This is just a short review on Apple’s new version of Mac OS X, 10.10. As some of you may or may not know, only one million people were able to have access to the Yosemite Beta. Luckily for myself, I was one of those one million. I have been testing various parts of the new-to-be-released version 10.10, and have only come across a few minor problems that I can fault the software for. To begin with, I will talk a little bit about the cons I have come across while using/testing the software, as anybody can expect, Yosemite is overall a little ‘glitchy’, and sometimes applications just crash. Although this can be frustrating, it is not very often at all, and I’m almost certain those kinks will be worked out before the release, hence the early release beta.
Another one of the problems I have came across is the new Family Account Sharing. I was quite excited to see this feature in the new release of OS X and iOS 8, as it will be a huge convenience for myself and my other half, for iTunes purchases and other factors. Unfortunately, in the iCloud preferences, where you set this feature up, it would not allow me to invite anyone to my ‘Family Sharing’. I understand why it may not work due to the fact that this feature is only in beta, and making it usable may be unstable on earlier platforms, but it is just a shame that a big feature like this can’t be enjoyed by the public yet.
One last minor problem I had with a couple of different applications and scenarios, is that I would get a strange intermittent flashing in some cases, usually after clicking/opening a certain feature. For example, in Notification Center, when the ‘social’ widget is in your sidebar, and you click on any of the buttons (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, or Messages), you would get this strange flashing below the text box every time, without fail. Like I said this is very minor and doesn’t stop you from using any feature, it is just persistent and a little annoying.
Now lets just give the new software a little credit. Yosemite follows the same type of aesthetics as Mountain Lion, clean, simple and yet very pleasing to the eye. For example, they have now incorporated a lot of translucency, like in iOS 7 and 8, which makes the experience of using it a lot more intuitive and enjoyable. I seemed to realise how much the translucency effected the experience when I was browsing the web in Safari. It sounds quite petty, but it still makes me smile to this day watching videos or images scroll through the top translucent bar.
I have made full use of the new feature ‘Dark menu bar and dock’, It’s such a simple new feature, but believe it or not, just having the option to have a light or dark ‘feel’ to the desktop makes a lot of difference. Overall, Yosemite seems to have outdone itself, the amount of new features this software brings to the table is simple, yet astounding. The way they have made the continuity between iOS and Mac OS X seamless. The first time I took a phone call on Yosemite, it was completely unexpected, yet I just accepted it without even thinking. I believe that is what makes Yosemite and it’s continuity so admirable to me, the fact that things just ‘work’ the way you think they should, and this is what Apple try to do with all of their user experiences. I know that is quite subjective, but I think that is an important quality to have in a piece of software.
I did say that this was going to be a short review and I will link a more in-depth review below, I just wanted to share my feelings on the Yosemite Beta.
Richard Leck 