Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) first product announcements are starting to roll in. First on the list: Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. In connection with updates to the operating system, the company also showed off iCloud Drive for OS X, including a feature that takes aim at the popular cloud storage company Dropbox.
OS X Yosemite gets big redesign
This year is the first time OS X has received a complete redesign. It comes a year after iOS 7, which was a complete redesign of iOS. Yosemite now features buttons which are flat, sharper corners, and fewer of the skeumorphic design elements that were largely eliminated in iOS 7 last year. The side bar and other navigation features can switch from dark to translucent. Calendar also has a new look.
One of the biggest changes to OS X 10.10 is the new Control Center, which slides out from the left side of the screen. Users can easily access system preference controls, switch over to airplane mode and more. Search plays a major role in this new version of OS X. The notification center also sports some new widgets.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also updated Mail with its feature Mail Drop, which takes care of problems involving big attachments to messages. Mail also now has something called Markup, which allows users to draw notes right on email attachments.
Apple shows off iCloud Drive for OS X Yosemite
Along with OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also showed off changes to iCloud Drive. It is now easier for iCloud to synch, and there’s support for iOS as well. Apple even supports synching with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows, interestingly enough. The iCloud Drive updates make the feature even more like Dropbox and also Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Drive. Users can organize their files, and each of the Apple apps, like Pages, Numbers and Keynote, has their own folder within iCloud Drive.
AirDrop now works to move things from the Mac to iOS, enabling users to begin writing messages on one device and then switch to a different one to complete them. Mac users can even receive calls from their iPhone on their Mac, using it as a speaker phone.
