6/12/13
8:00 am

MacMost Now 877: Looking Forward To Mavericks

Here is what we know about Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks so far. We'll get new iBooks and Maps apps, and changes to Safari and Calendar. There will be better multiple screen support. The Finder will include tabs and tags. We can expect Mavericks in the fall, most likely through the Mac App Store.

You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).

Video Transcript: Hi this is Gary with MacMost Now. On today's episode let's exam what we know so far about Mac OS X, Mavericks.
So Mavericks is going to be the successor to Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion was 10.8 and Mavericks will be 10.9. It's named not after a cat but a place in California. A famous surfing spot near Half Moon Bay.
Here is what we know about it so far. There are going to be Finder changes. Most notably Finder tabs. So a Finder window can now, instead of just containing a single list of files and folders, can actually have multiple tabs just like Safari can show multiple web pages. And you can switch between these tabs. This will make it a lot easier to have one Finder window open and access several folders in there that you need to get to rather than having multiple Finder windows lined up or overlapping each other.
Now there is also going to be an emphasis on file tagging. That is not exactly something that is completely new. File tagging is the ability to apply a key word to a file. So think of it as you have your file name as the title of the document but you can also apply multiple key words to it. Say if it is something for work, something for a special project, something for home. These are kind of similar to how we had labels before but you can have multiple tags applied instead of just one label.
It looks like actually it will be just extending labels to create these tags. So think of tags as combination of labels and also Spotlight Comments which allowed you previously to enter key words that you could find when searching for the file and also in addition to that Smart Folders because you will be able to then look at the different items that have different key words on the left. So if you tag something as being from work and a certain project you will be able to look in these folders that will show you everything that is tagged with that.
So you will find files in multiple places. Maybe under multiple keys words and in the actual folder they are located. Very similar to how in iTunes you have playlists and in iPhoto you have Albums as well as Events.
Mavericks is also going to change how multiple screens are handled. Specifically when it comes to things that kind of get in the way of multiple screens. Like Mission Control which works great if you have one screen like on a laptop. But if you have multiple screens then it kind of gets a little confusing.
Well with Mavericks now each screen will have its own Mission Control and you will have multiple spaces with each screen. Likewise each screen will have its own Dock so you can go to the bottom of each screen and get the Dock there.
Another things about screens is that it looks like we will be able to use Apple TV as a second monitor. Not a mirrored one as we can now with Mountain Lion and AirPlay but actually creating a new screen that is then shown wirelessly using Apple TV.
Now as predicted Mavericks is going to get rid of some or maybe all skewomorphic designs. This is when an app kind of looks like something in the real world like kind of the leathery feel of Calendar or the legal pad feel of Notes. We don't know exactly which ones are going to go to a very plain flat look. We know Calendar is one of them. But perhaps we will see Notes and Reminders do the same as well.
So there will be a new version of Safari. It looks like the main change is going to be combining several elements into one interface. You had Top Sites before, we had Bookmark, we had Reading List. It is all going to be combined so there will be Reading List and Bookmarks on the left sidebar as well as links from your social networks. Top Sites can appear to the right of that as well as web pages appear to the right of that. So it is kind of a new control center way of navigating your web pages while having the left sidebar that lets you get to things. So making Safari maybe a little bit more like Mail where you have a left sidebar and a right area where you are viewing things.
Of course I'm sure you will be able to just simply view things just as you could before.
Safari also is going to get a little faster as there will be some Java script engine improvements.
Now there will be a new part of iCloud that seems to me to be kind of a replacement for One Password or Last Pass. Something that lets you to save passwords securely and other information like credit card info and then enter it into your browser. It looks like this is going to sync across devices which will be useful. I'm not so sure that it is going to completely replace things like One Password. It was kind of strange in the presentation how you couldn't actually have your three digit credit card code included in it even though there shouldn't be any real reason not to if it is securely encrypted and you have to use your password to get to it. So we will have to see how this feature actually plays out. Whether it is kind of a halfway step to something like One Password or whether it can completely replace it.
It looks like we are going to get an iBooks app that will allow us to access iBooks, things we purchased on our iPad or iPhone, also on our Mac. Now this is going to be great because it allows expansion of the number of people that can use iBooks. So for instance if you are in school and you use a MacBook then you may not have that access to the iBooks textbooks. You had to get an iPad to do that. Now you can do that on your Mac. Or if you have both devices you can use them on both because if you purchase on one you get them on all just like with music and apps.
Also it looks like things like Notes and Bookmarks and all sorts of things will sync between them using iCloud.
In addition, a cool feature, looks like you will be able to open multiple books at the same time. So for students having to look at multiple textbooks at once you will be able have them open in multiple windows.
Another new app will be the Maps App. So this is going to have the same functionality we get in iOS but you will be able to do it on the Mac. Which is great because unlike Goggle Maps there is no web based version of Apple Maps. So now you have a way to access them.
Also another great thing is that STK will allow third party developers to be able to use Maps in their apps. They can already do that on iOS but the ability to do that on the Mac might create some really cool innovative apps on your Mac that pull in Maps data and allow you to do location based things.
So now to the nitty-gritty details. First of all when will Mavericks come out. All we know is that it is going to be this Fall. So anytime between the end of September to the end of December. So my bet is somewhere around November. Maybe just in time so that anybody buying Macs for the holidays will get Mavericks installed. But we will have to see. Apple sometimes has been known to wait until the very last day of the season when they promise something like Fall or Spring.
So how about compatibility? Which Macs will Mavericks be compatible with. We don't have any information about that right now except some leaked information from developers that have been posted to rumor sites that see to point to that anything that can run Mountain Lion can run Mavericks. Which kind of makes sense. But we will have to wait until the end. It probably will be a few borderline Macs that can just barely run Mountain Lion now but will be left out of Mavericks as some of the new features may not work on those machines.
How about pricing? Well, if we look back at Mountain Lion, Mountain Lion cost $10. But before that at Lion it cost $20. My bet is that it is going to be one of those two, $10 or $20. 
How will you get it? You are going to have to get it from the Mac App Store, I'm sure of that because the last two operating systems have been distributed that way. So you most likely will need to have either Lion or Mountain Lion installed although perhaps with a later version of Snow Leopard, if your Mac is compatible, you also have the Mac App Store and you may be able to jump straight to Mavericks.
So here is what we know so far. There will probably be a lot more information given out by Apple or leaked by developers who have access to Mavericks right now. But keep in mind with leaked information is that developers could be misinterpreting features or there could be features that can be in there that Apple then pulls before the final version. Also there are things that may be independent of Mavericks like iBooks and Maps App could be released beforehand or could be released after Mavericks comes out because they may be completely independent of the operating system itself. We'll just have to see how it goes this Fall.
I hope you found this useful. Until next time this is Gary with MacMost Now.

Comments: 22 Responses to “MacMost Now 877: Looking Forward To Mavericks”

Chris

12 years ago

Nice overview, thanks Gary.

Aaron

12 years ago

Great pre-review.

Andrew

12 years ago

Think the reason you can't store the 3 digit security code is more to do with the credit card industry protocols than anything to do with Apple. At least in the UK it works like that from what I've been told. That is, even encrypted the credit card number and 3 digit security code can not be stored together

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

But all third-party password apps do that now. 1Password, LastPass, etc. I think the protocols you refer to have to do with merchant web sites storing information, not personal apps or services.

Gary Patterson

12 years ago

True, but 1Password, LastPass, etc. do not have to worry about PCI DSS compliance. As a credit card merchant, Apple does.

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

But do those rules really cross over between services? iCloud Keychain and iTunes stores are separate services. I'd imagine that they have separate rules. Right now I can put my CC pin number in a Pages document and store that in iCloud -- how is that different than storing it in iCloud Keychain? It shouldn't be. If Agile has an online store where they sell 1Password, then how is that different than Apple having a store where they sell products and also an iCloud Keychain service?

Paul Reynolds

12 years ago

Gary,
I think you do a terrific job of what, how, and why on Apple changes.

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

Thanks!

G Tyler

12 years ago

I think they will release iBooks and Maps Mac Apps in BETA before Mavericks so we can test it out and they can see how iCloud holds up. I am really looking forward to iCloud KeyChain, but I don't see how that can be an early release since it works closely with Safari and the new iOS 7 app. I am hoping in can replace iWallet that I use now which does not auto-synch. What shortcomings are you expecting from the new KeyChain apps?

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

Hard to guess until we can see and use iCloud Keychain. It will probably not be as feature-rich as 1Password, but will have the ability to enter passwords into Safari in iOS, which 1Password can't do. But that is just a guess.

J Weisel

12 years ago

Hi Gary,
Thank you for ALL the great information. I'm a new Mac user and love all your tutorials.
Please keep them coming.

Philip

12 years ago

Hi Gary,

Great overview of Mavericks!

I'm curious if the eventual release of Mavericks will create problems with currently Mountain Lion compatible software. For example, do you anticipate a lag in the development of Mavericks-compatible versions of current software?

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

I doubt it. I don't see any reason why current software that works with Mountain Lion won't run fine in Mavericks.

Philip

12 years ago

Is that because there isn't a radical leap from Mountain Lion to Mavericks? I encountered past software compatibility problems from Snow Leopard to Lion / Mountain Lion.

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

Not necessarily. You can have a radical leap and still be backward compatible. You can also have a tiny change and not be backward compatible.
What sort of compatibility issue did you have before -- which software exactly? What did the developer of the software have to say about the problem you experienced?

Robert a kemp

12 years ago

Good video keep them cumin

Lucy

12 years ago

Great overview video, and I thank you for all the wonderful information I receive from MacMost Now!

Piet van 't Zelfde

12 years ago

Hi Gary, Thanks for all your comments and lessons we can store in our brains. Please keep those video's coming.

Linda Lyn

12 years ago

Hi Gary
Thank you for all the good news u

Glenn

12 years ago

Thanks for letting us know about Mavericks.

John

12 years ago

Gary
I love your presentation style and clarity of information.
Everything that you say is clear and concise.
You make the most complex of detail so understandable to us novices.
Keep it coming !

Gary Rosenzweig

12 years ago

Thanks!

Comments Closed.

MacMost Now 877: Looking Forward To Mavericks

Comments: 22 Responses to “MacMost Now 877: Looking Forward To Mavericks”

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