OS X Mavericks

While iOS 7 was expected to be the star of Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) this year, it wasn't the only operating system getting a significant update. Supposedly codenamed "Cabernet" at headquarters, OS X Mavericks was unveiled on Monday with little fanfare. The specific improvements, however, are designed to improve performance across Apple platforms. So upgrading to OS X Mavericks won't just make life on your Mac easier. It'll make life easier.
From there, the upgrades start to drift pretty hard into power user territory. Screen-happy graphic designers out there will be happy to hear that full screen app support will now be supported on multiple displays. This includes the ability to summon the dock and use the menu bar on both displays. It also means you could be running Photoshop in fullscreen mode on your main display and keep Spotify open on your secondary display in fullscreen mode, open enough to see your playlists at least. Mission Control is also "supercharged" in OS X Mavericks, as is Apple TV which will now act as a full power display that interacts with your desktop. So you can move windows from Mission Control into Apple TV.The latest version of OS X offers a number of understated improvements that will please power users. It will also please iPhone and iPad users, because many of the upgrades are basically all borrowed from or inspired by iOS products. The update will overhauls some core pieces of Apple software, starting with the very basics. Finder, for instance, will be getting some new browsing features, including tabs and tags, which should make surfing around your Mac a bit more like surfing the Web.

OS 9 To OS X 10.8

OS X is the newest of Apple Inc.'s Mac OS line of operating systems. Although, under its original name of Mac OS X, it was officially designated as simply "version 10" of the Mac OS, "version 9" had a completely different codebase, file system, design, and hardware support. Mac OS had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984, and the family was backward compatible, so OS X supported an emulated version 9 until version 10.5.

Unlike its predecessor, OS X is a Unix-like operating system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT through the second half of the 1980s and up until Apple purchased the company in early 1997. It was first released in 1999 as Mac OS X Server 1.0, with a desktop-oriented version (Mac OS X v10.0) following in March 2001. Since then, six more distinct "client" and "server" editions of Mac OS X were released, thereafter starting with v10.7 "Lion", OS X Server is no longer offered as a separate operating system product; instead, the server management tools are available for purchase separately. The most recent version OS X v10.8 was first made available on July 25, 2012. Releases of OS X are named after big cats; the current version of OS X is nicknamed "Mountain Lion".

On September 13, 2000 Apple released a $29.95 "preview" version of Mac OS X (internally codenamed Kodiak) in order to gain feedback from users.

The "PB" as it was known marked the first public availability of the Aqua interface and Apple made many changes to the UI based on customer feedback. Mac OS X Public Beta expired and ceased to function in Spring 2001.

On March 24, 2001, Apple released Mac OS X v10.0 (internally codenamed Cheetah). The initial version was slow, incomplete, and had very few applications available at the time of its launch, mostly from independent developers. While many critics suggested that the operating system was not ready for mainstream adoption, they recognized the importance of its initial launch as a base on which to improve. Simply releasing Mac OS X was received by the Macintosh community as a great accomplishment, for attempts to completely overhaul the Mac OS had been underway since 1996, and delayed by countless setbacks. Following some bug fixes, kernel panics became much less frequent.

Later that year on September 25, 2001, Mac OS X v10.1 (internally codenamed Puma) was released. It had better performance and provided missing features, such as DVD playback. Apple released 10.1 as a free upgrade CD for 10.0 users, in addition to the US$129 boxed version for people running Mac OS 9. It was discovered that the upgrade CDs were full install CDs that could be used with Mac OS 9 systems by removing a specific file; Apple later re-released the CDs in an actual stripped-down format that did not facilitate installation on such systems. On January 7, 2002, Apple announced that Mac OS X was to be the default operating system for all Macintosh products by the end of that month.


On August 23, 2002, Apple followed up with Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar", the first release to use its code name as part of the branding. It brought great raw performance improvements, a sleeker look, and many powerful user-interface enhancements (over 150, according to Apple), including Quartz Extreme for compositing graphics directly on an ATI Radeon or Nvidia GeForce2 MX AGP-based video card with at least 16 MB of VRAM, a system-wide repository for contact information in the new Address Book, and an instant messaging client named iChat. The Happy Mac which had appeared during the Mac OS startup sequence for almost 18 years was replaced with a large grey Apple logo with the introduction of Mac OS X v10.2.

Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" was released on October 24, 2003. In addition to providing much improved performance, it also incorporated the most extensive update yet to the user interface. Panther included as many or more new features as Jaguar had the year before, including an updated Finder, incorporating a brushed-metal interface, Fast user switching, Exposé (Window manager), FileVault, Safari, iChat AV (which added videoconferencing features to iChat), improved Portable Document Format (PDF) rendering and much greater Microsoft Windows interoperability. Support for some early G3 computers such as "beige" Power Macs and "WallStreet" PowerBooks was discontinued.

Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" was released on April 29, 2005. Apple stated that Tiger contained more than 200 new features. As with Panther, certain older machines were no longer supported; Tiger requires a Mac with a built-in FireWire port. Among the new features, Tiger introduced Spotlight, Dashboard, Smart Folders, updated Mail program with Smart Mailboxes, QuickTime 7, Safari 2, Automator, VoiceOver, Core Imageand Core Video. The initial release of the Apple TV used a modified version of Tiger with a different graphical interface and fewer applications and services. On January 10, 2006, Apple released the first Intel-based Macs along with the 10.4.4 update to Tiger. This operating system functioned identically on the PowerPC-based Macs and the new Intel-based machines, with the exception of the Intel release dropping support for the Classic environment.^[19] Only PowerPC Macs can be booted from retail copies of the Tiger client DVD, but there is a Universal DVD of Tiger Server 10.4.7 (8K1079) that can boot both PowerPC and Intel Macs.

Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" was released on October 26, 2007. It was called by Apple "the largest update of Mac OS X". It brought more than 300 new features. Leopard supports both PowerPC- and Intel x86-based Macintosh computers; support for the G3 processor was dropped and the G4 processor required a minimum clock rate of 867 MHz, and at least 512 MB of RAM to be installed. The single DVD works for all supported Macs (including 64-bit machines). New features include a new look, an updated Finder, Time Machine, Spaces, Boot Camp pre-installed,^[21] full support for 64-bit applications (including graphical applications), new features in Mail and iChat, and a number of new security features. Leopard is an Open Brand UNIX 03 registered product on the Intel platform. It was also the first BSD-based OS to receive UNIX 03 certification. Leopard dropped support for the Classic Environment and all Classic applications.

It was the final version of Mac OS X to support the PowerPC architecture.

Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard" was released on August 28, 2009. Rather than delivering big changes to the appearance and end user functionality like the previous releases of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard focuses on "under the hood" changes, increasing the performance, efficiency, and stability of the operating system. For most users, the most noticeable changes are: the disk space that the operating system frees up after a clean install compared to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a more responsive Finder rewritten in Cocoa, faster Time Machine backups, more reliable and user friendly disk ejects, a more powerful version of the Preview application, as well as a faster Safari web browser.

The rewrite of Finder in Apple's native Cocoa API allows the Finder to take advantage of the new technologies introduced in Snow Leopard. An update of the web browser, Safari 4, includes a boost in JavaScript and HTML performance, which results in faster web browsing. The majority of this performance boost is enabled by the new SquirrelFish JavaScript interpreter, improving the JavaScript rendering performance of Safariby over 50%. The new Top Sites also displays the most frequently visited and/or bookmarked sites in a panorama view, allowing the user to easily access their favorite sites along with a new Cover Flow view for the user's browsing history. Safari 4 is now also more crash resistant, being able to isolate plug-ins which are the main cause of web browser crashes.

Mac OS X v10.6 also features Microsoft Exchange Server support for Mail, iCal, and Address Book, new 64-bit technology capable of supporting greater amounts of RAM, an all new QuickTime X with a refreshed user interface and more functionality that used to be only available to QuickTime Pro owners.

Back-end platform changes include improved support for multi-core processors through Grand Central Dispatch which attempts to ease the development of applications with multi-core support, and thus improve their CPU utilization. It used to be that developers needed to code their programs in such a way that their software would explicitly take advantage of the multiple cores, which could easily become a tedious and troublesome task, especially in complex software. It also includes advanced GPU performance with OpenCL (a cross platform open standard for GPGPU distinct from CUDA, Dx11 Compute Shader or STREAM) by providing support to offload work normally only destined for a CPU to the graphic card's GPU. This can be especially useful in tasks that can be heavily parallelized.

An update introduced support for the Mac App Store, Apple's digital distribution platform for OS X applications.

Snow Leopard only supports machines with Intel CPUs, requires at least 1 GB of RAM, and drops default support for applications built for thePowerPC architecture (Rosetta can be installed as an additional component to retain support for PowerPC-only applications).

Mac OS X v10.7 "Lion" was released on July 20, 2011. It brought developments made in Apple's iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications (Launchpad) and (a greater use of) multi-touch gestures, to the Mac. This release removed Rosetta, making it incapable of running PowerPC applications.

Changes made to the GUI (Graphical User Interface) include the Launchpad (similar to the home screen of iOS devices), auto-hiding scrollbars that only appear when they are being used, and Mission Control, which unifies Exposé, Spaces, Dashboard, and full-screen applications within a single interface. Apple also made changes to applications: they resume in the same state as they were before they were closed (similar to iOS). Documents auto-save by default.

OS X v10.8 "Mountain Lion" was released on July 25, 2012. It incorporates some features seen in iOS 5, which include Game Center, support for iMessage in the new Messages messaging application, and Reminders as a to-do list app separate from iCal (which is renamed as Calendar, like the iOS app). It also includes support for storing iWork documents in iCloud. Notification Center, which makes its debut in Mountain Lion, is a desktop version similar to the one in iOS 5.0 and higher. Application pop-ups are now concentrated on the corner of the screen, and the Center itself is pulled from the right side of the screen. Mountain Lion also includes more Chinese features including support forBaidu as an option for Safari search engine, QQ, 163.com and 126.com services for Mail, Contacts and Calendar, Youku, Tudou and Sina Weibo are integrated into share sheets.

Notification Center is added in the operating system. It provides an overview of alerts from applications and displays notifications until the user completes an associated action, rather than requiring instant resolution. Users may choose what applications appear in Notification Center, and how they are handled. There are three types of notifications: banners, alerts, and badges. Banners are displayed for a short amount of time in the upper right corner of the Mac's screen, and the slide off to the right. The icon of the application is displayed on the left side of the banner, while the message from it will be displayed on the right side. Alerts are the same as banners, but will not disappear from the screen until the user takes action. Badges are red notification icons that are displayed on the application's icon. They tell the number of items available for the application.

Notes, a new notes application, is added. It is now separate from Mail in its own application, with support for desktop notes added (syncs along with its iOS counterpart). Created notes are synced through all the user's Apple devices through the iCloud service. Notes can be arranged in folders, and pinned to the user's desktop. When the application is closed, the pinned note still remains.

Messages, an instant messaging software application, is added in Mountain Lion. It was announced on February 16, 2012, as part of the OS X Mountain Lion developer preview. Starting with this release, Messages replaces iChat as the default OS X instant-messaging client. A free beta version of Messages was available to download for Mac OS X Lion from the Apple website until late June 2012. The final version of Messages was included with the release version of OS X Mountain Lion.

As with its predecessor, Messages has text messaging, audio, and screen-sharing capabilities. Messages also contains native video conversation support, utilising Apple's FaceTime video calling application where possible. However, it does retain video capabilities for interfacing with other instant messaging clients. Messages supports Apple's iMessage, a free instant messaging service previously only available on devices running iOS 5. It also supports both XMPP (shown in the application under its former name, Jabber) and the AIM OSCAR. In addition, it also offers a direct connection to Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.

Mac OS 10.9

Mac OS X used to be Apple’s bread and butter when it came to software, but thanks to the success of iOS over the past seven years, the Cupertino, Calif. company has been working hard to make its desktop and laptop operating systems mirror the mobile experience and popular features from iPhone and iPad, hoping to create one cohesive Apple ecosystem.
We don't know which big cat Apple plans to name this new Mac OS X build after, but we do know that Apple's been working on it for some time now: According to 9to5Mac, Apple began developing OS X 10.9 simultaneously with last year's OS X "Mountain Lion," which similarly sought to integrate more iOS features into the Mac experience, such as the Notification Center, Notes, Reminders, Dictation, and document syncing in iCloud. The Apple news site has also been tracking Mac computers running OS X 10.9 that visit its site since last year, and all of those computers are tagged with IP addresses from California's Bay area where Apple's headquarters is located.

In mid-November, 9to5 Mac's Mark Gurman said Mac OS X 10.9 will release with two of Apple's most widely used features from iOS -- citing “reliable sources” -- including its new self-branded Maps application, as well as Siri, the company's virtual personal assistant that first debuted on the iPhone 4S in late 2011.

With Apple expected to announce the next iterations of iOS and Mac OS X at WWDC 2013 next month, users are looking forward to seeing what iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 have to offer. While we’ve heard a great deal about the redesigned “de-Forstallization” in iOS 7, many consumers still want to know what’s coming for the next version of Mac OS X. 

siri for mac

to get siri on mac you will need to be running mac 10.8.6

1. first enter the terminal command "defau1ts write com.apple.stickies personalAssistant -bool true"
2. launch stickies
3. press keys hold down Command key and press FN key twice
4. All Done

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Notification Center

In the Osx post we did not mention about Notification Center So Heres some info:

One of the (many) features OS X has incorporated from iOS in Mountain Lion is the Notification Center. If you use an iOS device, you're already familiar with how it works to an extent. You can drag it down from the top of your screen at any time to reveal any pending notifications.

The same principle applies to Notification Center on OS X 10.8, except, you don't pull down from the top of the screen. The Notification Center is hidden under the right side of your desktop. There are two methods for you to use to reveal your notifications.

• You can click on the Notification Center icon at the far right of your menu bar.
• You can two-finger swipe from the right edge of your trackpad.

With Twitter integration now throughout OS X Mountain Lion, you will also see a Click to Tweet button in Notification Center after you have added a Twitter account in System Preferences > Mail, Contacts & Calendar. Clicking on the button will allow you to compose a tweet directly from the Notification Center.

How do you feel about Notification Center making its way to OS X? Is this something you'll find useful, or an iOS feature you wish would rather stay on iOS? 

Please answer in comments.

OSX

The eighth major release of OS X, Lion, arrived only a year after its predecessor, and the same was true with Mountain Lion. The expectation was therefore that we would see a preview build of OS X 10.9 in February or March and then a shipping date of July 2013.

However, pundit John Gruber claimed iOS 7 is "running behind" and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on that project.

On that basis, it's reasonable to expect the revision of Apple's desktop OS to be previewed at WWDC during the summer and the final release to appear later in the year, perhaps making its debut alongside a revised Mac Pro.

Although Siri's not quite the revolutionary feature that was once promised, it nonetheless continues to improve. It's now finally useful outside of the USA, and once you've trained it to your voice, Siri can be used to rapidly speed up many tasks.

Whenever that final release arrives (and whatever it's called — after all, there aren't many cats left for Apple to use), we're looking forward to its new features and changes. 

OS X already has plenty of built-in accessibility clout, and a number of different playback voices, and so it seems like a no-brainer to integrate Siri into the system.