audio so we don't have to look at your ugly mug on our beautiful big retina displays. Seamless and integrating for all devices involved, the only catch here is that it's forcing users to have all Apple products, otherwise this super-convenient feature is worthless.
New FaceTime
FaceTime? More like FacePhone! Not only did the app get an icon facelift; it also got revamped as a full-on phone. Taking and receiving calls, which ring like your iPhone, the new app allows you to dial out and talk through your computer with the convenient option to switch seamlessly to video and back again when you see how bad of a hair day you're having. Who needs a phone anymore?
Safari
Now by far the fastest browser, Safari has been taken to a much higher level in its speed and minimalist design. With your Favorites popping in a drop-down when you click on the URL box, Apple is showing how hard they're trying predict your next move so it comes naturally, almost like you're part robot (or the computer is part human). Not only will it behoove you to use Safari for speed, but its thin menu bars and lackluster approach offer a no-BS means for finding what you need instantly and for more window visibility. But with the redesign of Safari, integration is key with iCloud and Handoff requiring this browser as a prerequisite (well played, Apple). Finally, the iCloud Tabs button added to the righthand-side-identical to Safari's new iOS-allows you to pick up on your computer where you left off on your mobile device.
Handoff
Start on one device and end on another? Why do I feel like a tech-izing manwhore going from device to device so nonchalantly? So long as the two (or more) devices are in short range of one another, Handoff allows you to jump mid-sentence, mid-text and mid-email from your computer to your phone to your tablet. In your dock and lock screen, the second device will pull up the app icon of the last app you used on your other device, giving you the option to open it up and pick up where you left off. Handoff will no doubt change a person's ability to work from the most convenient and appropriate device without missing a beat, working within the big apps like Safari, Calendars, Mail, Maps, Page (and more). Don't you feel a little slutty?
Spotlight
The tell-all icon is still in the upper right hand corner-designated by a magnifying glass icon-but when you click to use Spotlight, its search bar now comes up in the middle of the screen, allowing you to access anything on your computer, as well as anything on the web. If you start to type in a movie, predictive typing is a step ahead, offering you information, photos and showtimes for the movie before you're even done typing. It also offers Wiki pages, iTunes Store accessibility and app downloads. Who's in the spotlight now?
Better Apps
All the big apps were given redesigned icons this time around to match the interface, but many of the big dogs were improved upon as well. A few quick examples include Mail, which now allows the composer of emails to write on top with pen-like option before sending a message. Your penis drawings on Saturday night's photos will never be more easily sent. The Reminders app now fits the iOS version in both icon and design, and Pages looks a little more navigable than before, allowing users to organize their work a little more professionally. Between these, the Safari and FaceTime revamps and the (new affordable iOS 8 apps), this is looking to be one of the most innovative updates to Macs in some time.
iCloud Drive
Speaking of organizing more professionally, your cloud space has been taken up a few notches with iCloud Drive, an categorized list (much like on a hard drive) to organize all your iCloud keepsakes. Before, you could only access iCloud if you had the application open, but with iCloud Drive, you have access to all your iCloud information in the same place, accessible from all device, with icons like Music, Pictures and Movies. Now you can do more than just save individual items to the cloud while you work on them, but you can also drag anything you want onto iCloud Drive like you would a normal hard drive, similar to Dropbox. Now, doesn't that all make sense? Who's on cloud nine now?
Notification Center
Last year's Mavericks OS X brought the Notification Center in the form of a sidebar on the right of our screen, accessible through the far upper right icon on the desktop menu bar. Now the notifications are accompanied by a new Today tab, stocked with widgets full of all the timely and current information, including the weather, stocks and birthdays you don't care about. The redesign comes most likely in anticipation of Apple removing Dashboard in the near future, essentially finding better uses for the limited buttons on your keyboard. But the Today tab offers widgets within, completely customizable just like Dashboard. Now doesn't that feel better?