OS X 10.10 Yosemite official release review - Big cats have gone but does Apple still roar?

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OS X 10.10 Yosemite has been officially released on October 16. 

If you have followed my previous posts, you might know I have already tested the Beta release in the previous month.

I'm eager to test the official release and to check whether some evaluations I had expressed in my previous posts are still valid or I need reviewing them.

 


First impressions

The look of the new operating system didn't change much from the beta release and it's the part of the upgrade I personally like the least. It's a hybrid interface between iOS and OS X that personally doesn't satisfy me. Like I've stated previously, I've read hyped comments about this new look but I don't feel like sharing their enthusiasm. The official release has confirmed the dark optional look for Menu bar and Dock.

New features

Spotlight is now faster and improved. It displays results both from your local computer and from the web. While displaying the search results, Spotlight shows a preview of the file as well.

Safari is faster and now its window can be maximized in full screen by clicking the Maximize button.

This feature is implemented for Finder windows as well.

The new Safari version has not addressed yet in the official release a security flaw I have uncovered in the Beta releases. In fact, Safari, as a default, doesn't display any longer the full URL of the page you're viewing, unless you left-click it or you tweak the browser Preferences, and this exposes the average user to potential phishing scams.

Like I explained in my previous post CSI EFFECT- How to spot a phishing website with a click, phishing websites may sometimes look a lot alike their genuine counterparts to trick the users into entering their credentials.

For this reason, I warmly recommend to change this setting by opening Preferences/Advanced and selecting show full website address.

Apple improved the Notification Center (the uppermost right icon on your screen), which now displays today's date, your calendar and other widgets. This can come in handy for who normally utilizes the dashboard.

Now you can use Messages and FaceTime to make phone calls and send IM messages directly from your computer. This is a new functionality, called Handoff, responding to a new concept that Apple defines as Continuity. Continuity should allow users to utilize any device at any time and to accomplish any task with either of them. The implications of Handoff are very positive for users, who could for example start working on a document and at the same time make a call with their iPhone without having to close Word or save their work.

An interesting feature is to possibility to handle your iCloud files from a Finder folder called iCloud Drive. Users can share their files between their devices just like other familiar solutions, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, do.

Wrap up

Once more Apple has realized a user-friendly and reliable operating system but several features don't convince me and some issues I noticed in the Beta releases haven't been totally addressed. I'm not big on the new interface and Safari, though being quicker and slimmer, presents a vulnerability that hasn't been solved yet. After what happened with iCloud vulnerabilities and the consequential celebrities nude photos leaked through the Internet, I would have expected a way stricter security implementation from Cupertino.

The new Apple OS is stable and reliable but the boot time is unsatisfactory. However, I reserve to update this consideration when I can test Yosemite with an SSD.

Should you upgrade?

The overall judgment remains positive but I will personally hold off on upgrading immediately because it'll take a while for developers to support the new OS.

The main problem users face when updating is to keep their customized settings and their applications. So far I have upgraded for four times and every time I've been up with the problem of having to upgrade the applications I had or to re-install them anew.

If you realized customized Automator scripts or have personalized settings,  an upgrade can be a major problem and you may find yourself in a dilemma.

For OS X especially, upgrades are definitely recommended, even because malware for Mac is starting kicking in. I was personally forced to reformat my iMac because of the iWorm malware.

A temporary and safer solution can be to install Yosemite on a secondary partition or in a virtual machine.

That's one of the reasons for having a copy of most of your data online and/or on a clone drive to quickly re-image your machine in case of troubles.

If you don't have any of these concerns and you utilize only basic applications, I would definitely recommend you to upgrade right away, after performing a complete backup and/or cloning your hard drive with any software of your liking (Disk Utility, Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper!).