You may have heard. You may have not. But Apple are ending their “OS X” (or OS 10) brand and replacing it with macOS… X.
Officially; “OS X” is “Mac OS X”. I’m not sure what removing the space and making the first M lowercase changes, but it’s supposed to be exciting!
macOS X Sierra, the successor to OS X El Capitan is set for release in Autumn this year. But what’s so unique about this release?
Siri!
(Yes. That annoying thing that talks to you, when accidentally launched by holding down the home button for too long on your iPhone/iPad.)
Siri is coming to Macintosh! To be completely honest towards Apple Computers Inc. – it’s playing catch up with Microsoft’s Cortana service, but on the contrary; Windows Vista was Microsoft playing catch up with Apple on Graphical Appeal, so the battlefield has finally been levelled after 10 years!
What’s good about Siri coming to Mac?… Well… Supposing you like the idea of your computer answering back at you, it’s a win, win.
Otherwise, it’s a feature that integrates fully with your Mac Computer, making the searching of documents, pictures, apps, etc much more streamlined than the traditional “Spotlight Search”. It can also be used for adding entries into iCal, perfect if you use your Mac to keep yourself organised.
Photos!
The Photos app has been improved… Apparently. I personally can’t see the difference in the public beta. Apple are raving about the changes on their website, but they all seem to be “under water” changes that your average End User will not detect.
Apple Pay!
Apple Pay can now be setup on your Mac Computer. Because throwing a Laptop over the counter is completely acceptable in today’s society!
And that’s it. Or at least all I can tell that’s different with the new macOS Sierra.
More info can be found on Apples Website.
When is it due for release?
20th September 2016. All eligible Mac products will be able to upgrade FREE via the App Store. All new Macintosh products brought after that date will be pre-installed with Sierra.
Is it worth it?
Good Question!
Yes, as you will be on the latest system with the latest security updates.
No, because all you get is Siri!
Personally; I’m waiting a while so Apple can work out the guaranteed teething issues with this update (just look at iOS 10… 1 hour it had been released and people were complaining!). Maybe after the first major patch I will go for it.
Overall
Apple have added a new feature – Siri. That’s one additional feature added to macOS Sierra than what was added to El Capitan, let alone Yosemite before it! It may prove beneficial, it may not. Do Windows users really use Cortana?
