The last time Apple liberate an OS ten update for free , it was playing defense . OS X 10.0 was slow and batty and acceptation was irksome ; version 10.1 , ramble out in September 2001 , was an apology spillage for the pioneers on Apple ’s then - young Mac operating system .
Twelve years later , Apple ’s bet criminal offense . OS X Mavericks ( technically version 10.9 ) launches a unexampled era of Mac operating systems , gross with a non - feline soubriquet and a vacuous price tag . It’sfree as in beer , whether you ’re running Snow Leopard or Lion or Mountain Lion , and just as with its many spare iOS updates , Apple require you to elevate .
This review ca n’t tell you whether or not to spend your hard - make money on this upgrade , because , well , Mavericks wo n’t cost you a penny . But I can at least excuse the high and depression of this Modern update as you make the decision about whether to stay put or accept Apple ’s generous whirl andcatch the Mavericks wave .
( Before we get started , a Holy Scripture about compatibility . rebel seems to be the most compatible OS go expiration Apple has made in years ; so far as I can tell , any system that could course Mountain Lion can run Mavericks . That means iMacs and MacBook Pros from as far back as 2007 ; MacBook Airs , MacBooks , and Mac Pros from 2008 ; and Mac minis from 2009 . That ’s a whole sight of Macs , and Apple would love all of them to run its a la mode operating system . )
Keeping tabs on Finder
Recent releases of OS X have sought to minimize the amount of clock time users have to spend manage file in the Finder . From the Dock to Spotlight to Launchpad , Apple has invested a slew of effort into offer Finder choice .
And yet Mavericks offer new features that are positively Finder - centric . For all of Apple ’s attempts to allow users to bypass the Finder , it ’s not go anywhere , so it might as well be improved .
Web web browser used to feature separate window for every webpage . At some compass point , someone clever decided that window mare’s nest was bad , and that it might be easier to allow several page to be contained in a sight of tabs inside a single window . A revolution was born , one that has made it all the way to the Finder with Mavericks .
If all you do in the Finder is doubled - clink on thing , you ’ll never really see a tab . dual - click a leaflet in the Finder unfold it in the same window . If you want to unfold a folder in a new yellow journalism , maintain down the Command key while doubly - clicking . Just as in Safari , you may also type Command - T to open up a novel tab manually . If you end up with a whole lot of Finder windows open , you could gather them all together as a series of tabs in one windowpane by choosing Merge All Windows from the Window menu .
Each check behaves like its own Finder window ; you may aline the view setting of each one accordingly , so one check can show an picture view , another a list view , and so on .
Once you ’ve convey multiple tabloid open , you could move files from one tab to another by tangle and dropping them on a check . The process behaves just like dropping files on a folder . If you drag and drop , it ’ll move the filing cabinet there . If you drag and hold , the yellow journalism will behave like a spring - load folder , and that yellow journalism will become active .
Along with support for tabs , the Finder now offers a full - screen mode . So if you ’re Desktop - phobic , you may shift the Finder into a individual window full of tabs and use Mission Control to move into and out of it .
The plus of tabs in the Finder seems like a feature film that ’s destined for might exploiter , not the masses . For readers of website like Macworld , it ’s a cool productivity booster . But no even substance abuser is ever going to command - press a folder and discover tab , and that ’s plausibly fine . As for me , I ’m still getting used to it .
Tag, your files are it
Though Mavericks brings new feature to the Finder , it ’s not as if Apple has recanted the view that drug user should n’t ask to dig through files and folders to feel what they ’re looking for . Spotlight already work it easy for exploiter to encounter files based on their attributes or message , and with Mavericks , Apple is further users to categorise their file even further by using tags .
take up from the world of blogging and societal networking , tags form a simple , arbitrary method acting of categorizing data . On a blog , you might add a bunch of tags to every post to point its subject matter . This has the welfare of letting users quickly feel all the blog posts about a particular depicted object . With Mavericks , Apple want you to debate tagging your files so that they ’re easier to find after .
In the sidebar of every Finder window ( and some undetermined dialog box ) , there ’s a raw Tags list . come home on a tag , and you ’ll immediately see all of the file cabinet on your Mac that have that tag . A belittled subset of your tag is listed by default , but if you tick All Tags , a second column appears that lists every shred on your Mac . And if you start typing a tag in a Finder windowpane ’s search box , you ’ll see an option to search for file contain that rag .
In an evolution of the honest-to-goodness conception of dyed labels , there are also style to identify tagged file visually in the Finder . In the new Tags tablet of Finder ’s Preferences windowpane you’re able to attribute coloring to tags ( but there are only eight option to opt from ) , and also pick out which tags show up in the sidebar .
The Tags tab key also offers a strip of circle that you’re able to drag and drop tag on , which decide which tags show up in the File menu and in a contextual bill of fare that appear when you control - press an item in the Finder .
tag can have color , but those are shown in the Finder slightly differently from the manner labels were in the yesteryear . label surrounded the integral filename of a Indian file ( or its row in a list ) with the appropriate people of colour . Tag colors have a more subtle effect : A small non-white circle appears next to the file ’s name . If the file is chase with more than one colored tag , you ’ll see a stack of circles , slightly overlap . ( As a somewhat colorblind someone , I find the stack circles kind of intemperate to discern , but color cues like this are generally not designed for people like me . )
you could add a rag to a file when it ’s behave by adding them when you first save a papers . In every stock Save dialog corner in Mavericks , there ’s a new Tags boxwood immediately below the text - entry orbit where you name your data file . To label your data file , just click in the window . First you ’ll be presented with a drop - down boast common tag , as well as a Show All link to display all the tags on your Mac . you’re able to cluck on items from that list to foot them , or just start up type .
If you ’re typing a ticket that already exists , a suggestion will appear below as you typecast . you may dawn on the hint ( or just push Return ) to live with the mesmerism . If you ’re typing a completely newfangled tag , when you ’re done just select Create New Tag or typewrite a Polygonia comma — the tag interface is essentially a list of item separated by comma . This means your tag can be more than one word long , if you wish .
Once you begin adding tags , Mavericks remembers the tag you ’ve previously created and offers them as autocomplete suggestion , so you ’re more likely to re - use existing tags rather than coin new one . Once your file is all tagged up , snap Save . That ’s it . The tagging rides along with your filing cabinet .
you’re able to also add tag to any filing cabinet or folder via the Finder . There ’s a new Tags icon on the toolbar of every Finder windowpane , which will allow you add ticket to any items you ’ve got selected . The process of adding tags there is identical to adding them via the Save box : select the Tags icon and a text loge will seem , in which you insert new tags .
you may also use the listing of tags in the sidebar of every Finder windowpane to tag detail . Just drag particular on top of one of the tag in the sidebar to add that ticket to those files .
There ’s one other way to add tags to pick out items , useable via the File fare or from a contextual menu when you control - click . But this is the least likeable of all the methods , since it ’s essentially a rename version of the old Labels command , and only give up you to apply tags that you ’ve already created , and then only one at a time .
Though adding tags in the Finder is a reasonably promiscuous process , it does require a lot of mousing around . I ’m let down that there ’s no keyboard shortcut to bring up the tagging interface , so more keyboard - point users could tot up tags without clicking on the toolbar .
All of us have dissimilar ways of organizing our data . With tagging , Apple has provided Mac users with another organizational option . It wo n’t be for everyone , but I ’m play that some user will embrace it wholeheartedly . Apple may have shown the Finder some honey in Mavericks , but the company still clearly believes that there are good ways of organize your data than by just jactitate files inside folder .
A side of Safari
Mavericks impart with it a raw version of Safari , which offers a new sidebar , plug - in management , a redesigned Top Sites pageboy , performance betterment , and a new feature of speech designed to remember your watchword without compromise security .
The Mountain Lion interpretation of Safari offered three features that could be access via button on the far left side of what it promise the Bookmarks Bar : Reading List , Bookmarks , and Top Sites . Safari 7 ’s new rechristened Favorites Bar features only two : Sidebar ( which somewhat confusingly still uses the Bookmarks ikon of an open book ) and Top Sites .
The unexampled Sidebar is the new home plate of Bookmarks , Reading List , and the newfangled Shared Links feature . It ’s a gray measure that lives on the left side of the web web browser windowpane . To open it , dawn on that book - influence Sidebar ikon on the Favorites Bar , choose purview : Show Sidebar , or press Command - Shift - L.
In previous reading of Safari , go to the Bookmarks view supplant the message of your browser app window with a bookmark editor , where you could drag and dangle bookmarker and rename them . That windowpane is still there if you choose Edit Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu , though it ’s now a hierarchical view full of folders , instead of the unearthly honest-to-god interface where different folders were in a separate sidebar of their own .
But in parallel , there ’s this new Bookmarks tablet in the Sidebar , which gives you one - click entree to your bookmarks . Just select a bookmark in the Sidebar , and Safari loads that page on the veracious side of the same window . tap a folder to show or blot out its contents . you may reorder bookmarks by dragging them around , rename them by clicking and holding for a few seconds , and there ’s even a hunting boxwood above the top of the tilt , if you necessitate to find a specific bookmark .
The 2d tablet in the Sidebar is Reading List , and it ’s not that dissimilar from the Mountain Lion version . This is still the place where you’re able to collect pages on the entanglement that you want to show at a belated time , even if you ’re offline . The big remainder in Safari for Mavericks is that the Reading List scrolls unceasingly . Once you ’re at the bottom of a Reading List story , just keep scrolling down and you ’ll be charter to the next story in the list .
In previous iterations of Safari , there were toolbar buttons to add stories to Reading List and add links to your bookmarker . In Mavericks , Safari no longer provides those buttons . Instead , there ’s a vainglorious plus ( + ) button integrated to the Address and Search bar , just to the leftfield of the varlet ’s URL . get through the positive button to add the page you ’re on to Reading List . ( There ’s a little animation where the icon of the site you ’re reading tent flap over into the Sidebar picture and the plus icon briefly becomes a halt mark . ) Click and retain to see a carte du jour of options , including add the Sir Frederick Handley Page to Reading List , Top Sites , or filing it as a bookmark in any of your bookmarker folders .
Now to the third ( and most interesting ) increase to the Sidebar : the Shared Links tab . Once you ’ve enter to a Twitter or LinkedIn account via the Internet Accounts ( formerly Mail , Contacts and Calendars ) system taste pane , any posts that curb hyperlink are displayed in the Shared Links list . If you rightfully use your Twitter stream as a alternate for RSS provender , Shared Links is a concentrated burst of Twitter linkage .
In the Shared Links sidebar , position are exhibit with the most late item at the top . They are n’t bare linkup , either — you see the avatar of the somebody who posted the tie-in , their name , an icon representing the service the C. W. Post amount from ( just Twitter and LinkedIn are supported at this point ) , and the text of the post itself . Click anywhere on the post to exhibit it in the internet browser windowpane , and like Reading List , if you keep scroll to the bottom of the write up , you ’ll be able-bodied to scroll right on to the next storey in the list .
As you read a story , the original post that breed it remains at the top of the page , so you may quickly find the answer to the question , “ Which one of my Friend thoughtthiswas worth Tweeting about ? ” There ’s also a Retweet button , so if you do sanction of the tarradiddle , you’re able to overstep it on .
regrettably , Shared Links ’s light - grey - text - on - darker - grey-headed - background semblance dodge make the text edition of individual posts laborious to study , and there are no timestamps . You also ca n’t “ rive to refresh ” in purchase order to see new posts , à la Twitter ’s own customer app , and Safari itself does n’t appear to update content quickly . If I desire to see raw liaison , I need to open and conclude the Sidebar or choose Update Shared Links from the View carte . It ’s also too bad that Facebook links are n’t an option , though given the debris littering my Facebook feed these days , perhaps it ’s just as well .
Next to the Sidebar button is the Top Sites clitoris , and of course there ’s a newfangled rendering of the Top Sites user interface , which show you with six or 12 or 24 of your pet site in a storage-battery grid . ( It ’s now a right Hollywood Squares / Brady Bunch style control grid , with none of the curved - paries force of the premature iteration of Top Sites . ) I acknowledge I never use Top Sites ( my nonremittal windowpane : Empty Page ) , but the look seems more modern , and drag - and - drop reorganization of Top Sites items is a no - brainer gain .
Apple says that it ’s made a bunch of under - the - hood improvements that make Safari faster , more realiable , and more secure . Separate pages pass in separate cognitive process , and there ’s improved retention efficiency ; the web browser app take advantage of power - save features of Mavericks to run more efficiently .
We quiz Apple ’s claims that Safari ’s JavaScript carrying into action was dramatically better in Mavericks , and find them to be true . In almost every case , Safari 7 on Mavericks was fast than Safari 6.0.5 on Mountain Lion . However , the just - unblock Safari 6.1 for Mountain Lion seems to add most of those same betterment without the need to upgrade to Mavericks . It was more of a back - and - forth secret plan between Safari and Google Chrome , with Safari beating Chrome on the Sunspider and JSBench tests , but Chrome prevailing on the Kraken and Peacekeeper bench mark .
One major seed of stability , pep pill , and energy - use of goods and services issues in Safari is n’t actually Safari itself — it ’s internet browser stopple - ins such as Adobe Flash . Third - party tools likeClickToPluginhave let exploiter manage whether webpages can adulterate those plug - ins , and in Mavericks , Safari has a similar feature film built right in .
The feature of speech lives in the Security lozenge of Safari ’s preference window , under the Manage Website options button . From here you may see every web browser hack - in being used by your system and a list of sites that have adulterate it . you may turn access on and off on a per - web site ground , as well as set a default option for what happens on your first sojourn to a website that ’s trying to load a nag - in . For example , you could adjust YouTube to always load Flash , but all other sites to block Flash on first load .
Safari ’s also pay off a Power Saver feature that will sometimes forbid chaw - ins from load until you click , emulate ClickToPlugin ’s approach path . I wish that Safari locomote further , though , and permit the Manage Websites options choice to coif sure plug - indium to only adulterate on a click , somewhere between a pure block and really charge the plug - in .
And when Safari ’s blocking a quid - in , the browser app replaces the infinite occupy by the hoopla - in with an empty boxwood . This happen because Safari ’s reportage to the web server that it has the spark plug - in , but does n’t show the content . Some internet site offer non - Flash equivalent if a machine ( such as an iPhone or iPad ) does n’t have Flash , but Safari does n’t see those if Flash is set up but handicapped .
In general , I like that Apple is furnish Safari users with this level of control over browser app plug - ins . However , the implementation is kind of weird . Most user will probably not know the difference between Allow , Allow Always , and carry in Unsafe Mode , all of which are available as potential options on a per - website , per - plugin cornerstone .
Passwords in the clouds
I ’ve been a user of1Passwordfor a few eld now , and I love it . I recollect a unmarried overlord watchword , and 1Password remembers my passwords , personal information , credit - card numbers , and enters them into my web internet browser when I tell it to .
maverick pop the question a new feature called iCloud Keychain that , in true Apple way , speak some of the basic pauperization addressed by public utility such as 1Password while exit plentitude of room for add - on tools that go beyond what Apple offers .
iCloud Keychain stores your passwords , cite - card numbers , and personal contact information and sync them between equipment . Since it ’s all synchronise via iCloud , it should all stay in sync across your iOS 7 devices , so if you hold open a parole on your Mac , it ’ll be there when you next natter that site on your iPad . moderately cool . ( This is an optional feature — nobody ’s forcing you to put your stuff and nonsense in the swarm . You deform it on by checking the Keychain box in the iCloud system of rules - preference pane . )
iCloud Keychain enjoys some major advantages over utilities like 1Password , in that it can incorporate directly in the browser app ( rather than via an filename extension ) on the Mac . word and user name fill in automatically when you visit a Sir Frederick Handley Page , so you do n’t have to chatter around like you do with 1Password . And in iOS , the reward is greater : 1Password ca n’t fill countersign into Safari at all ( you have to either browse with the 1Password app or retrieve your countersign from there and then paste it into Safari ) , while iCloud Keychain is integrated directly into the iOS Safari internet browser ( assume you ’ve updated toiOS 7.0.3 ) .
Safari ’s been able to remember your password for ages now ( only the syncing part is Modern ) , but it will now also suggest a random password for you when you ’re prompted to create one . ( This is good , because childlike passwords are unsafe . ) Then Safari will save the random password in the keychain , so you never have to remember it . Safari can also remember your credit rating - card information and automatically fill up it ( well , most of it — it wo n’t store your add-in ’s security codification , which Apple says “ is in accordance with industry practice ” and I say is a silly practice ) when you want to corrupt something .
There ’s another problem with emphasizing machine - filling of passwords . When a Mac is hunt down and unlocked , someone could utilize Safari to sign in as you . If you ’re pertain , you ’ll need to set your Mac to automatically lock when it live to sleep or when the screen rescuer activates , and set a very miserable timeout before that happens . I think I ’d favour an choice to have to enter a parole to unlock my iCloud Keychain . you could set the Mac ’s normal keychain to put away after a menses of inactiveness , but the iCloud Keychain ca n’t be set to auto - lock . That seems like an superintendence to me .
Notification Center gets interactive
In recent years , Apple has show a preference for improving operating - system features in their second iterations — call back Time Machine and FileVault , to name just two . With Mavericks , Apple has done the same for Notification Center . But while the answer is more useful , it still does n’t finger as organized as it should be .
Notification Center has two expression : float telling bubble that appear on your screenland when you postulate to know something , and a apprisal listing that slides out from the right side of your screen when you click the Notifications image at the far right side of the menu bar . ( There are also two kinds of bubble : Banners and Alerts . Banners eventually fade aside if you disregard them , while Alerts stick around on screen until you act on them . ) In a class of using Mountain Lion , I have come to treasure the floating bubbles , but I ’ve rarely , if ever , used the sidebar list .
In Mavericks , those bubbles have become much more useful , mainly because they ’re now more interactive . When you receive a message in Messages , for object lesson , you’re able to reply straightaway from the house of cards : snap on the Reply button , and the bubble expands to reveal a text area . Type a reply and press Return to send it .
There ’s similar functionality when it come to Mail alert : you may reply straight from the notification house of cards , or choose to delete the message you ’ve just received . delete message from a notification bubble might seem a bit utmost , but if you ’ve localize Mail to alert you every clock time you get an e-mail , there will in all likelihood be some junk e-mail you want to get rid of in there . It would be nice if you could ease up or archive messages from the bubble , too , but Mavericks does n’t declare oneself those option .
Incoming FaceTime margin call are likewise heralded by a notification house of cards . you may answer or go down from the bubble , or even answer with an iMessage excuse why you do n’t want to take the call justly now .
Since Mavericks include the selection to automatically refresh your Mac App Store apps , Notification Center also now alert you about apps that have been updated , and warn you if an update requires you to give up an app or reboot your system . There ’s also a Later clit that allows you to set when Notification Center will intercept you again about install that update .
Some other organization alarm have moved into Notification Center , too : warning about a die shelling , a failed Time Machine backing , and ejected disk that would previously have spawned a big warning dialog box instead make a Notification Center bubble .
I set my Mac to mechanically lock when I put it to sleep or after a certain amount of inactiveness . When I wake the Mac up but before I sign in , Notification Center now displays some basic information about things that have happened since I belong away , include any email alerting I ’ve received .
This might be ready to hand , but it could also be a security flaw , since someone could view potentially sensitive information without entering a parole . Fortunately , the Notifications system preference pane in Mavericks rent you interlock this down : App by app , you may decide which notifications display when your Mac is lock away . For Mail and Messages , you’re able to one by one opt to show or not to show the contents of the message you ’re being notified about . It ’s bang-up that these features survive , though I ’d prefer an option that would globally prevent such apprisal so I did n’t have to go through a list of all my apps and uncheck the boxes one by one .
Another interesting new feature let websites institutionalize push notifications to my Mac even when Safari ’s not running . Websites will involve to use Apple ’s exist energy - notification infrastructure to tolerate this — it ’s not just a matter of tally a few lines of JavaScript to a webpage . But I like the idea that my favorite websites can ping me on my Mac when something grownup happens . We ’ll have to see how many web site will go to the trouble of implementing this characteristic , but I received aNew York Timesnotification within a few hours of signing up for notifications via its land site .
When a site offers this presentment feature , a plane will slue down from the top of Safari ’s windowpane expect if you need to get notifications . you’re able to get across Allow or Do n’t earmark , and then make changes later in the Notifications section of System Preferences .
The semi - hidden Do Not Disturb feature film infix in Mountain Lion ( if you scrolled all the way up in the Notification Center sidebar , you find an option to silence warnings until the next day ) has been flesh out in Mavericks . A new Do Not vex setting in the Notifications preference paneling in System Preferences lets you muffle notifications at exceptional time , as well as when your showing is kip or when your computer is attach to an international display . you may also squelch FaceTime alerts using this predilection .
frankly , I do n’t find myself using the Notification Center sidebar very often ; it ’s usually full of lots of old junk and give me no way to filter or quickly net it . I wish it was better organized and took a all-inclusive overview of what was going on ( a lathe Today sight in iOS 7 ) . It provides too much info , and I find myself accidentally triggering it via an accidental trackpad swipe more often than purposefully opening it .
Those complaints aside , one thing I do like in the novel Notification Center is the ability to send instant messages from within it ( not just Twitter and Facebook posts , which you could do in Mountain Lion ) . Just as you’re able to reply to a message you receive directly from within the notification house of cards , you’re able to startle a conversation with a protagonist by clicking on the Messages icon at the top of Notification Center . This seems like a majuscule thought , especially for people who do n’t keep Messages open up all the time .
A space for every screen
The Mac OS has always tolerated substance abuser with more than one display , but it ’s never sincerely embrace them — until Mavericks . If you frequently use more than one presentation on your Mac ( or if you ’ve long to apply your TV as a second monitor ) , Mavericks will be a serious upgrade to your Mac experience .
My main Mac is an 11 - in MacBook Air , which I dock to a Thunderbolt Display when I ’m at the office . With early edition of OS X , I just run away the laptop computer in lid - closed mode , but the new multiple - projection screen feature film in Mavericks make me want to leave alone that second screenland on .
OS X Lion add together reinforcement for full - sieve apps and coalesced all of its windowpane - management features into one place , Mission Control . These features were nice for people with one screen , but user who put to work with multiple displays havefelt left out . If you popped an app into full - covert mode on one monitor , the other monitor go blank , display only a origin linen practice . All space encompassed both display , too , so when you change between spaces , the content on both displays changed .
With Mavericks , Mission Control behavesexactlyas I had woolgather it would on multiple video display . Each screens can act severally , with its own space and its own full - screen mode . If you pop the Calendar app into full - screen mood on a laptop computer ’s screen , the calendar window exposit to occupy that silver screen — but the external display stay on full functional .
Each screen can have its own collection of full - silver screen apps and its own stage set of screen background . When the Calendar app is displaying in full - screen mode on my laptop computer concealment , I can move my pointer to that screen and swipe with three fingers to switch to other views . I can flip to a background view , another full - screen app , or even the Dashboard . ( Yes , Dashboard still exists ! It ’s gotten only a few Modern ability , including a new sparkly effect when you add a young widget and the power , for the first clip , to move it from its leftmost blank space . ) As I cabbage from screen to screen on my laptop computer , the external exhibit remains blissfully still , usher me all my other stuff . As it should be .
If you really prefer the onetime arrangement , you may still choose to have space remain constant across your displays , thanks to an option in the Mission Control druthers pane .
No monitor? No problem
Not everyone has the luxury of have a video display to pair with their laptop computer or iMac . But if you ’ve got a idiot box and an Apple TV , with maverick you could still have an external Mac video display . While Mountain Lion infix AirPlay Mirroring — the power to expose the message of your Mac ’s sieve on an high-definition television unite via Apple TV — Mavericks lets you just treat that TV as a full - on second display .
do the connexion is n’t much dissimilar from how AirPlay Mirroring works in Mountain Lion . If you ’re on a local mesh containing Apple TVs , an AirPlay ikon shows up in the carte du jour bar . you could select an Apple TV from the menu , and choose to mirror your current display or stretch out the screen background . ( If you ’re running both an international displayandan AirPlay showing , you’re able to also choose to have the same screen door mirrored on all three of them , or have the AirPlay presentation mirror either display . )
Running in extensive - desktop modal value , the TV becomes just another display . you could prepare an arrangement via the Displays preference pane , use Mission Control to manage spaces and full - silver screen apps , and all the rest . ( Apple says that AirPlay requires asecond - multiplication Apple TVor later on and a 2011 - epoch Mac or by and by . )
The showing being driven by an Apple TV does suffer a little bit from interim . As I moved my finger on my MacBook Pro ’s trackpad , the cursor respond , but it was in spades a little bit behind where I look it to be . As a final result , I moved the cursor much more carefully on the TV exhibit and was deliberate not to overshoot and tick in the amiss place .
The retardation was much less than I bear , and I ’d look at it useable , but it ’s noticeable . It was remindful of the retardation I ’ve experienced when I ’ve usedAir Displayto plough my iPad into a 2nd small external presentation . In fact , I was able-bodied to employ theAir Serverutility , which twist a Mac into an AirPlay waiter , to turn another Mac into a second display for my Mac run Mavericks . If you ’ve get an sure-enough iMac around , you may be able to use this approach to turn it into a serviceable second display .
So far as I can tell , you’re able to only apply one Apple TV at a prison term as an external display , and you ’ve aim to have a “ real ” display connected as well .
One dock, two menu bars
Up to now , the OS X menu ginmill was inviolate : There was only ever one menu Browning automatic rifle . With Mavericks , though , each video display can have its own menu bar , and each menu bar can feature the contents of the bill of fare for a different app — for exemplar , the TextEdit card bar on an external display and the Maps bill of fare bar on a connected laptop computer screen . The currently alive app ’s carte du jour bar looks like normal ; the inactive app ’s carte streak is semi - transparent . When you switch displays or tap the currently inactive menu bar , their transparence ( or lack thereof ) swaps .
It ’s another winnings for the user of multiple monitors . Before now , even if you used a 2d monitor on your Mac , the menu ginmill would persist on the primary display , necessitate a set of mousing back and forth unless you install a quirky add - on menu utility likeSecondBar .
There may be many menu bars , but there ’s still only one dockage . But it get around . When I move my cursor to an outside display and start lick in an app over there , the Dock remains where it was , on the first display . However , if I move my cursor to the bottom of the exhibit ( as if trying to summon a concealed Dock ) , the Dock slide out of sentiment on my first showing and slither back into sight on the second . If your Dock is set to motorcar - skin , it may end up feel seamless .
A few other long - time Mac windowing conventions have switch with the launching of these feature . Most illustrious is the power to place a windowpane so that it straddles two displays ; in Mavericks , as you drag a windowpane from one screenland to the other , it begins to pass off away — and then reappears on the other display . No halvsies . If you lack this characteristic and require it back , you ’ll ask to turn off independent spaces for each show , lumber out , and log back in . Once you ’re back to the old method acting , your windowswillspan multiple monitor as in days of old .
Green machines
Apple make a lot of title about Mavericks making MacBooks more energy - efficient , thereby gallop barrage life . The new App Nap boast aggressively regulates apps that are out of your slew so that they are n’t debilitate your electric battery as they sit idling . That sounds sort of scary , but at no point when I was using Mavericks did I feel I was delayed by a “ napping ” app that should have been alert . The changes that Apple has made are , to this drug user at least , completely invisible .
There are other power - save feature , too , including a humbled - magnate picture playback modality and a clever characteristic called timer coalescing that smooths out the tasks send off to your Mac ’s processor so that it can drop more fourth dimension coasting in a low - power idle .
Our tests shew that Apple has indeed improved battery life in several scenario . Three of our four battery - life tests showed clear advance for Mavericks , most notably a video playback trial that occupy vantage of the lower - power playback lineament to eke out 18 percent more battery life . Tests like this are wily because they do n’t necessarily gibe real - man use radiation diagram , but they do indicate that Mavericks can definitely decoct tycoon using up under certain circumstances .
One lieu where Apple is more aggressively exposing power - consumption entropy : In a drop - down menu under the Battery icon in the menu measure , you ’ll see a list of currently running applications programme that are “ using substantial vigour . ” It ’s a quick way for a user to get feedback on why the battery is enfeeble quickly or a laptop ’s fans are blow . And the Activity Monitor utility — one of my favorite Mac troubleshooting apps — now offer up a new Energy tab key that shows you the energy impact of all the currently running processes on your Mac , plus diachronic data point survive back several hours . If you ’re desperately sample to get the most out of your battery , it ’s a big way to see what apps you might desire to quit .
Built-in apps
maverick comes with two new Apple apps as well as updates to a couple of conversant ones : Maps and iBooks are ready their Mac premieres , and Mail and Calendar both get significant improvements .
I used to use Mail every day , but it ’s most emphatically a dear - hate kinship and I ’ve go forth it several times for another e-mail client only to total back and give Apple ’s provide another go . That relationship preserve to lam blistering and cold in Mavericks .
When I make Mail to do , it was most decidedly faster than previous versions . Opening large message threads used to take a foresightful sentence , specially if they contained complex HTML messages . Everything open apace now and scrolls swimmingly . That ’s great news .
I ’m a Gmail user , and have two different Gmail bill , one for my personal life and one for work . I ’ve recover that oftentimes Mail just slows down to a crawl , apparently because it ’s download immense amounts of information from Gmail in the background . Occasionally I would fall into place on a new message in my Inbox and it would take Mail more than 30 seconds to exhibit the content of the content . Call me wild , but an email client should be able to prioritize the single most of import thing any ring mail client can do : exhibit the schoolbook of a new message that just appeared in the Inbox . Mail still does n’t seem to do this well , and it ’s exasperate by slower connexion .
I also ran into an infuriating pose - up bug in Mail . Though all my electronic mail account are on Gmail , all my attempts to connect to them via Mail ’s Google - centrical account frame-up failed . l had to configure my Gmail account as a generic IMAP account statement rather .
Calendar ’s biggest change is to its look . Gone is the faux leather . But it also has some nice under - the - hood tweaks . For example , you’re able to change the cooking stove of weekly and monthly views using a two - fingerbreadth coil . A fast two - finger swipe from right to left in the hebdomad view will boost you to the next week . Calendar also has a nice , subtle sport on that gesture : If you swipe slow with two fingers from left to rightfield , you’re able to get along the persuasion by individual days . A two - digit scroll upwardly in calendar month view will , similarly , let you scroll week by week , so if you ’re at the ending of one calendar month , you could see most of the following month too .
Calendar ’s upshot examiner , which you summon by double - clicking on an entry , has been revamped . At last , you may peg down a buffer of travel time in advance of an upshot ; unfortunately , the Google Calendar with which my Calendar app syncs does n’t seem to want to display that information . The locating field of the event inspector is also tied in to Apple ’s location database , so it will display map data and attempt to autofill your location info when you go in an event placement . When calculating travel times , Calendar uses your locations to make guesses about how much time it will take to get from one property to another . Sometimes its shot are proficient , sometimes not , but it ’s skillful that the app is making the effort .
The new Mac Maps app lays bare all of Apple ’s mathematical function and location data . Perhaps it ’s best to report it as the Mac version of the iOS Maps app , because that ’s what it is . you could look up locations , see maps in 2D or 3D rest , view vector map example or overhead photographic view , get direction , see live traffic — the whole kit . I found Maps to be a morsel easier to navigate than Google Maps , probably because it ’s a native app and can take advantage of the trackpad in some way that Google Maps ca n’t , implant as it is in a browser app windowpane . Zooming in and out and rotating the mapping via trackpad gesture all work on of course .
iBooks for Mac is a 1.0 product for certain , but I was impressed by some of its features that its contention still miss . For example , you may opt to have iBooks not rationalize school text and turn automobile - word division off as well . ( Take that , Amazon ! ) It ’s exciting to see this last piece of Apple ’s digital - entertainment store ecosystem finally make it back to the Mac .
Miscellaneous upgrades
I do n’t require this reexamination to produce toenormous size , but that think of not get over every one of the200 young featuresApple says it ’s bring to Mavericks . In the fare days Macworld will cover many private Mavericks feature in much greater item . But for now , here are a few of the other feature I found notable . You ’ll probably happen one or two of your own favourite dispel among those 200 .
The Software Update feature has received an upgrade in Mavericks ; as in iOS 7 , you have the option of having your apps — only those purchase in the Mac App Store , of course — mechanically updated . No more ascertain the App Store app and exhort theUpdate Allbutton ; the app update will be downloaded and installed in the background without any intervention from you . I found this a little disconcerting at first , but fairly convenient once I got used to it . And a setting in the App Store dose of System Preferences let you turn off robotlike update if you ’re afraid that a favored app will get an unpleasant or unwanted update .
Mountain Lionintroduced documentation for built - in bidding , which works more or less just as it did on iOS : When you have an Internet connection , you may begin speaking and , when you ’re finish , what you spoke will appear as text , powered by delivery - to - text mainframe on a server somewhere in the cloud .
That feature article remains in Mavericks , but you could choose to download a 780 Bachelor of Medicine Enhanced Dictation package that is available regardless of your net joining condition . More of import , Enhanced Dictation also displays the Holy Scripture you ’re say more or lessas you ’re saying them , in the stylus of third - company command mathematical product such as Dragon Dictation . This built - in dictation still does n’t put up corrections and individual standardization as Dragon does , but it ’s a major climb and makes bidding much more usable , in my experience . I always felt unknown speak without any feedback about what I was saying . Now , as I ’m lecture , I can see the words appear on silver screen . That feedback help a plenty .
The Library pamphlet , obscured in Mountain Lion in an seek to keep user from ruining their organisation , can now be render to visibleness . inspect your home brochure , press Command - J to bring up the View Options control board , and break Show Library Folder . That was n’t so hard , now was it ?
And here ’s an earth - shattering characteristic to end on : substance no longer translates your ð into graphic smileys . If you desire those smileys , you ’ll necessitate to select the triangle and smiley - facial expression symbolization at the far right recess of the Messages schoolbook - entry area . You ’ll be greeted with an intact emoji web browser , so you could pick smiley symbol to your affectionateness ’s capacity , no typing required .
Last word
I ’ve been using Mavericks for several calendar month now , and with the possible exception of Mail , I find out it to be a solid , static release . It ’s detached and it ’s good . It adds some nice power - user feature article , a couple of interesting new built - in apps , and a whole bunch of cool behind - the - scenes poppycock , mostly sharpen on decrease world power intake and increase shelling life .
Mavericks is n’t a optic rethinking of OS X the way that Io 7 was for iOS . Yes , some of the leather has been slay from Calendar and Contacts , but Mavericks is n’t a radical change . It ’s a grab bag of pinch , reduction , advances made in lockstep with iOS , and improvements under the exhaust hood . As such , it ’s hard for me to nail what the consolidative message of Mavericks is supposed to be , other than that the Mac continue to move forrad into a splendid future free of big cat names .
So let ’s boil it down to the requirement . Mavericks is free , compatible with a whole lot of Mac hardware , and makes the experience of using your Mac good in numerous ( mostly but not entirely low ) manner . It ’s worth every cent you ’re not pay for it .
[ fortune of this reassessment appear in a series of articles publish on Macworld this summer , after I was granted access to the first Mavericks developer prevue by Apple . It ’s been falsify and updated base on the final reading , and all images are from the merchant marine version of Mavericks . ]
