October 15, 2015. • Multitask while editing using new Split View in El Capitan • Open Keynote ’08 and ’06 presentations • Shared Keynote presentations can now be previewed on iOS and Android browsers • Force click images and get haptic feedback as you edit using Force Touch trackpad • New.
El Capitan is the twelth revision of Mac OS X. I give my first impressions of it.
I woke this morning to find Apple’s 2015 offering of OS X 10.11 El Capitan was ready for download. Okay, I knew September 30th was the release date, but there seemed to be no fanfare from fans or the media. It was quietly ushered into the App Store.
Apple haven’t upped the requirements for El Capitan, which remain unchanged since OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was released in 2012. Although Mountain Lion required 2 GB RAM, it isn’t recommended to run Mavericks, Yosemite, or El Capitan on so little, and 4 GB should be classed as the minimum.
Mountain Lion all the way up to El Capitan can be run on as low as a Mid 2007 iMac, Mid 2007 MacBook Pro, Late 2008 Aluminum MacBook, Late 2008 MacBook Air, Early 2009 Mac Mini, Early 2008 Mac Pro, and 2009 Xserve. Some fancy features, such as Handoff and AirDrop, do require a newer Mac.
So I set it downloading, and at 6.08 GB it took an hour to download. Once finished, I set it installing, updating over Yosemite on my Mid 2012 11″ 1.7 GHz i5 MacBook Air with 8 GB RAM. About an hour later and a couple of auto-reboots, I sat facing a new rock formation backdrop.
El Capitan is dubbed as a performance release rather than a feature release. However, it does add multitouch gestures to Mail and Messages, includes split-screen snapping and updates to Mission Control, Spotlight, Safari, Maps and Notes have been improved, and Apple claim app launching is increased by 40%.
Let’s not forget, the new system font San Francisco, which was introduced in iOS 9 – which does seem to render nicely across the OS.
One very cool – and small – feature is the “lost your cursor” option. Ever lose you mouse pointer on your screen? Simply wiggle the mouse, and it will grow large.
First Thoughts
Looking around it for the first time, it doesn’t seem much different from Yosemite. It has the “childish” look that people complained about but have all gotten used to over the past twelve months. Apart from the system font and backdrop, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference between OS X 10.10 Yosemite and El Capitan.
There seems a noticeable instant improvement in speed, which is always a welcome change, and if it means apps load quicker, that is an added bonus.
So far I have found no applications that have any issues – and none of mine have been updated yet – although they haven’t been tested extensively.
I have tried out the following applications today without any issues: Android File Transfer, Any Video Converter, Audacity, Bean, Burn, coconutBattery, Cyberduck, DOSBox, Dropbox, HandBrake, MacTracker, OpenOffice, PrBoom, StuffIt Expander, TextWrangler, Twitter, VLC, and Windows Phone.
The only application I had issues with was TinyUmbrella, which quit immediately after opening, but I haven’t updated that in a while.
Battery Life
My 11” MacBook Air is the last one to offer “up to 5 hours” battery. Models after that were upped to 9 hours. I have seen an improvement in battery life today. While battery life is subjective, I have yet to charge it since taking it off at 8 a.m. this morning – so that is pretty impressive.
Under the Hood
As usual, there is a lot more going under the hood than most regular users would need. El Capitan features the Metal API for gaming and applications, and System Integrity Protection, a new security feature.
Should You Upgrade
There will always be someone with an issue or a glitch that pops up. This cannot be avoided no matter how much beta testing is done. That is the risk you take when being a day-one convert. However, I have been using it all day and haven’t noticed any problems.
Conclusion
Before you take the plunge on any machine you should check your software compatibility list – especially if it’s a work or mission critical – but other than that, enjoy it.
I am sure the coming weeks and a few bug fix updates will strengthen it and make it a great version of Mac OS X, but so far it is shaping up to a welcome update.
I am off to look at it some more.
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By AppleInsider Staff Thursday, October 15, 2015, 01:52 pm PT (04:52 pm ET)
Apple on Thursday updated its iWork suite of apps for both iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan, bringing new hardware support for iPhone 6s and iPad, including 3D Touch, tablet multitasking options, keyboard shortcuts for wireless accessories and more.
Pages, Numbers and Keynote all hit version 2.6 on iOS 9, while the same titles reached version 5.6 on OS X 10.11 El Capitan, each bringing enhancements specific to Apple's latest operating systems. Among the more substantial improvements for iOS 9 is support for Slide Over, Split View and Picture in Picture multitasking on iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and the upcoming iPad Pro. The apps can also take advantage of the new shortcut bar in iOS 9, as well as keyboard shortcuts for wireless keyboards. On iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, iWork apps are now compatible with pressure-sensitive 3D Touch controls. Other upgrades include the ability to open iWork '08 and '06 documents and preview shared documents via Web browser, while compatibility with Microsoft's Office suite has also been improved. Accessibility features received a boost with new VoiceOver commands for editing documents and navigating each app's user interface. Enhancements include adding, editing, reading, interacting and previewing document items, or accessing various menu functions. An exhaustive list of features for all iWork apps can be found on Apple's dedicated What's New webpage. On OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Pages, Numbers and Keynote bring support for Split View, Apple's new two-up viewing option. Newer MacBooks with Force Touch, or iMacs with Force Touch trackpads, receive haptic feedback when editing document assets like images, while additional VoiceOver commands add to the user experience. Like their corresponding iOS 9 apps, Mac versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote can open iWork '08 and '06 documents. A full list of features can be found on each app's store page. Existing users can download Apple's iWork updates for free via the iOS or Mac App Store. Pages, Numbers and Keynote for iOS come in at 275MB, 233MB and 510MB, respectively, while the same apps weigh in at 224MB, 166MB and 465MB on Mac. New users can purchase the apps on iOS for $9.99 each, or on Mac for $19.99 each.