Starting Today, Mac users will be able to download OS X El Capitan as a Free Update via the App Store.
OS X 10.11 El Capitan is a modest update that brings a slew of improvements and added functionality. It becomes the first version of OS X to bring split-screen multitasking, a feature also introduced in newly released iOS 9 for iPad users.
“El Capitan refines the Mac experience and improves performance in a lot of little ways that make a very big difference. Feedback from our OS X beta programme has been incredibly positive and we think customers are going to love their Macs even more with El Capitan,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering.
The update shows significantly faster loading times on one-two-year-old Macs, as apps load and respond much quicker and things, in general, seem much snappier. Apple said during its WWDC 2015 keynote that EL Capitan will perform 1.4 times faster than before, and it appears that number is just about right. Part of this faster performance can also be attributed to a new security system that Apple has added called System Integrity Protection and Metal APIs, which makes it easier for developers to make graphic intensive apps run much faster.
Other notable changes include improved Spotlight search functionality and a new version of Safari web browser with mute audio tabs. In addition, several tweaks have also been made to its Mission Control feature. Several built-in apps have also been improved, for instance, Maps now gets public transit directions for a number of cities including Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington D.C. While ‘Notes’ app now lets users add photos, PDFs, multimedia, maps locations and much more. While the Mail app also gets overhauled and looks more like the one found on iOS 9.
Users are highly recommended to try out the new OS X El Capitan upgrade who’ll be rather impressed by its snappy performance and speed. It requires at least 2GB of RAM and 8GB of free storage space. Check out the list below for compatible Mac devices:
- iMac (mid-2007 or later)
- MacBook Air (late 2008 or later)
- MacBook (late 2008 aluminum or early 2009 or newer),
- Mac mini (early 2009 or later)
- MacBook Pro (mid/late 2007 or later)
- Mac Pro (early 2008 or later)
- Xserve (early 2009)
Th Cupertino giant recently also announced that its latest gen iPhones have recorded all times sales record in the opening week since launch, claiming it has sold over 13 million iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus units since it went on sale last Friday in select countries.
