OS X Yosemite explained

OS X Yosemite
Version Of:macOS
Screenshot Size:320px
Developer:Apple Inc.
Source Model:Closed, with open source components
License:APSL and Apple EULA
Kernel Type:Hybrid (XNU)
Updatemodel:Mac App Store
Supported Platforms:x86-64
Release Version:10.10.5 (Build 14F2511)[1]
Preceded By:OS X Mavericks
Succeeded By:OS X El Capitan
Tagline:Every bit as powerful as it looks.
Support Status:Obsolete, unsupported as of August 2017. iTunes is no longer being updated, but is able to download driver updates to sync to newer devices.[2]

OS X Yosemite (; version 10.10) is the eleventh major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

OS X Yosemite was announced and released to developers on June 2, 2014, at WWDC 2014 and released to public beta testers on July 24, 2014. Yosemite was released to consumers on October 16, 2014.[3] Following the Northern California landmark-based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks, Yosemite is named after the national park.

System requirements

All Macintosh computers capable of running OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8.x) are able to run Yosemite as the two operating systems have the same requirements.[4] However, to take full advantage of the Handoff feature, additional minimum system requirements include a Mac with Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth 4.0). As with Mavericks and Mountain Lion, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of available storage, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later are required.

These are the models that are compatible with OS X Yosemite:

These are the models that support new features such as Handoff, Instant Hotspot as well as AirDrop between Mac computers and iOS devices:[5]

Features

Default wallpaper

The default desktop wallpaper is an image of Half Dome.

Design

Yosemite introduced a major overhaul of OS X's user interface, emphasizing flat graphic design over skeuomorphism, following the aesthetic introduced with iOS 7. It is the first major redesign of the OS X user interface since 10.5 Leopard. Other changes include thinner fonts and blurred translucency effects. Some icons have been changed to correspond with those of iOS 7 and iOS 8. Yosemite maintains the OS X desktop metaphor.[6]

Other design changes include new icons, light and dark color schemes, and the replacement of Lucida Grande with Helvetica Neue as the default system typeface.[7] [8] Yosemite is the only macOS version to use Helvetica Neue as the default typeface, as in El Capitan it was again changed, this time to Apple's own, newly-designed San Francisco typeface. In Yosemite, the Dock is a 2D translucent rectangular strip instead of a skeuomorphic glass shelf, reminiscent of the Dock design used in early versions of OS X through Tiger and in iOS since iOS 7.

Continuity

See also: Ubiquitous computing.

Many of Yosemite's new features focus on the theme of "continuity", increasing its integration with other Apple platforms and services such as iOS and iCloud. The Handoff functionality allows the operating system to integrate with iOS 8 devices over Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi; users can place and answer phone calls using their iPhone as a conduit, send and receive text messages, activate personal hotspots, or load items being worked on in a mobile app (such as Mail drafts or Numbers spreadsheets) directly into their desktop equivalent.[9]

Notification Center

Notification Center features a new "Today" view, similar to that in iOS. The Today view can display information and updates from various sources, along with widgets.[7] The widgets in the Today view are similar to those of iOS 8.

Photos

As of OS X 10.10.3, Photos replaces both iPhoto and Aperture.[10] It uses iCloud Photo Library to upload all the user's photos across their devices.

Other

Spotlight is a more prominent part of the operating system; it now displays its search box in the center of the screen and can include results from online sources, including Bing, Maps, and Wikipedia.[11] Stock applications such as Safari and Mail have been updated.[12] In particular, many security features have been added to Safari, such as a custom history clearing option that lets users clear history, cookies, and other data from the previous hour, day, or two days. In addition, Apple added DuckDuckGo to its search offerings, a non-tracking search engine that doesn’t store users’ data.[13] Safari allows you to remotely close tabs from an iOS device.[14] Safari now supports browsing in private browsing mode with certain windows (as opposed to all the windows having to be either in or out of private browsing).[15]

The green "zoom" button on windows now has a different function in applications that support full-screen mode. Instead of simply enlarging the window, the button now enters full-screen mode, eliminating the full-screen button at the top-right corner of windows that has been present since Mac OS X Lion. However, holding the Option key (⌥) while clicking the zoom button or double-clicking on the window chrome continues to invoke the original behavior.[16]

JavaScript for Automation (JXA) is the new system-wide support for scripting with JavaScript, built upon JavaScriptCore and the Open Scripting Architecture.[17] It features an Objective-C bridge which enables entire Cocoa applications to be programmed in JavaScript.[18]

Along with other framework changes, CloudKit was integrated in this release.[19] CloudKit functions as a Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) and is one method for app developers to integrate access to Apple’s iCloud servers into their apps.[20]

There is a "dark mode" in System Preferences which makes the Dock and menu bar darker.[14]

Beta testing

Apple initiated a new public beta program for OS X, a practice not seen with its operating systems since 2000's Mac OS X Public Beta, which had preceded the release of Mac OS X v10.0. Yosemite is part of the OS X Beta Seed Program, a public program that allows the first 1 million[21] users to download and test the Yosemite beta at no charge. Beta testers are required to acknowledge the potential risks involved with prerelease software, and sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).[22] The program began releasing Public Betas on July 24, 2014.[23] Six public betas of Yosemite were released.

Reception

On release, Yosemite received positive reviews, with users praising the simplified user interface. Programmer John Siracusa, who had reviewed every OS release, wrote for Ars Technica that "Yosemite is an aesthetic one-way valve... switching back to Mavericks after a week or two in Yosemite is like returning to iOS 6. Everything looks embarrassingly chunky, glossy, and gaudy."[24] Macworlds review generally praised Yosemite for its design, but noted that it had found WiFi network issues and that Continuity had proved unreliable.[25]

Yosemite faced problems with network stability and the discoveryd DNS program. Because of this, Apple replaced discoveryd with the mDNSResponder system (used in Mavericks) in 10.10.4.[26] Another notable bug experienced on Yosemite was the 'Unicode of death' problem, following a similar bug in 2013, in which a meaningless Arabic text string could crash applications using the system text-display APIs.[27] Some users who upgraded to Yosemite complained that the Finder fails to show the contents of folders.[28]

Spotlight on Yosemite by default reports the user's current location (at the city level) and all their search queries to Apple and third parties.[29] [30] [31] [32] Reporting by Spotlight can be disabled by the user, although, even if this is done, the Safari web browser will continue to send search terms to Apple unless the function is separately disabled.

Release history

VersionBuildstyle=width:128pxDatestyle=width:76pxDarwin versionRelease notesStandalone download
style=text-align:center10.1014A389October 16, 201414.0Original Mac App Store release
style=text-align:center10.10.114B25November 17, 2014About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.1 UpdateOS X Yosemite 10.10.1 Individual update
10.10.214C109January 27, 201514.1About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.2 UpdateOS X Yosemite 10.10.2 Individual update
OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 Combo update
14C1510March 9, 2015About Security Update 2015-002 YosemiteSecurity Update 2015-002 Yosemite
14C2043Forked build for the Early 2015 MacBook AirSecurity Update 2015-002 Yosemite (Early 2015 Mac)
14C1514March 19, 2015About Security Update 2015-003 YosemiteSecurity Update 2015-003 Yosemite
14C2513Security Update 2015-003 Yosemite (Early 2015 Mac)
10.10.314D131April 8, 201514.3About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 UpdateOS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Individual update
OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Combo update
14D136April 16, 2015Supplemental Update
Fixes issue with video driver issue that may prevent Mac from starting up when running certain apps that capture video
OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Supplemental Update 1.0
style=text-align:center10.10.414E46June 30, 201514.4About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.4 UpdateOS X Yosemite 10.10.4 Individual updateOS X Yosemite 10.10.4 Combo update
10.10.514F27August 13, 201514.5About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.5 UpdateOS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Individual update
OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo update
14F1021October 21, 2015About the security content of Security Update 2015-004 YosemiteSecurity Update 2015-004 Yosemite
14F1505November 12, 2015About the security content of Security Update 2015-005 YosemiteIncluded in Security Update 2015-006 Yosemite
14F1509December 11, 2015About the security content of Security Update 2015-006 YosemiteSecurity Update 2015-006 Yosemite
14F1605January 19, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-001 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-001 Yosemite
14F1713March 21, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-002 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-002 Yosemite
14F1808May 18, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-003 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-003 Yosemite
14F1909July 18, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-004 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-004 Yosemite
14F1912September 1, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-005 YosemiteIncluded in Security Update 2016-006 Yosemite
14F2009October 24, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-006 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-006 Yosemite
14F2109December 13, 2016About the security content of Security Update 2016-007 YosemiteSecurity Update 2016-007 Yosemite
14F2315March 27, 2017About the security content of Security Update 2017-001 YosemiteSecurity Update 2017-001 Yosemite
14F2411May 15, 2017About the security content of Security Update 2017-002 YosemiteSecurity Update 2017-002 Yosemite
14F2511July 19, 2017About the security content of Security Update 2017-003 YosemiteSecurity Update 2017-003 Yosemite

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: OS X Yosemite. Mac App Store. August 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924030127/https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=915041082&mt=12. September 24, 2015. mdy-all.
  2. Web site: iTunes – Apple . August 18, 2020 . November 7, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061107185359/http://www.itunes.com/ . live .
  3. Web site: Apple – OS X Yosemite – Overview. OS X Yosemite. Coming this fall.. Apple Inc. (US). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130716073423/http://www.apple.com/osx/preview. July 16, 2013. mdy-all.
  4. Web site: PSA: The iDevices and Macs that will support iOS 8 and OS X 10.10. Ars Technica. June 2, 2014. June 3, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140603151731/http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/psa-the-idevices-and-macs-that-will-support-ios-8-and-os-x-10-10. June 3, 2014. mdy-all.
  5. Web site: OS X Yosemite: supported devices for Handoff, Instant Hotspot, Phone Calling, SMS, and AirDrop. Apple. December 6, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141210161905/http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18947. December 10, 2014. mdy-all.
  6. Web site: OS X Yosemite – Design. Apple Inc.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150103104707/http://www.apple.com/osx/design. January 3, 2015. mdy-all.
  7. Web site: OS X Yosemite unveiled at WWDC, features big UI overhaul. Ars Technica. June 2, 2014. June 3, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140603214032/http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/os-x-yosemite-is-coming-and-it-will-redesign-the-entire-mac-desktop. June 3, 2014. mdy-all.
  8. Web site: Apple Changes OS X's Main Font For The First Time Ever. Fast Co Design. June 2, 2014. June 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141016054429/http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031354/apple-changes-os-xs-main-font-for-the-first-time-ever. October 16, 2014.
  9. Web site: OS X Yosemite – Mac + iOS Continuity. Apple. November 16, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141111005128/http://www.apple.com/osx/continuity. November 11, 2014. mdy-all.
  10. News: Upgrading from iPhoto or Aperture to Apple's Photos? Read this. 16 April 2015. 27 July 2017. Samuel. Gibbs. The Guardian. London. May 27, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201820/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/16/upgrading-from-iphoto-aperture-apples-photos-read-this. live.
  11. Web site: OS X Yosemite: Apple's latest desktop OS works even better with your iPhone. Engadget. June 3, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140603044029/http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/os-x-apple-yosemite. June 3, 2014. mdy-all.
  12. Web site: OS X Yosemite revealed: Translucent windows, cross-platform Continuity, and HTML 5 DRM come to the Mac. ExtremeTech. June 3, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140603225640/http://www.extremetech.com/computing/183438-os-x-yosemite-revealed-translucent-windows-cross-platform-continuity-and-html-5-drm-come-to-the-mac. June 3, 2014. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: These Are the 5 Coolest Features of OS X Yosemite. John Patrick Pullen. Time Inc.. October 21, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141231130725/http://time.com/3529108/os-x-yosemite-coolest-features. December 31, 2014. mdy-all.
  14. News: Top 10 Hidden Features of OS X Yosemite. Klosowski. Thorin. Lifehacker. en-US. 2017-01-04. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170104235352/http://lifehacker.com/top-10-hidden-features-of-os-x-yosemite-1646774857. January 4, 2017. mdy-all.
  15. News: OS X Yosemite: Get to know the new, slimmed-down Safari. Macworld. 2017-01-05. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170106011223/http://www.macworld.com/article/2450066/hands-on-with-os-x-yosemite-safari-slims-down.html. January 6, 2017. mdy-all.
  16. Web site: Adapting your app to the new UI of OS X Yosemite. Apple Inc.. June 3, 2014. August 10, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140728222435/http://devstreaming.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/209xxbyg01mfqt8/209/209_adapting_your_app_to_the_new_ui_of_os_x_yosemite.pdf. July 28, 2014. mdy-all.
  17. Web site: JavaScript for Automation. MacStories. August 31, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140919154026/http://www.macstories.net/linked/javascript-for-automation-on-os-x-yosemite. September 19, 2014. mdy-all.
  18. Web site: JavaScript for Automation Release Notes. Apple, Inc.. August 31, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140904150549/https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/mac/releasenotes/interapplicationcommunication/rn-javascriptforautomation/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014508. September 4, 2014. mdy-all.
  19. Web site: OS X Yosemite v10.10 Developer Library. Apple Developer Library. 10 February 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307214104/https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/mac/releasenotes/MacOSX/WhatsNewInOSX/Articles/MacOSX10_10.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014484-SW1. March 7, 2016. mdy-all.
  20. Web site: iCloud for Developers. Apple Developer. Apple. 9 February 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304012435/https://developer.apple.com/icloud. March 4, 2016. mdy-all.
  21. Web site: OS X Beta Program. Apple Inc.. July 7, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140701053626/https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram. July 1, 2014. mdy-all.
  22. Web site: OS X Beta Program Frequently Asked Questions. Apple Inc.. July 7, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140702203416/https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/faq. July 2, 2014. mdy-all.
  23. Web site: Apple to release first public beta of OS X Yosemite on Thursday. July 23, 2014. July 24, 2014. AppleInsider. AppleInsider. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140727054059/http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/23/apple-to-release-first-public-beta-of-os-x-yosemite-on-thursday. July 27, 2014. mdy-all.
  24. Web site: Siracusa. John. Yosemite review. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170708072022/https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/os-x-10-10/25. July 8, 2017. Ars Technica. October 16, 2014. mdy-all.
  25. Web site: Haslam. Karen. Yosemite review. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150819061536/http://www.macworld.co.uk/review/mac-software/mac-os-x-yosemite-review-3516686. August 19, 2015. August 15, 2015. Macworld. mdy-all.
  26. Web site: Latest OS X beta ditches buggy discoveryd DNS service, replaced with mDNSResponder. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150824090219/http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/26/latest-os-x-beta-ditches-buggy-discoveryd-dns-service-replaced-with-mdnsresponder. August 24, 2015. August 15, 2015. Apple Insider. mdy-all.
  27. Web site: Thomson. Iain. That EVIL TEXT that will CRASH your iPhone: We pop the hood. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150822094338/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/27/text_message_unicode_ios_osx_vulnerability. August 22, 2015. August 15, 2015. The Register. mdy-all.
  28. Web site: Gewirtz. David. December 2, 2014. When Yosemite went wonky: Fixing an OS X systems failure. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150312162142/http://www.zdnet.com/article/when-yosemite-went-wonky-fixing-an-os-x-systems-failure. March 12, 2015. March 15, 2015. ZD Net. mdy-all.
  29. Web site: Fix Mac OS X Yosemite initiative. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141020203853/https://fix-macosx.com. October 20, 2014. October 20, 2014. mdy-all.
  30. News: Soltani. Ashkan. Timberg. Craig. October 20, 2014. Apple's Mac computers can automatically collect your location information. Washington Post. live. October 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141023010943/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/20/apples-mac-computers-can-automatically-collect-your-location-information. October 23, 2014. mdy-all.
  31. News: Fox-Brewster. Thomas. October 20, 2014. Spotlight: Privacy Advocates Furious As Apple Feature Siphons Off Location Data of Yosemite And iOS 8 Users. Forbes. live. October 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141023035750/http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2014/10/20/spotlight-feature-gives-location-data-of-users-to-apple-and-partners. October 23, 2014. mdy-all.
  32. News: Leyden. John. October 20, 2014. FYI: OS X Yosemite's Spotlight tells Apple EVERYTHING you're looking for. The Register. live. October 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141021235801/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/20/apple_spotlight_privacy_qualms. October 21, 2014. mdy-all.