Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
It ’s unfortunate that we struggled to get many of the continuity features to ferment in Yosemite , as they were the features we were most excited about . However , as we have spend more time with Yosemite , we have retrieve that Mac and iOS Continuity has become more true . Over time we hope the issues with WiFi will be rectified . There is a lot of good in Yosemite , but it is the flagship persistence feature that offer the giving divergence when compare to Mavericks , and without them it is hard to view the update as any more than a much need update to the Mail app , and some nice new iCons ( and some people do n’t even like them ) .
Mac OS ecstasy Yosemite is the late operating scheme for Macs and MacBooks , and was one of Apple ’s primal product launches of 2014 . Our review of Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite see closely at the newfangled features in Apple ’s Yosemite operating system , study the numerous improvements it adds to OS X ( as well as the more questionable design choices that will cause irritation to some ) and answer question about troubleshooting Yosemite problems – such as persistence , and the wireless trouble that have been smite Yosemite users since launch .
Here ’s how we ’re find Mac OS ex Yosemite so far .
Update , 23 February 2015 : We’ve been see lots of reports of ( and dubiousness about ) Yosemite making Macs slower . Canupgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite decelerate down your Mac ?
In fact , updating an oxygen can sometimes get problems like this , especially when it includes enhanced visuals that are likely to place more of a need on your Mac , so we decided to test this out by equate the lab functioning of the same Mac running Mavericks and Yosemite . We summarize our finding in thespeed testing sectionbelow ( and link to our punishingly thoroughgoing story in a separate article , for devotee of bar graphs and elaborate lab reports ) .
you’re able to interpret more about Yosemite here :
And for more data on Mac OS X 10.10 – and get more out of your Mac with its many new features – watch our Yosemite tip video :
And here ’s what is coming in the next version of OS X …
Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10 review: New look, OS X redesign
One of the biggest talking points when it come to OS X 10.10 Yosemite is the new design elements . iOS undergo an enormous redesign in 2013 , so it was intend that the same might be in store for Apple ’s Mac operating system in 2014 .
Many expect a novel look because Apple ’s senior vice - president of design , Jonathan I ve , was work with older vice - president of software engineering Craig Federighi on the new version of OS X , lead up the redesign of Mac OS X for OS X 10.10 . Therefore it was no surprisal to see some of the flatter , more minimalist aesthetics we first come across iniOS 7 in Apple ’s new Mac operating system .
However , iOS and OS X have by no means evolved into a single operating system , as some had feared . While there are some shared component ( translucence , brilliant colours , flatter ikon , and typography ) , the two operating system are still quite freestanding . This is no surprisal to us , back in January , Apple ’s Phil Schiller told our sister title in the US : “ We do n’t waste meter thinking , ‘ But should it be one [ interface ] ? How do you make these [ operating organisation ] unite together ? ’ What a waste of energy that would be . ”
At the time Craig Federighi , add : “ The reason OS X has a different user interface than iOS is n’t because one come after the other or because this one ’s old and this one ’s young . alternatively , it ’s because using a mouse and keyboard just is n’t the same as tap with your finger . ”
So , while there ’s been quite a conception overhaul in OS X – with the key departure being that Apple has allot with the 3D aim ingredient of old in lieu of flatter , more colourful surfaces – the interface changes that arrived in Yosemite suggest that Apple still intends to keep iOS and OS X separate . We search in more item at these interface change below . record our review ofOS X Server(Yosemite ) .
Read next : How to put in Yosemite and aged version of Mac OS decade
Here ’s some Yosemite installation advice :
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Visual changes in Yosemite
One of the most obvious changes to the OS X user interface is the violent , jaundiced and green buttons that are used to close up , minimize and flourish a windowpane . These button are now flat circles . The key conflict is that when you oscillate over them , unlike in Mavericks where you see a – and + signal on the yellow and green clitoris , the greenish button will now show a symbol for full screen mode . You will still be able to increase the size of a windowpane as you do now , but you will need to weigh the alt / option Florida key when you dawn the green button . compress the Escape key to return to the normal sentiment from full CRT screen horizon .
This make absolute sensation , after all the honest-to-god enlarge button was a little redundant and the full screenland icon , while utilitarian was veil over the other side of the screen , which was rather disconnected from the other dick that execute a similar routine and therefore quite un - Apple , we thought .
Another change is the path Apple has simplify the fare BAR around Yosemite . With most Macs a bunch wider than they are tall , Apple has made some design choices that make the most of the limited sieve height uncommitted . For illustration , Apple has reduced the elevation of many windowpane form of address saloon in Yosemite . For example , those red , jaundiced and green button have drop down so that they are not using up a whole line of screen door retail the three estates .
In Safari these button come out on the same level as the reference / search bar . merge the toolbar and deed prevention will also help hoi polloi working on a cramped 11 in MacBook blind . Our only concern is that this does mean that the title of a page inSafari , and the name of the document you are cultivate on in your word processor will also not be visible . More on this below .
Not sure which Mac to buy ? Read ourWhich Mac buyers guide on
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Retina display clues in Yosemite, transparancy and more
With the arrival of theRetina 5 K iMacit is no surprise that there are elements in the figure of Yosemite that appear to be train with retina displays in mind . change include the use of the Thin Helvetica Neue font as the arrangement case rather than the thicker Lucida Grande font . The thinner baptistry is suited to gamey - closure displays . This is great on Retina displays , but we feel that organisation baptistery on our 2009 iMac seem a little blury now . Hard to tell if we just want fresh drinking glass …
Other subtle excogitation changes include an increased enjoyment of transparency . Some interface elements are semi - opaque so that a blurry adaptation of the window behind can be seen . For instance , the computer menu bar at the top of the screen is opaque , and the Messages sidebar is translucent . As far as we can see this serve no utile purpose , but at least it does n’t appear to bear upon readability .
This use of translucency around the operating system is to “ give you a sentience of place , ” harmonize to Apple . Some people are bind to detest the translucent element , if you do it is possible to reduce the transparency in System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > Reduce transparency .
Looking at the menu bar at the top of the screen you will remark the Wi - Fi icon is thinner , and the battery icon on a laptop computer looks like the iOS battery icon .
You ’ll also notice that the low-spirited buttons in dialogue loge are also mat , featuring a unlike share of blue sky that no longer pulses . Read : Yosemite versus Windows 10 comparison
There is also a new Dark Mode option . This offers dark-skinned menu bars , perfect for working in dark environment . We ’ve got a tutorial onhow to turn on Dark Modehere .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: The Dock and Icons in Yosemite
Apple ’s plan team has been busybodied redesigning icons ; the result being that we now have a more attractive bin instead of a telegram trash can , and the Finder Icon has had a facelift and looks a whole lot more smiley .
Those are n’t the only ikon to have had an iOS - dash , more well-disposed , facelift : the iTunes icon is now crimson and closely matches that of iOS , as does the Safari ikon . System Preferences is now just one cog , rather than three , Preview is now a generic seaboard tantrum rather than a plastic looking nipper , etc .
There are a few icons that have exchange , but strangely are n’t the same as the Io opposite number . These include Calendar , which still looks like a desk calendar ( but a more modern one ) , Calculator , which has more detail than the iOS ikon , and Messages , which is a blue speech communication house of cards rather than a green language house of cards . It seems strange that Apple would redesign some of its icons to be the same as in Io but not others .
The translucency that Apple has added to the interface can also be see in the Dock , which no longer expect like a 3D ledge , it is bare and insipid and a disgraceful loony toons below an program now betoken that it is running rather than Mavericks ’ subtle gleaming .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Notification Centre in Yosemite
With Yosemite , Notification Center no longer slides a Mac ’s full interface off to the left to bulge out from the right side of the screen . Now , Dock - like , it slue in on top of the good side of your screen , overlapping folders on your screen background , or apps if they are range on that side of the screen ( you ca n’t touch off Notification Centre in full - CRT screen modality ) .
As in iOS , there are now two tabs at the top of Notification Centre : Notifications and Today . This is more like the iOS version of Notification Centre that shows : Today , All and Missed .
We choose this unexampled thought to the muddle of pointless notifications we used to see in Mavericks – frankly we did n’t utilise it because it was a mess . Now we can in reality see useful information if we fall into place on the Notification Centre icon .
learn about the Notification Centre in iOS 8 here
Mac OS X Yosemite review: What’s in the Today tab?
All the new addition to Notification Centre can be found in the Today yellow journalism . As it does in iOS , Today cave in you an overview of what is happening today , including Calendar fitting .
It also include an Edit clit : sink in this and a 2d chromatography column appear beside Notification Centre slides out , demo a complete lean of items you’re able to add to the Today horizon . you’re able to also use this list to pick point to polish off from the Today survey and reorder the ones that are include .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Where are the Widgets in Yosemite?
The leaning of things you could add up to the Today view include gizmo such as broth , Weather , Reminders , Calculator , and World Clock . New thingmabob let in Social ( for posting to Facebook and Twitter ) .
If you were hop for more widget , you may not have foresighted to wait ; more are likely to become available as prison term get on . developer can make their own widgets and sell them on the Mac App Store . In fact there are already some there let in a Brightness widget for change monitor smartness and a whatchamacallit for Battery diagnostics . You will be capable to download these widgets from the Mac App Store and add them to the Today view in Notification Centre . Apps can also export thingumabob into the Notification Centre Today opinion . Before long we expect that Apple will total a promotional section to the Mac App Store to show case these novel widgets .
Some of these widgets can be configure . If you hover over a whatchamacallit you will see an i in a band , if you click it you could change the widget setting , for example , add or remove cities from the World Clock or Weather widgets .
The Widgets that are available by default are like to those that appear in Dashboard ( if you ever go there other than by accident ) . However , you may add more widgets . When you tap Edit in Today panorama you will see a link to the Mac App Store and you could download widgets from there . Apps will also be able to render gubbins .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Does this mean Dashboard is dead?
Many of these Widgets are still useable in Dashboard , but with the arrival of Widgets in Notification Centre it sure looks like there will be no need for Dashboard , which was introduced in 2005 with OS X Tiger . Dashboard is from an era when using WWW - found engineering to write lightweight applets seemed like a respectable idea . Now we are in the App Store era and we can ask these widgets to be a lot like their iOS variant . design Widgets never really took off , but thanks to the popularity of the App Store we can wait many widgets to be vying for our attention .
Here are some of the whatsis available in Dashboard . Expect more of the same :
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Spotlight in Yosemite
Like Dashboard , Spotlight arrived with OS go Tiger back in 2005 . In Yosemite Spotlight gains a new look and much more functionality .
The first major change is that Spotlight has a new location . The Spotlight ikon remain in the top right of the screen , but when you chatter on it the window opens in the middle of the sieve , rather than just below the ikon . This allows more blank for results , but it does seem disjointed from the source . However , you do n’t have to tap the Spotlight icon to initiate Spotlight . As in Mavericks , you may collide with bid - blank space to give Spotlight .
We find Spotlight in Yosemite to be quite sluggish when we first started using it , perhaps because our system was still re - indexing ( indeed it spent a few hours doing this but we only live this because MDU showed up in Activity Monitor – MDU is the interior indexing OS X does so it knows where everything is on your Mac , it used to show up in the Spotlight windowpane when you used it , but now Apple looks like hiding the fact that your Mac is indexing ( probably because it ’s only really something that you will inquire about if your Mac dead slows down ) .
We find that when we make a hunt we have previously made Spotlight is a lot quicker at showing us the position of what we were searching for .
You ’ll see a list of Spotlight ensue on the left field , separate by Indian file character , and a big trailer on the left , so there is no need to preview a papers to see if it ’s the one you are looking for , you could read it within Spotlight ’s windowpane . Just highlight the upshot that matches what you were research for , click Return , and Spotlight will enter the result of your search .
As you type your hunt the text edition is auto - filled with what glare predicts you are looking for . Perfect if you want to plunge an app this way . Type ‘ Cal ’ and Spotlight will prognosticate that you like to launch Calendar so you will merely have to tap Return to launch the app – we can see ourselves eventually switching to this way of working when we want to fly the coop covering .
waitress a few seconds longer and Spotlight will thrive to show elaborate result from numerous data sources including tidings headline , maps , the App Store , iTunes , Wikipedia , and ( shock repulsion ) Bing ’s entanglement search ( take that , Google ! ) .
queerly , we did n’t always find Bing search resolution in our Spotlight windowpane . A search for Apple News register us Apple.com hot news and the Telegraph , but nothing else , and a like search for Mac word bought upmacworld.co.ukalong with MacRumors and MacDailyNews . But a search for iPad word give us three ‘ news show ’ effect in a segment of their own , rather than in a Bing section . likewise a lookup for Weather gave us “ Suggested Website ” ofweather.comas well as Bing leave further down the listings .
This all seems a little random right now .
A hunting for a location returns a Map of said location including the tools to find directions to that localisation . You ’ll also be able to do thing like transmit an email or make a phone call from the Spotlight port .
Spotlight also substantiate social unit conversions , so you’re able to discover out what 80F is in centigrade , or how may one dollar bill you get for a pound . You ’ll also see various other transition in the solution windowpane . We may even stop usingxe.comto do our up-to-dateness conversion .
There are also some limitations compare to the US Spotlight lookup results . Over there if you look for for a moving-picture show you’re able to expect to get a “ Now toy in theater of operations ” results with flick poster , its Rotten Tomatoes valuation , test times , trailers and more . We get no such results here in the UK .
It looks like you’re able to only do one limelight search at a meter ( unless you search through the Finder ) .
In the past we predominantly used Spotlight to locate documents when we had forgotten where we had register them . We wonder if the results will now be a little overloaded with Wikipedia links and other web based data point .
It immediately struck us that we were only encounter a few results in the Documents section , which made us wonder if Apple is implementing a canny algorithm to only show us the most likely document to match those we are look for , or if we would not be able to find thing we need in hereafter . For example , a hunting for the give-and-take ‘ The ’ bought only five document results , and we are reasonably indisputable we have compose that word a few times . A few minutes later we discovered we could tap Documents to see more answer in a Finder windowpane .
The results do come out to be a lilliputian random , but there are certainly some useful unexampled feature in limelight search .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Calendar in Yosemite
The Yosemite Calendar app does n’t offer many fresh feature , but there are a few that are suitable of note .
As you’re able to see from the image above , the month view of Calendar in OS X is almost indistinguishable to the Calendar in iOS 7 . The fundamental change to this aspect in OS X is that the Today and Month item have switch sides compared to Mavericks .
Calendar will learn from the late event you have set up so that when you create a newfangled consequence it will autocomplete with the likely engagement and attendees . If you on a regular basis hold a meeting with squad penis , then when you set the event up for Team meeting it will offer to invite the usual attendees .
The Calendar has a new look for the workweek aspect which is reminiscent of iOS 7 . There is also an all - new Clarence Shepard Day Jr. perspective . You ’ll still see a two - pane view , but rather than the slightly senseless two column eyeshot ( where all get together for the day are picture on the left , and details on the right ) you ’ll see a undivided agenda pane and an inspector window pane that shows the details of a pick out calendar upshot . This inspector pane allows you a luck of space to create new events or vary be I – certainly preferable to the strangle space in the floating examiner pallet of old .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Changes in Mail in Yosemite
Mail in Yosemite does n’t appear to have changed much from Mail in Mavericks , aside from a few svelte interface changes . For exemplar , the Show / Hide toggle that displays your mailbox leaning is now labeled Mailboxes , which makes a lot more sense if you were n’t aware what it would show .
However , underneath the Earth’s surface Mail has been given a much needed upheaval in OS X Yosemite . Along with a new smell user interface , Mail is has also pull in some utilitarian new time - saving features .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Markup in Mail
The first of these Mail time savers is the power to notate a PDF or range of a function from within Mail . This Markup feature film is supposed to let you to add annotation to images and PDFs from inside Mail . We expect this to be more unproblematic to exercise than it is . You should be able to invite an email with a PDF , click response and then be able to edit the PDF or Jpeg inside the e-mail before you click send . That ’s how it should make .
It took us a few attempts to get the Markup information to show up , and it was only after we dragged and cast a PDF to an electronic mail that we were able-bodied to pit it up . Certain that it would n’t be the case that the only means to make MarkUp work would be to snaffle the PDF someone has place you and reattach it by dragging it back into Mail , we discovered that we just needed to ensure that Include Attachments from Original Message was choose when we clicked Reply . But even this did n’t forge every time we clicked Reply .
We were slimly more successful with Forward . Still , with this much messing around in Mail you might as well be edit in Preview after all . Apple require to do work on this aspect of Mail , it ’s flakey and nobody is even lead to earn it is there . When MarkUp is work as expect , you should see an icon appear in the top - left hand of the prevue of the PDF or Jpeg you have been sent . If you click this icon and select Markup the point should zoom out into a disjoined window , and a toolbar will come out above it .
When we tried to apply the Markup tools we did n’t happen them as simple to use as we would have liked . We felt like we were using a separate programme but without access to the accompany email . For example , when we wanted to jot down some question about the PDF in our reply email we were ineffectual to do so while MarkUp was open .
For all its faults , Markup is a slap-up example of the Extensions applied science that Apple is premise in Yosemite and iOS 8 . This novel technology mean that code from one software can seem in another practical software ’s window . Hopefully Apple will figure out how to make it work better soon .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Mail Drop and Yosemite
The other raw time saver in Mail is Mail Drop , a raw feature film that will mechanically upload an fond regard that is larger than 5 MB to iCloud when you assay and email it . When the recipient receives the email the large Indian file will automatically be downloaded – as long as they are on Yosemite . Everything happens behind the scenes .
We send a 5.6 Bachelor of Medicine folder from one Mail account to another , this folder then appear in the other write up as a cipher file before gradually downloading – it was by no means instant but that ’s most likely because we were testing it at home rather than in the business office where the connection is loyal . Once downloaded the zip file turned into a normal leaflet ikon . It was a lot easier than upload and download from DropBox . you may scuff and drop the folder onto your Mac , or simply open up it from within Mail .
If you send it to someone who does n’t have Yosemite then they will invite a download nexus for the filing cabinet .
Mail Drop will likely be a bonanza if , like us , you ofttimes send to , and receive large files from , colleagues . Before Yosemite the only way to partake in these oversize files without break off your mail host was to upload them to DropBox or use another file cabinet sharing service , like Mail Big File . This was simple enough , but it was n’t something you could do in one step – inevitably you had to upload the file , and then cut and glue a link for the download into the email you were sending , hoping that the person at the other death would then download the file .
In Yosemite this whole mental process has been simplified to such an extent that you wo n’t really hump it ’s happening and nor will your recipient . Everything is handled by Mail . If you care to send a gravid file cabinet just drag it into the email to confiscate it as you would a small single file and send . In the background Mail will upload the turgid file to a temporary concord binful on Apple ’s servers and then when the email is open at the other finish the download of the enceinte filing cabinet happens , but it ’s all behind the scene .
Note that your receiver has 30 days to download the file before it disappears .
Read ourMac email tips , using Mail in Yosemite
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Safari 8 in Yosemite
The new version of Apple ’s web internet browser that arrived with Yosemite is Safari 8 , and with it comes a simplistic Modern look . Safari in Yosemite gains a clearer , cleaner interface that is designed to make seafaring mere . The red , orangish and green buttons have omit down to the same horizontal surface as the address / search legal community and the forward / back and apportion icons . ReadHow to habituate Safari on the Mac , Yosemite Safari tips .
As a result there is a lot less place for the full URL so you will only see the name of the host . You will only see the full uniform resource locator if you get through on it . This may not make a giving departure to many masses , but if you were visitingapple.com/ukfor example , all you will see of the URL isapple.com , so it would be easy to pass time on the wrong commonwealth ’s web site .
This minimalist look is actually a pile like what you see in Safari for iOS on the iPhone . However , whereas strip back the URL bar is logical on the iPhone where infinite is special , on a orotund screen it does n’t really make sentiency to impoverish the exploiter of utile information .
These changes to the toolbar also imply that some of the feature you expect to see do n’t seem to be there – but they are . The first time we open Safari it show us an iOS 8 - like grid of our Favourites – with icons instead of the card bar we were previously used to . If you prefer the Top Sites view you’re able to switch to that if you dawn on the icon on the top rightfield . The star is for Favourites , the grid of dots for Top Sites . It strikes us that both prospect are a bit exchangeable and fundamentally do the same thing .
Now that both are show in such a similar fashion , we intend that they are probable to meld into one in usance . Mind you , with last year ’s Mavericks we start using the Reading List bar for our frequently access webpages , so we already require to do a fair number of retraining .
We ’ve a suspicion we will start to practice Favourites , as all you have to do is click in the Smart Search Field and you will see a fall down computer menu with all your Favourites . Handy .
The one flunk is that it only shows up when you are already on a webpage – you do n’t see the dropdown favourites when you are in Top Sites view .
ReadHow to habituate Safari on the Mac , Yosemite Safari tips
Plus : Improve Safari on the Mac with these extensions
Here ’s how to use OS X Yosemite ExtensionsandThe top 10 Yosemite Extensions
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Tab View in Safari 8
There is yet another view to choose from . you may see previews of all the tabs you have capable if you click the picture on the rightfulness ( two overlap squares ) . In this view you will see a birds - oculus opinion of all your undetermined check pages on all your Apple twist . If you have open up multiple Thomas Nelson Page on one site , those tabs will be stack .
When we closed some web browser app windows on our iPhone the new status was promptly replicated on our Mac variation of Safari .
The Tab View is similar to an live feature that you may have seen in Mavericks , if you use a trackpad . If you pinch on a trackpad when using Safari in Mavericks you would see the depicted object of all your open tabs in a slideshow view and you could swipe through each one . This view is now go and the unexampled Tab View can only be accessed by clicking on the raw Tab View . It ca n’t be get at by pinching on the trackpad – but this is no bad matter as the pinch action is link with zooming in on images and that was inevitably when we would trigger the Tab View in the past .
The improver of iCloud Tabs to Safari on the Mac could sure enough show utile .
With all these novel view we will in all likelihood find ourselves using the sidebar that shows Reading List , Favourites and Twitter a lot less . We ’ve already hidden the Favourites legal community from above the Tab Browning automatic rifle because our Favourites are now approachable in better direction .
Speaking of Twitter , Sharing is designed to be simpler in OS ten Yosemite – when you click the Share icon ( which is now selfsame to the Share ikon of iOS ) to share a webpage you will also see a list of late recipients , so you’re able to post to one of them with one suction stop . We had a uncanny glitch where it exhibit the speech we netmail as ‘ Contacts ’ however , rather than the name of the recipient . It ’s useful that once you have forwarded a webpage to a grouping you’re able to select that same group again another clip – it would be utilitarian if it was tag slenderly otherwise , but its a move in the proper direction .
What is more plaguey for possessor of website is the fact that exploiter are n’t merely emailing a link to the site but Apple is scraping the text in its entirety from the Reader View of the page . So fundamentally Apple is allowing exploiter to scrape and share webpage without the recipient ever having to chat that web page . Why do n’t you just toss off the net Apple ? You do get various choices as to how you divvy up the entropy , be it as a web page , PDF or link only . This is n’t in reality a raw feature in Yosemite , it also existed in Mavericks , but we ’re still a shade annoyed . We need people to inspect our website because otherwise we will be out of job . ( If you are reading this in an electronic mail please visit our website : macworld.co.ukthank you ) .
The way the World Wide Web page is rendered in Mail will bet on the way it is reconstruct in the first lieu .
As for your Shared Links view , where you could see Twitter posts ( and LinkedIn if you ever specify that up ) this will now admit RSS provender you have sign up up for . Just select subscription at the bottom of the Shared Links consider , bump the RSS provender you wish to add , and jibe to add it to your Shared link . Now you should see any raw content added to that website .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Searching in Safari for Yosemite
One useful feature in Safari in Yosemite is an sweetening to the autocomplete options when you typewrite in the URL / lookup bar . Safari will search Wikipedia , Maps , iTunes and news , just as happens in Spotlight . It makes using the web internet browser as a address shaft leisurely . you’re able to stand out straight to the relevant Wikipedia page , for example .
As with Spotlight it ’s a fiddling random , some times you will see a Wikipedia result , other meter you wo n’t . Sometimes you will see a Suggested Website in the result , other times you wo n’t . It would be good to know how to get list as a Suggested Website .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Private Browsing for Safari
Those who are interested about just how much Google knows about them might like the new Private Browsing mode in Safari . These new privacy preferences make it possible to create a new individual window for browsing the web . individual Browsing , which has been a feature in Google Chrome for some fourth dimension , set aside you to look privately . The contents of your window and your web page story will not be saved and your cookies wo n’t be share . you could secern if you are using a secret Window because the name and address bar is dark .
To browse in private you need to select File > New Private Window from Safari ’s carte bar . you could open up multiple tabs in this window and those tabs will not come along on your other iOS gimmick .
antecedently , if you want to range privately you needed to turn on the Safari - wide Private Browsing musical mode from the Safari menu . This feature no longer live in the novel interpretation .
Safari ’s Private Browsing wo n’t wholly confuse your browsing habit . Your equipment ’s internet name and address and some other introductory info about your computing equipment will still be lead on to servers .
This is n’t the only manner Apple is helping us to browse in secret . Apple will desegregate of the DuckDuckGo search engine , which is attached to not collecting or give chase the personal info of its exploiter . To arrange DuckDuckGo up as your default search engine you need to go to Safari > penchant > Search > DuckDuckGo . you’re able to also switch to Bing or Yahoo from Google here as well .
People are go to get the impression that Apple does n’t like Google very much .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: System Preferences
We were hop-skip for a bit of a reduction of System Preferences , but apart from the fresh look icons inside System Preferences and the new spirit menu ( a back clit rather than ‘ Show All ’ ) , and aside from the novel Extensions tab within System Preferences – which allow you to enable and turn off the extensions that come along in the Services and Share fare and widgets for the Today view within Notifications , nothing else has really shift .
Well , in reality if you really dig mystifying you will find a few new thing , such as Scrapbook and Snapshots option in Screen Saver , which allow for you to choose from Apple ’s beautiful background images , or your own recent iPhoto upshot . Scrapbook did n’t seem to work on at all for us , but via Snapshot we were able to show photos from a recent vacation .
Of of course , you ’ve always been able to view your exposure as a Screen Saver , and the various presentation options are still there . Rather than adding random Scrapbook options to an already herd variety of ways of reckon your own photos as a Screen Saver , we intend it would be useful if Apple allowed you to select a Photo Album rather than an consequence , but the likelihood is this will all alter in the new year with the reaching of Photos for Mac . take ourcomplete guide to System Preferences in Yosemite .
Other svelte tweaks admit the ability to choose to see Dashboard as an ‘ Overlay ’ rather than a separate space , which intend you may see your thingamabob in front of the windows you have open . This is a peachy idea , but seems a minute pointless now widgets are in Notification Centre .
New in System Preferences > General is the option to switch on Dark Mode , which turns your sorrel and menu Browning automatic rifle at the top of your screenland dark . Perhaps it will make a vainglorious departure if you are used to working in a darkened way , as presuming you are n’t typecast into a white windowpane your screen will be darker in general while still being useable ( you’re able to always turn down luminosity if you necessitate to ) .
There are also a few change in Accessibility , let in the option to Reduce Transparency cite in the beginning .
Energy Saver gets a fresh “ Enable Power Nap while on Battery Power ” pick which mean that your Mac will be able-bodied to check for emails and other updates while sleeping .
These few changes will not be enough for some , when we asked readers what they want from OS X 10.10 one suggestion was that System Preferences could be more like Control Centre . Probably Apple feels it would be a error to make System Preferences too light to manipulate as substance abuser may make alteration they did n’t mean to , as we did when we accidentally change the line in Accessibility .
Wondering about the next version of Mac OS X ? take our tilt of10 cool name Apple could use for Mac OS decade 10.11
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Yosemite Continuity brings better integration between Mac and iPad/iPhone
Perhaps the most exciting of all the newfangled feature of speech in Yosemite are those that wreak the iPhone , iPad and Mac closer together . Apple bundles these fresh technologies under the banner of Continuity and they admit feature of speech that get to make it easy to work with , and switch over between , all your Apple gadget : Mac and iOS . This assembling of feature of speech being introduced for this intent should also help the caller sell Macs to iPhone users , and vice versa .
These new features include AirDrop file transportation between Macs iPads and iPhones , Handoff , so you’re able to switch from a task on the iPhone to fill out it on either the Mac or iPad , or vice versa . We ’ll get down with AirDrop .
Here is how to get persistence to run on old Macs
Mac OS X Yosemite review: AirDrop in Yosemite
As we all hop , Apple has made AirDrop study between some Macs and iPads and iPhones . You ’ll note that we saidsome : AirDrop does not work with all Macs , iPads and iPhones , and in our experience it does n’t actually work all that well with twist that Apple claims it should work with . We finger that AirDrop capabilities are still very much a work in progression as we experienced a lot of issues getting it to work with various devices that should be corroborate , however we did finally get it work as you will see if you read on . Read ourguide to troubleshoot AirDrop .
AirDrop is a fashion to transfer files between gadget that arrived on iPhones and iPads iOS 7 . It has existed on Macs for even longer , but Macs and iOS gimmick were ineffective to communicate due to differences in the technology required ( the iPhone and iPad practice Bluetooth in junction with WiFi , while the Mac just used WiFi ) . This difference mean it was n’t possible to easily drop files from Mobile River to background or laptop computer . With Yosemite all that was supposed to deepen as long as you had a Mac buy after 2012 ( or the 2013 Mac Pro ) , and an iPhone 5 or subsequently , iPad ( 4th coevals ) , iPad Air , iPad mini , iPad mini with Retina video display , and iPod touch ( 5th generation ) .
We spent a lot of clock time try out to get AirDrop to knead between a 2012 MacBook Air and a iPhone 5s , and when we did get it to work we were ineffective to uphold the connection dependably .
We had slenderly more fortune AirDropping files from our Mac to our iPhone than the other way around . When we opened AirDrop on our Mac via the Finder and pick out be discovered by Everyone , we could see the iPhone in the Finder windowpane , and dragging and drop file onto it seemed to work ok . This is a ready to hand mode of transferring range and documents to your iPhone – perhaps a data file you need to work on during the commute base .
We find that it is possible to drag and discharge Pages and Text Edit text file to our iPhone this manner . Once received on our iPhone the file open up in the relevant app . Initially we got mistake messages when we tried to drag Word document over to our iPhone , but this look to have been rectified by the new iOS adaptation of those apps . One thing we would say about AirDropping files this way – we discover it faster and easier to copy filing cabinet to our iPhone via iCloud Drive . Rather than spend half an hour taste to get AirDrop to work , just drag on files to the iCloud Drive pamphlet on your Mac and catch your train .
We often need to transfer screenshots take on the iPhone to our Mac – and we imagine many citizenry would find it useful to drag in and drop their photos from their phone to their Mac . This was n’t as square . When we turned on AirDrop on our iPhone we did n’t see the Mac at all . We tried all sort of things to get the Mac to show up and eventually we only got it working after introducing the new 5 K iMac we had on revue into the equation , on a 802.11ac electronic connection .
We have no estimate if this somehow recoil started things , but follow this we have been able to see our Mac in the AirDrop options on our iPhone . However , we do n’t imagine we ’ll be switching to transferring look-alike from our iPhone to our Mac by AirDrop any time presently – it ’s quick to grab a cable and use Image Capture .
It ’s a pity , but AirDrop just is n’t living up to our outlook . It is steady better , though , so we are hopeful for the future .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Handoff in Yosemite
AirDrop is n’t the only lineament that should provide better consolidation between your Apple devices . If you ’re running OS cristal Yosemite on your Mac and iOS 8 on your iPhone the software on both devices will be cognisant of some of the actions you are performing on the other gimmick . So , for lesson , if you ’re indite an email message on your iPhone , and your Mac is nearby , it should be aware of this and the Mail icon in the Dock will prompt you to proceed composing the subject matter on your Mac .
Similarly , if you are browsing a web pageboy on your Mac , you will see a Safari image in your iPad ’s curl screen which will give you easy access to the same page on your iPad .
In praxis we had similar problems to the ones we had with AirDrop , in that the process seemed to work one elbow room and not the other .
We begin composing an email in our iCloud account on our iPhone , half way through we looked to our Mac screen , and low and behold there was a supererogatory Mail ikon to the left of the Dock indicate that there was an e-mail we could open up and continue on the Mac . get through that icon and , as long as the iPhone remains awake when the Mac attempts to load up up the in advance email , you should be able to keep drafting your email from your Mac .
When our phone was at peace Mail just hung seek for the mail and we had to quit the app . The other slenderly pestering matter was that the e-mail kept its ‘ send from my iPhone ’ signature .
Could we get the electronic mail to hand - back from our Mac to our iPhone ? rouse the iPhone we expected to see a icon on the ignition lock screen indicating an in progress e-mail on our Mac , but there was nothing . This might be an upshot if you needed to get the e-mail back to the iPhone to continue to draft it , because once it has departed your iPhone for your Mac it appears that you ca n’t get it back so the only solution is to keep to draft it on your Mac .
This may be the way Apple intends it to work , but we find that the opposite was true in Safari . When we were reading a web page in Safari on our Mac , we turned to our iPhone ringlet screen and ascertain a Safari icon , tapped on that and unlocked the iPhone and the Safari page we were viewing on the Mac open up . This wreak once and then we could n’t get it to cultivate again , at all . In fact we started to wonder if we ’d imagined it .
After result a vane page undefendable on the iPhone for a few minutes we noticed the extra ikon pop up beside the Dock , which allow for us to view the webpage on our Mac . Things seemed to work in that direction without topic .
We wondered if the issue was the time it takes for the devices to imprint a connector , and the fact that in lodge to salve battery and to assert security our phone goes to slumber after a minute of inertia . However , even having changed that setting we never watch the Safari ikon on our lock screenland again . It ’s a whodunit , and the more we hear and get this stuff and nonsense to work , the more we feel like we are genus Beta testers .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Phone calls in Yosemite
Being able-bodied to take and make earpiece calls from our Macs also interested us when it was announced as a feature film in Yosemite . After all the trouble we ’d had with the other Continuity features we did n’t adjudge out much hope for this one . On the contrary , it put to work the 2d time we tried ( the first metre our Mac reported that our iPhone was n’t on the same web , it was ) .
put a call from a Mac should be a type of hatchway contacts and intercept the phone handset icon , or clicking on a number on a web page . The profound quality is a little iffy , and we do n’t guess many people will take call like that in a busy place , but it ’s nifty to take a call hands - free via your Mac .
We ’re not quite trusted whether it ’s all that pragmatic , though . We ’d say it ’s more of a fallal feature that could become a problem if your Mac starts ring every time you get a call on the nomadic earphone in your bag – or worse , if your Mac starts telephone and you are n’t at your Mac at the fourth dimension . masses are probable to be a whole lot more curious about a Mac tintinnabulation than they would be a phone .
If you are at your Mac , accepting a call is well-situated . When our phone skirt a few seconds later our Mac joined in . We click accept on our Mac and the phone continued to ring for a couple of seconds more but the connection was there and we were able to take the call on our Mac .
When we did n’t answer the call both the sound and our Mac show a notification that we had a missed call . We were able to open Notification Centre on the Mac and return the call . All very smooth . If only the other Continuity features work as well .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: SMS text messages
One final feature comes under the Continuity circle , SMS school text content . With the reaching of OS XTC Yosemite you will also be able to view SMS messages on your Mac , not just iMessages that add up in from the Apple servers . This will intend that even text messages that follow in from your friends who do n’t use iPhones will be viewable on your Mac ( and you will be able to answer to them from there ) .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Messages in Yosemite
That ’s not the only change to Messages . The new Soundbites feature lets you save short audio clips to mail to Quaker . It ’s the same Soundbites feature that has been summate to Messages in iPS 8 , and it is activate via a microphone button next to your chat window . get across the mike and you’re able to record a brief audio message and institutionalise it via iMessage .
We ’re not sure that we will employ Soundbites rather than sending schoolbook content – to leave or receive a Soundbite you would plausibly want to be in a reasonably quiet location where you were improbable to be disrupt , and in such luck you might as well phone . It ’s why we tend to typecast text messages rather than apply the build in dictate part . Still , you might prefer to send a quick audio message rather than phone and touch your recipient .
We believe these Soundbite feature are likely to be more popular in countries like China , where typing is more complicated and therefore post voice messages is popular .
In our examination Soundbites worked well , although the audio caliber was n’t great , like with phone calls place via our Mac the audio was more like a lousy telephone connection than data processor audio .
Soundbites that look in the Messages do n’t give much out either – all you see is a bubble with the play push button and the waveform . If you wanted to track down a exceptional audio frequency message it would likely be a pillow slip of listen to a few until you found it . We ’d like to see Apple integrate its voice acknowledgement technology into this so you could search the Soundbites .
Soundbites is n’t the only fresh feature in Messages . Group iMessaging have a boost . grouping message profit a new Details push , which , when tip , brings up a number of option . These pick admit the power to portion out your location using the Find My Friends infrastructure and a crosscut to a map that testify where everyone get hold of part in the conversation is located .
you may also place a telephone set call , start up a Modern chat , FaceTime your friends , or bestow and remove participants from the Details window . you’re able to also give the chats a distinct name to make situate them easier , such as “ bank holiday plans ” .
One popular feature article is likely to be the power to depart the conversation , or just change by reversal off conversation notifications . If you have talkative friends you may select Do Not Disturb on that exceptional conversation and you will no longer receive a apprisal every fourth dimension someone in that discussion replies .
Mac OS X Yosemite review: iCloud Drive in Yosemite
One last summation to Yosemite that will make it easier to move from iPad or iPhone to Mac ( or Windows PC ) and back is iCloud Drive , Apple ’s solution to DropBox .
iCloud Drive allows you to save and store all your presentations , spreadsheets , PDFs , images , and other kind of papers in iCloud . you could get at these files on all your equipment , and everything will be kept up to date , whether you get at them from your iPhone , iPad , iPod touch , Mac , or microcomputer .
you’re able to access files store in iCloud Drive in any supported web web browser at iCloud.com , on your Mac via the Finder , on a PC running Windows 7 or later and iCloud for Windows 4.0 , or on your iPhone , iPad , or iPod touch running iOS 8 .
If using iCloud.com you’re able to clack on a single file to open up it in the relevant iCloud based app – for deterrent example , the web rendering of Pages – or you’re able to take the Indian file and click the Download image to save it to your Finder . This is a handy way of get files onto a computer you do n’t commonly function on , but commemorate that once out of the cloud that file will no longer be kept in sync across your devices .
Nor is this a way to share file with booster , as they would have to lumber on to your iCloud account . Instead , Apple has introduced the Mail Drop feature mentioned above as a way to partake in files simply .
However , when you turn iCloud Drive on you will notice a novel feature article called Look Me Up By Email . This feature does n’t seem to do a great deal at the moment , but as Apple expand the iCloud.com share-out features it will enable people to look you up ( and partake in documents ) using your iCloud.com e-mail address .
you may also access a data file in iCloud Drive from the Finder on your Mac . Go to the Finder > iCloud Drive . We were more or less confused to find that some files in iCloud Drive had the words ‘ In iCloud Drive ’ beside them while others did n’t . presumptively the condition depends on which machine the file was created on .
There is also more flexibility for creating iCloud Drive folders in the Finder , which can make it easier to locate files that are associated with special projects . One of our issues with earlier versions of iCloud , was the fact that every data file we had ever created in Pages lived in a pamphlet in Pages – which over the yr has become full of random single file that make locating the one we need frustrating . Apple has drop the past few coevals of Mac OS strain to alter our filing habit , advance us to trust on Spotlight to turn up file rather than folder - based filing protocol . Sorry Apple , we like to be in restraint of the way we aggroup our files .
Nor is iCloud Drive determine only to file that have partner applications on the dissimilar Apple devices you own . you’re able to now store any type of file humble than 15 GB in iCloud Drive , everything is go along up to date across all of your devices .
There is equivalent to the Finder in iOS and hence no way to browse your iCloud Drive file structure on an iPhone or iPad . Here you will find the same system as before , with all your Pages Indian file shown when you launch the Pages app . However , now even those that are save in projection folders you have produce on your Mac will appear in the listing .
We ’d love for Apple to introduce a room to view the iCloud Drive from our iPhone so that we can site the single file we want and open them in the relevant app program , but Apple prefers for us to do thing the other way around .
However , there is some more flexibleness in iCloud Drive for iOS . The remainder between iCloud as it was in iOS 7 and Mavericks , and iCloud Drive in iOS 8 and Yosemite is that file are no longer locked inside the app they were make in – you could now access a file from one applications programme and employ it in , or open it in , another compatible app .
For case , you could make an example in one app and insert it in a written document in another . Having created a Yosemite Review folder in the Finder on our Mac and contribute various screenshots we were then able to spread a Pages document on our iPhone and tuck a screenshot from this booklet just by tapdance + and opt Insert from … which unwrap the iCloud Drive folder structure as seen on our Mac .
There was one fundamental trouble with iCloud Drive – Apple introduce it with iOS 8 one month before Yosemite arrived . This should n’t have count , but iCloud Drive is incompatible with Mavericks and hence for a month Mac users confronted with a message that “ iCloud Drive is discrepant with Mavericks ” were left out in the common cold . Whether you upgraded to iCloud Drive or not , it was not possible to get together on iWork files in the swarm . Not the best first appearance to the new help .
If , because of theissues with iCloud Drive in Mavericksyou held off update to it in Io 8 you could now upgrade to iCloud Drive . In iOS 8 , go to options > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Upgrade to iCloud Drive . On your Mac , go to Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud , sign in with your Apple ID , then take iCloud Drive . You will only be able to use iCloud Drive on devices running iOS 8 or OS X Yosemite .
Now that these matter have been ironed out we recommend updating to iCloud Drive , you will get 5 GB of storage for liberal , and that will include space for your documents , your photos and your backup . If you involve more warehousing you’re able to get it , and as luck would have it it ’s quite cheap . For 79p a calendar month you will be able to get 20 sarin , or for £ 2.99 a calendar month you’re able to get 200 gibibyte . 600 GB is £ 6.99 a month and 1 TB of storage is £ 14.99 a month .
Read : How to oversee Macs on a Windows - based web
Mac OS X Yosemite review: WiFi issues in Yosemite
This is one major flaw that is really get Yosemite down . Reports of WiFi connectivity outlet cropped up within hours of Apple releasing Yosemite on 16 October , and have continued to pour in since . Apple has been trying to treat these WiFi issues but the first update , Yosemite 10.10.1 failed to gear up them for everyone . ON 24 November it release the genus Beta of frame 10.10.2 ( 14C68k ) to developers . show more about theYosemite updates and the problems with WiFi here .
Read ouriCloud option articleand6 thing you need to do it about Apple iCloud Drive for Mac
Mac OS Yosemite review: Will updating to Yosemite slow down my Mac?
update the OS on any gadget can be a perilous process : you have the glittering come-on of fresh features and update visuals , but there ’s always the risk of new glitches and slowdown if your gimmick struggles to handle the new software .
So we decide to put this to the test by getting a test Mac and run it through our armoury of research laboratory tests with Mavericks on board , and then performing the same tests on the same Mac after updating to Yosemite .
If you ’re worried about substantial speed going , be reassured . Overall and on average we did receive that Yosemite appeared to slow the Mac down a little , but usually by small amounts : often in the park of 5 percentage . In a few gaming trial the Mac actually create substantially stronger framerates with Yosemite on board . And there was one set of tests where we could n’t observe any material remainder at all .
Read the full report , complete with colorful bar graphical record , here : OS X Mavericks vs OS cristal Yosemite speed testing : Can upgrade to Yosemite slow up down your Mac ?
Mac OS X Yosemite review: Price
In a surprise move , Apple made OS X 10.9 Mavericks free when it arrived last class , and Apple did the same again for Mac OS X 10.10 . Mac OS X Yosemite is completely complimentary to download from the Mac App Store .
Windows 10 is come later in 2015 , Read : Yosemite versus Windows 10 comparison
interpret all about the young characteristic in Yosemite :
