During the ever-growing WWDC conference held in June, Apple announced its new operating system for Macs – OS X 10.9 called Mavericks. It will be available for the public in the fall of 2013. Just like every previous version, Mavericks will bring many new features targeting different users, but there are several advanced features that will make power users very happy. Let’s go over the most important features and updates.Apple Maps
If you are an iPhone user, then you probably know that with the introduction of iOS 6, Apple decided to make their own Maps application. However, it didn’t do quite well due to lack of detailed information, and overall feedback from users was negative.
Apple claims that they are much better now, and they are choosing to integrate them in the new OS X. Maps are built into Calendar, Maps and the Contacts app, so in case an address pops up somewhere, you will find it on a map without too much hassle. Also, the app will sync with your iOS devices, meaning you can find directions to your destination on the large screen of your Mac, and turn-by-turn directions will wait for you on your iPhone when you hit the road.
iBooks
Much like Apple Maps, iBooks is another application that first appeared on iOS, and will be featured in the new iteration of OS X. The app works similar to the iOS version – you can swipe through pages, pinch your trackpad to zoom, take notes etc. Over 1.8 million titles are available for purchase at the moment.
Full-screen apps
One of the main request from more advanced Mac users, was the ability to use full-screen applications on multiple screens. Full-screen apps were available since OS X Lion, but until Mavericks, if you put a full-screen app on one screen, the other connected screens were pretty unusable. With Mac OS X 10.9 this changes, and you can take full advantage of every screen that is connected to your Mac.
iCloud Keychain
If you hate remembering passwords for different accounts, this option will put a smile on your face. iCloud Keychain will securely store your passwords. Next time you visit a certain website that requires a login, it will automatically fill the password field. Besides passwords, it can also store your credit card information for easier future payments. And the best of all, it will sync passwords across every device that you approve.
New Finder features
Mavericks will bring two new features to Finder that will help you organize your files better, and be more productive as well. One of them is “Finder tabs,” which works in a similar fashion tabs work in Safari. Pressing Command + T at the same time will open a new tab. Full-screen finder combined with this option will allow you to have many tabs open and search through large number of files without too much hassle.
Tags are another feature that will help you organize large amount of files and data more efficiently. By tagging files using a certain keyword like “Work,” “Travel” etc., you will be able to find your files easily. It’s simple – if you click on “Travel” in the Finder sidebar, you will receive a list of all files tagged as “Travel.”
As you can see, the new Mac OS X comes with plenty of new features, and several smaller updates, which make it worth the upgrade. OS X Mavericks will be released this fall, although Apple have not confirmed any date, and the pricing is unknown at the moment.