Apple has dispensed with the tradition of naming its operating systems after wild cats and has called its next generation operating system Mac OS X Mavericks, after a favourite surfing location in California. The new OS will come with 200 new features and brings iBooks and Maps to the Mac.
The new OS, which will launch in the Autumn (that’s English for Fall), also introduces useful new methods of managing data including Finder Tag and Tabs.
Demonstrating the new OS at WWDC in San Francisco, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi emphasised the new power saving features of the new OS, including App Nap and a feature called Timer coalescing which reduces CPU activity by up to 72pc.
Timer Coalescing intelligently groups together low-level operations so that the CPU can spend more time in a low-power state, saving energy without affecting performance or responsiveness. App Nap reduces the power consumed by apps that you’re not using. Compressed Memory technology keeps your Mac fast and responsive. When your system’s memory begins to fill up, Compressed Memory automatically compresses inactive data. When these items are needed again, Mavericks instantly uncompresses them.
He also showed some nifty new features of Safari which includes one-click bookmarking and the ability to tweet directly from a page to the new look Reader and an innovative new iCloud Keychain which stores credit card data and security codes securely for making online payments. Information is always protected with AES-256 encryption when it’s stored on your Mac and when it’s pushed to your devices.
Federighi also demonstrated a new-look Calendar in OS X Mavericks that allows users to input and discover additional knowledge while updating Calendar such as location, travel times and weather. Info-cards can be set up with location and navigation that could then be sent on to your iPhone. When the iPhone is unlocked it goes straight into navigation to take the user to their appointment.
Maps brings advanced mapping technologies from iOS to the Mac, including crisp vector graphics, stunning 3D view and interactive Flyover. In one demonstration he was able to look through the arches of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
One of the other exciting new features on Mac OS X Mavericks is iBooks which allows users buy from a library of 1.8m booksto scroll through the pages of books, pinch-in to graphics and add notes in the margins of pages.
With Mavericks you can also use your HDTV as a second display using Apple TV and AirPlay.
