Nope OS X Mavericks isn’t bad nor ugly, it is as neat as OS X has always been and it is good, really good. I’m however disappointed on a personal level that we never got an OS X Lynx, which would sound awesome and it is my favourite cat. I mean just look at it how damn cool looking it is, and even the name is badass LYNX.
I’m not going to go through them all and most of you probably know them or aren’t really interested in some minute changes. So let us look at some of the biggest additions and changes.
Maps
OS X Mavericks brings us Maps. Yes it is the same heavily criticised maps as in iOS but it’s getting there, and at least for me it has always shown me the right way. Having maps on your Mac just gives you a new dimension synchronised awesomeness between Apples mobile devises and the Mac. The ease of which you can plan your route on your Mac and just beam it over to your iPhone before leaving the house is such a welcomed feature. And if it wasn’t enough that you can get your directions to your iOS device with great ease the new map feature also allows you to integrate map to iCal for locations of meetings etc. It is a feature that I definitely will be using more than once a week.
Calendar
As mentioned above you can now combine the map app with your calendar to set locations and help you find your way to the next meeting. It is a very handy feature for people like me, who have meetings across the city in now locations all the time. The calendar app has also gone through a complete overhaul removing the ugly old leather theme and replacing it with a more modern look. Even if I personally don’t like this all white look it is still better looking than the old one. What I do like is that with the colour change came a lot of features that helped create a better overview of your events and makes it easier to plan.
Safari
Apples own browser didn’t get overlooked and got some needed changes. The personality of the application changed from a super clean one to a little more “tweakable” one. It’s a little faster (some argue a lot faster) and the synchronisation with iOS devices is clearer and more obvious than before.
Safari extensions are coming along but do not play in the same ballpark as Chrome and Firefox extensions. I miss AdBlock Plus and a few other goodies from Chrome and why Apple does not have a search feature for its “extension store” is beyond me. It is so frustrating that I’ve not even spent time looking for what more is there beside the ones featured on the main pages for each category.
The possibility to open a link in private browsing with a simple right click as in Safari is still missing and it still lacks in the possibility to open/listen/view some items within the browser compared to Chrome which I see as its biggest competitor.
Finder tabs
This is my favourite change. I can’t even remember for how many years I’ve cursed over the fact that one cannot have different tabs in finder but now it’s finally here. It makes working within Finder so much less of a hassle for people like me that move around files and or work with different folders. No more clutter from finder windows.
iCloud Keychain
Password management on steroids. A really neat feature allowing your passwords to be stored and shared between all of your Apple Devices. No more fiddling with complicated passwords on small keyboards on mobile devices and isn’t just limited to passwords but can also store credit card numbers and WiFi passwords. I can honestly say that I’ve tried many password managers and finally I can get rid of that junk. Apples iCloud Keychain is by far the easiest and best password manager that I’ve seen.
Other benefits and some issues
OS X Mavericks brings you a lot more new features than mentioned above and it is one of the best releases in a very long time. It is faster, smarter and better. If Mountain Lion felt slow then Mavericks rights all those wrongs, at least I feel that it is significantly faster than its predecessor. It boots faster, and it doesn’t spend as much time “thinking” as Mountain Lion did.
One thing that I’ve noticed and found other to have noticed as well is the frequentzy of which one encounters the “beach ball” or as called by some “ball of death”. Now it does not show up and hang around for a few minutes until you force quit whatever application that is causing it, it just appears and disappears in less than a second. Why this is, I don’t know. It is annoying for someone that seeks perfection but it does not affect the usability of the computer.
Some applications have not managed to update their apps to work flawlessly in Mavericks. Chrome has issues with gestures where they simply stop working and the only way to get them to work again is to restart the app. VLC also seems to get confused with the gestures from time to time. But these are small issues that I do believe to be fixed in no time.
So overall I’d say that Mavericks is worth the effort it takes to update. Well, “effort” it seriously takes no time and it is FREE! It is like taking your premium car to the dealer and getting the next generation one for free.
// The General
generalkrax 