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10 new features in Apple's OS X Mavericks

10 new features in Apple's OS X Mavericks

By Anupam Saxena | Updated: 11 June 2013 16:42 IST

Apple's run out of feline species names and decided that new versions of OS X will be named after a place in the US state of California. Besides the new moniker, OS X Mavericks, also brings a number of new features. Here's a look at the major ones.

1. Finder Tabs
While it's been ages since tabs made it to web browsers, OS X Mavericks brings tabs to the Finder. You can browse different folders in one Finder window using tabs. For instance open the desktop in one tab, your Dropbox folder in another and your documents in another one. You can drag and drop files from one tab to another, and organise and view tabs as per your preference. Finder windows also get a full screen view in the update.

2. Tags
Just like you put tags in your blog posts for quick discovery, you can put tags to your files in local and iCloud folders.
You can simply tag files you want to organise together with a keyword. You can even give multiple tags to a single file. Tags appear in the Finder sidebar or can be entered in the search field. You can assign tags in respective apps and they'll be grouped together in one place. So you can apply tags in the Finder, in individual apps when you save files and in iCloud.

3. Enhanced multiple display support
Unlike the current version os OS X, Mavericks offers a richer experience when you have multiple displays connected to your Mac. Each connected display gets its own menu bar, and the Dock is available on whichever screen you're working on.
You can run multiple app windows on either display or run an app in full screen mode on each. It's even possible to see the desktop on one display and a full-screen app on another one. You can also turn your Apple TV connected TV to a full function display using AirPlay. All screens can be controlled via Mission Control.
4. Maps
Apple has extended its Maps apps to the desktop with OS X mavericks. The Maps app offers the Flyover 3D experience that offers rich previews of city landscapes. It also offers local points of interest such as restaurants and hotels, offering phone numbers, photos, and Yelp reviews. Maps on desktop also offers point-to-point directions, real-time traffic conditions, and alternate routes. You can even send a map to your iPhone for voice navigation. Maps have also been integrated with Mail, Contacts, and Calendar.

5. iBooks
Just like Maps, Apple has extended iBooks to the desktop with OS X Mavericks. Books downloaded on your iOS devices appear automatically on your Mac. And there are over 1.8 million more in the iBooks Store, ready for you to download with just a few clicks.
The app also offers an optimised reading experience and offers features like turning pages with a swipe, zoom in on images with a pinch, or scroll from cover to cover with the app. It also offers a dark mode for reading.

iBooks also integrates iCloud sync and when you take notes, highlight passages, or add a bookmark on your Mac, iCloud pushes them to all your devices automatically. It also offers features like adding citations when you quote while writing a paper, for students.

6. Notifications
OS X Mavericks offers better actionable notifications that let you perform actions in response without leaving the app you're in. You can reply to a message, respond to a FaceTime video call, or delete an email right from a notification. All notifications are also offered in a summary if you're away from your Mac. You can also choose to receive notifications from iOS apps.

7. Updated Safari browser
The updated Safari web browser in OS X Mavericks offers new user interface features including a new Top Sites page that lets you easily organise your frequently visited websites. You can add sites from bookmarks and rearrange the website thumbnails by dragging them wherever you wish to.

Safari also offers a Shared Links list in the new Sidebar that shows links posted by people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. Under the hood, Safari features the new Nitro Tiered JIT and Fast Start technologies for zippy and more responsive web browsing. Apple has also integrated new power-saving technologies, so that the Mac doesn't waste power on background processes and plug-in content.

8. Advanced features for power optimisation
For faster performance and longer battery life, Apple has integrated new innovations with OS X Mavericks including Timer Coalescing that groups low-level operations together so that the processor doesn't use more power and battery is conserved, App Nap that saves power while working on multiple apps by slowing down the apps that are in the background, and compressed memory that frees up memory space for faster performance.

9. New Calendar
The skeuomorphic leather folder user interface has now been replaced with a fresh new minimalistic look. It now offers continuous scrolling to browse across weeks and months and can look at the last half of one month and the first half of the next one simultaneously. It also brings a new event inspector making it simpler to create and edit events by suggesting addresses and points of interest when you start typing in the location field. The new Calendar app shows the event's location on a map, calculates travel time, and even displays a weather forecast.

10. iCloud Keychain
iCloud Keychain remembers and stores your website user names and passwords on the devices you approve and protects them with AES 256-bit encryption. It keeps all the data up to date on all your iOS and Mac devices.

The iCloud Keychain automatically fills user credentials whenever and wherever you need them. OS X Mavericks also offers a new Password Generator that suggests unique, hard-to-guess passwords for your online accounts. It also offers the option to store credit card information too.

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