Testing OSX 10.10 Yosemite

[Joelist]

I am part of the test team for OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" (I guess all the Salesforce.com work gets you on other companies radar ). Started the test today. Impressions so far:

a) Visually it's interesting. Similar to the visual update in iOS7 they have gotten rid of almost all the skeumorphic nonsense and also most of the 3D stuff. The result is a very clean, simple look to the OS. There has been a good deal of hate coming out of certain quarters over this change but to me it was time to update the look and feel.

b) The OS is completely "de-Googled". Google is still available as a search provider choice but all the hooks have been removed and their operation disabled if you reinstall them by adding Google applications (I tried this to verify and it's true). Also, DuckDuckGo no longer requires a separate install to be a search provider - it is now a single click in Preferences.

c) Overall system speed is better. Maybe Apple is FINALLY figuring out how to properly optimize OS X to work with the ultra high speed SSDs they are using? Let me be clear - OS X wasn't slow before but it did not feel as fast as it should have on a PCIe SSD. As I noted in another thread it felt silly that Windows 8 was by far the fastest OS on a Mac. Well, now they feel VERY close to a tie.

d) Safari is FAR better now. Not only is the visual look better and the ability to integrate DuckDuckGo important but it is far snappier. For example, Gatefans had a definite load lag in the "old" Safari and now it does not. This feels like they rewrote the javascript engine as I am seeing all message boards and such running a lot faster.

I haven't checked out a lot of things yet and also Apple is rolling out a new development language and environment for both iOS and OS X (Swift). So there is plenty to explore and I'll do my best to keep you all up to date within the NDA specifications.

 

[Overmind One]

I am part of the test team for OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" (I guess all the Salesforce.com work gets you on other companies radar ). Started the test today. Impressions so far:

a) Visually it's interesting. Similar to the visual update in iOS7 they have gotten rid of almost all the skeumorphic nonsense and also most of the 3D stuff. The result is a very clean, simple look to the OS. There has been a good deal of hate coming out of certain quarters over this change but to me it was time to update the look and feel.

b) The OS is completely "de-Googled". Google is still available as a search provider choice but all the hooks have been removed and their operation disabled if you reinstall them by adding Google applications (I tried this to verify and it's true). Also, DuckDuckGo no longer requires a separate install to be a search provider - it is now a single click in Preferences.

c) Overall system speed is better. Maybe Apple is FINALLY figuring out how to properly optimize OS X to work with the ultra high speed SSDs they are using? Let me be clear - OS X wasn't slow before but it did not feel as fast as it should have on a PCIe SSD. As I noted in another thread it felt silly that Windows 8 was by far the fastest OS on a Mac. Well, now they feel VERY close to a tie.

d) Safari is FAR better now. Not only is the visual look better and the ability to integrate DuckDuckGo important but it is far snappier. For example, Gatefans had a definite load lag in the "old" Safari and now it does not. This feels like they rewrote the javascript engine as I am seeing all message boards and such running a lot faster.

I haven't checked out a lot of things yet and also Apple is rolling out a new development language and environment for both iOS and OS X (Swift). So there is plenty to explore and I'll do my best to keep you all up to date within the NDA specifications.

I have heard similar nice things about this version of OS X. I do not know if it will run on my late 2008 unibody MBP.

 

[Joelist]

A bit more exploration.

OS X starting with Lion had a notification center sort of like that found in smartphones and tablets. Really I had just been ignoring it because it wasn't truly useful.....until now. Yosemite pretty much takes the notification center back to the drawing board and the new one is actually useful. It's better organized, much more configurable and allows easy click through from the notification to the application that sent the notification.

More to come...

 

[Overmind One]

A bit more exploration.

OS X starting with Lion had a notification center sort of like that found in smartphones and tablets. Really I had just been ignoring it because it wasn't truly useful.....until now. Yosemite pretty much takes the notification center back to the drawing board and the new one is actually useful. It's better organized, much more configurable and allows easy click through from the notification to the application that sent the notification.

More to come...

I want to thank you for mentioning the lag time in the GateFans site on some browsers. I found the old Flash embed code that used to load the Flash logo for the site. I am going to remove that code and use an animated gif instead, which should remove the call the the Flash player in the page and speed up load.

Also, I will see if this Yosemite will be able to run on my Mac.

 

[Joelist]

Starting to explore some of the included applications. In this case Mail.

Mail on prior versions of OS X was so feature incomplete as to make it borderline useless. This made for a booming market for OS X mail tools and indeed today more Mac users get their email using Outlook for Mac (currently 2011 but getting a revision this year) than use Apple's own tool.

Well, Mail like Notifications got taken apart and redone. So far it appears to be much better in performance (much less lag in retrieving email) and a lot of missing features are now present. For instance, it now has a complete rules engine. It also no longer tries to handle everything like its IMAP. As a result of not being so overfocused on IMAP it also now handles attachments in a much more logical manner.

I'm not sure Mail is sufficiently improved to get me to switch from what I have been using (Foxmail). But it is much better.

 

[Overmind One]

Starting to explore some of the included applications. In this case Mail.

Mail on prior versions of OS X was so feature incomplete as to make it borderline useless. This made for a booming market for OS X mail tools and indeed today more Mac users get their email using Outlook for Mac (currently 2011 but getting a revision this year) than use Apple's own tool.

Well, Mail like Notifications got taken apart and redone. So far it appears to be much better in performance (much less lag in retrieving email) and a lot of missing features are now present. For instance, it now has a complete rules engine. It also no longer tries to handle everything like its IMAP. As a result of not being so overfocused on IMAP it also now handles attachments in a much more logical manner.

I'm not sure Mail is sufficiently improved to get me to switch from what I have been using (Foxmail). But it is much better.

Um, Apple is JUST NOW including a rules engine? . I still have a hard time understanding why Apple users (of every type of device) continue to be happy with these improvements Apple makes, without realizing that every single Apple product without exception is behind the technological curve? I mean WAY behind. The hardware is decent, and in many cases superior. But the operating system and the cost to feature ratio is just not there.

I have Outlook 2011 for Mac, and it sucks. So, I open Windows and use Outlook 2010 in Parallels....when using my laptop. But now, I have installed Ubuntu 14 in Parallels and am using Evolution Mail which bests Outlook in features.

I know you are testing Yosemite, but is this related to Salesforce or as a comparison of operating systems?

 

[Joelist]

I got the opportunity because of my Salesforce work, but really it is more me testing OSes. My work laptop is a Mac which I was able to get by making the case that our normal employee laptops at the time were so slow and unstable that they were unusable for development work. And they were, so it was truthful. Classic examples of IT devised images that were WAY over-engineered and had too much crap on them for the SLOW HDDs and such of the machines (Dell Latitude e6400s).

So doing dev work on a Mac for Salesforce allowed me to not only give feedback to Salesforce but to Apple on things like OS X. Hence being invited into the Yosemite test. Yosemite was recently released to public beta but i have had it a bit longer from the dev channel.

 

[Joelist]

Um, Apple is JUST NOW including a rules engine? . I still have a hard time understanding why Apple users (of every type of device) continue to be happy with these improvements Apple makes, without realizing that every single Apple product without exception is behind the technological curve? I mean WAY behind. The hardware is decent, and in many cases superior. But the operating system and the cost to feature ratio is just not there.

I have Outlook 2011 for Mac, and it sucks. So, I open Windows and use Outlook 2010 in Parallels....when using my laptop. But now, I have installed Ubuntu 14 in Parallels and am using Evolution Mail which bests Outlook in features.

I know you are testing Yosemite, but is this related to Salesforce or as a comparison of operating systems?

Actually I should be clearer - they had a rules engine before but it was oversimplified and as such finer grained things were beyond it. The new one has more options and a more advanced configuration mode.

 

[Joelist]

Yosemite just got a big update in its Dev channel. The current beta is pretty much feature complete and still a vast improvement on its predecessors. I admit I have not tested every one of the packaged apps as to be honest I don't compose music or make movies but the stuff I have tested all works perfectly.

 

[Overmind One]

Yosemite just got a big update in its Dev channel. The current beta is pretty much feature complete and still a vast improvement on its predecessors. I admit I have not tested every one of the packaged apps as to be honest I don't compose music or make movies but the stuff I have tested all works perfectly.

Gaming on it at all?

 

[Joelist]

Europa Universalis IV, also a lot of different games on VASSAL:

http://www.vassalengine.org

 

[Gatefan1976]

OM or Joe, chatbox please

 

[Overmind One]

Okay, I just "upgraded" to Yosemite on my MacBook, and for what it is, it's okay. It actually looks and acts a lot like Ubuntu 9.10 with the launcher plugins. The new launcher is flat like that one, without the 3D look. If I was not so familiar with Ubuntu, I might be impressed with Yosemite, but there is no "wow factor" for me with this at all.

Appearance wise, this looks almost identical with Ubuntu 9.10 with the add-on dock. We are now at Ubuntu 14.04, so it goes without saying that this look has been around for quite some time. All of the graphics are noticeably flatter and less complex as compared with previous OS X versions. All icons are much flatter looking, with more vibrant colors. I imagine these changes have a beneficial effect on the GPU. It looks competent and professional, if a bit dated.

Performance wise, this Yosemite is noticeably faster. I am running it on a late-2008 Macbook Pro with 8gb RAM and a Samsung 840 SSD. Everything seems to open faster, and performance seems better.

This upgrade was free so I really could not say no to it, and it is a proper incremental upgrade from Mavericks and requires no learning curve. To Apple's credit, this is a proper and worthwhile refresh. From the new login screen to the more refined interface, it gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[Joelist]

If I were to say "impressed " it would be more with them trimming it down so it is less of a GPU hog than it was in the past. Also dumping all the skeumorphic crap which is part of recognizing that performance is king over bling.

 

[Overmind One]

If I were to say "impressed " it would be more with them trimming it down so it is less of a GPU hog than it was in the past. Also dumping all the skeumorphic crap which is part of recognizing that performance is king over bling.

Yep, the trimming they did had a significant (and much better) effect on overall performance, yet even with the flat icons it manages to look updated and professional. I can even play Diablo and Starcraft on high settings. This with a maxed out 2008 Macbook Pro unibody. Not bad....

 

[Overmind One]

I am part of the test team for OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" (I guess all the Salesforce.com work gets you on other companies radar ). Started the test today. Impressions so far:

a) Visually it's interesting. Similar to the visual update in iOS7 they have gotten rid of almost all the skeumorphic nonsense and also most of the 3D stuff. The result is a very clean, simple look to the OS. There has been a good deal of hate coming out of certain quarters over this change but to me it was time to update the look and feel.

b) The OS is completely "de-Googled". Google is still available as a search provider choice but all the hooks have been removed and their operation disabled if you reinstall them by adding Google applications (I tried this to verify and it's true). Also, DuckDuckGo no longer requires a separate install to be a search provider - it is now a single click in Preferences.

c) Overall system speed is better. Maybe Apple is FINALLY figuring out how to properly optimize OS X to work with the ultra high speed SSDs they are using? Let me be clear - OS X wasn't slow before but it did not feel as fast as it should have on a PCIe SSD. As I noted in another thread it felt silly that Windows 8 was by far the fastest OS on a Mac. Well, now they feel VERY close to a tie.

d) Safari is FAR better now. Not only is the visual look better and the ability to integrate DuckDuckGo important but it is far snappier. For example, Gatefans had a definite load lag in the "old" Safari and now it does not. This feels like they rewrote the javascript engine as I am seeing all message boards and such running a lot faster.

I haven't checked out a lot of things yet and also Apple is rolling out a new development language and environment for both iOS and OS X (Swift). So there is plenty to explore and I'll do my best to keep you all up to date within the NDA specifications.

This was actually a very good recap of Yosemite. I agree with every comment you have made on it. I really believe that the redesign of the UI to a "flat" format with not as much composition is giving that extra boost to the operating system. I do not use Safari (I dont use my MBP much ), but I am sure what you say is probably true. Parallels runs better in it as well.

 

[Joelist]

The thing is, despite areas where Apple just talks and acts like a doofus and despite their charging too much for hardware a lot of the time, the OSX team has over time been a pretty good bunch. They make mistakes (ahem...Leopard and Snow Leopard) but they go buckle down and address the issues. And to my thinking, despite all the enhancements that are meant to work with iOS (like Continuity) the REAL focus in Yosemite was cleaning up the overall look and improving system speed.

 

[Bluce Ree]

So, I dug up my old mid-2007 20" iMac from mothballs, ordered 4 GB from Amazon for $35 and upgraded the OS to Yosemite.

I have to admit that I am thoroughly impressed with how this thing is performing. It still looks new and feels as smooth and snappy as the ones I played with at Best Buy.

I set it all up for my wife who has recently become an Apple junky.

Although, for design, Mac is superior to Windows. She showed me what seem like minor differences to me between Mac and Windows versions of Illustrator, more behavioral differences and some of the rendering issues with certain detailed designs under Windows.

 

[Overmind One]

So, I dug up my old mid-2007 20" iMac from mothballs, ordered 4 GB from Amazon for $35 and upgraded the OS to Yosemite.

I have to admit that I am thoroughly impressed with how this thing is performing. It still looks new and feels as smooth and snappy as the ones I played with at Best Buy.

I set it all up for my wife who has recently become an Apple junky.

Although, for design, Mac is superior to Windows. She showed me what seem like minor differences to me between Mac and Windows versions of Illustrator, more behavioral differences and some of the rendering issues with certain detailed designs under Windows.

BRAVO! I am finding that my mid-2008 unibody Macbook Pro upgraded from the original 4gb to 8gb, and the original 250GB drive swapped out for a Samsung 840 250gb has made it perform on par with the ones I played with in Best Buy as well. Not so much the hardware as the Adobe After Effects and Illustrator software I am starting to use more and more (for video). I also upgraded the OS to Yosemite which is what I am using. I dont like that it cannot send both audio and video through the mini-DVI adapter for HDMI. Your iMac has a decent monitor already integrated into it.

 

[Bluce Ree]

BRAVO! I am finding that my mid-2008 unibody Macbook Pro upgraded from the original 4gb to 8gb, and the original 250GB drive swapped out for a Samsung 840 250gb has made it perform on par with the ones I played with in Best Buy as well. Not so much the hardware as the Adobe After Effects and Illustrator software I am atsrting to use more and more (for video). I also upgraded the OS to Yosemite which is what I am using. I dont like that it cannot send both audio and video through the mini-DVI adapter for HDMI. Your iMac has a decent monitor already integrated into it.

I am pleasantly surprised at how Yosemite managed to breathe new life into this thing, making it feel modern, new and very responsive. This is so not like the PC world. Every new iteration of Windows obliterates outdated hardware.