OS X El Capitan

OS X 10.11 El Capitan
A version of the OS X operating system

OS X El Capitan desktop
Developer Apple Inc.
Source model Closed source (with open source components)
Released to
manufacturing		 September 30, 2015 (2015-09-30)
Latest release 10.11.4 (15E65) (March 21, 2016 (2016-03-21)) [±]
Latest preview 10.11.5 Beta 4 (15F31a) (May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03)) [±]
Update method Mac App Store
Platforms x86-64
Kernel type Hybrid (XNU)
License APSL and Apple EULA
Preceded by OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Official website www.apple.com/osx/
Support status
Supported

OS X El Capitan (el-KAP-ɪ-TAN) (version 10.11) is the twelfth major release of OS X, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to OS X Yosemite and focuses mainly on performance, stability and security.[1] Following the California landmark-based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks, El Capitan was named after a rock formation in Yosemite National Park.

The first beta of OS X El Capitan was released to developers shortly following the 2015 WWDC keynote on June 8, 2015.[2] The first public beta was made available on July 9, 2015.[3] There were multiple betas released after the keynote. OS X El Capitan was released to end users on September 30, 2015, as a free upgrade through the Mac App Store.[4]

System requirements

All Macintosh computers that can run OS X Mavericks or Yosemite can run El Capitan, although not all of its features will work on older computers.[5] For example, Apple notes that the newly available Metal API is available on "all Macs since 2012".[6]

These computers can run El Capitan, provided they have at least 2GB of RAM:[7]

Of these computers, the following five models were equipped with 1GB RAM as the standard option on the base model when they were shipped originally. They can only run OS X El Capitan if they have at least 2GB of RAM.

The following computers support features such as Handoff, Instant Hotspot, AirDrop between Mac computers and iOS devices, as well as the new Metal API:[9]

The upgrade varies in size depending upon which Apple Mac computer it is being installed on, in most scenarios it will require about 6 GB of disk space.[10]

Features

OS X El Capitan includes features to improve the security, performance, design and usability of OS X. Compared to OS X Yosemite, Apple says that opening PDFs is four times faster, app switching and viewing messages in Mail is twice as fast and launching apps is 40% faster.[11][12] The maximum amount of memory that could be allocated to the graphics processor has been increased from 1024 MB to 1536 MB on Macs with an Intel HD 4000 GPU.[13] OS X El Capitan supports Metal, Apple's graphics API introduced in iOS 8 to speed up performance in games and professional applications.[14] Apple's typeface San Francisco replaces Helvetica Neue as the system typeface.[15] OS X El Capitan also adopts LibreSSL in replacement of OpenSSL used in previous versions.[16]

Window management

An example of the split screen view in OS X El Capitan.

OS X El Capitan introduces support for snapping two windows side by side to create a split view, similar to the snap-assist feature in Windows 7 (and later) and several Linux desktop environments, such as GNOME.[17] OS X El Capitan improves Mission Control to incorporate this feature across multiple spaces. It also enables users to spot the pointer more easily by enlarging it by shaking the mouse or swiping a finger back and forth on the trackpad.[18]

Applications

OS X El Capitan adds multi-touch gestures to applications like Mail and Messages that allow a user to delete or mark emails or conversations by swiping a finger on a multi-touch device, such as a trackpad. OS X also analyzes the contents of individual emails in Mail and uses the gathered information in other applications, such as Calendar. For example, an invitation in Mail can automatically be added as a Calendar event.

Apple Maps in El Capitan shows public transit information similar to Maps in iOS 9.[11] This feature was limited to a handful of cities upon launch: Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Shanghai, Toronto and Washington D.C.

The Notes application receives an overhaul, similar to Notes in iOS 9. Both applications have more powerful text-processing capabilities, such as to-do lists (like in the Reminders application), inline webpage previews, photos and videos, digital sketches, map locations and other documents and media types. Notes replaces traditional IMAP-based syncing with iCloud, which offers better end-to-end encryption and faster syncing.[19]

Safari in El Capitan lets users pin tabs for frequently accessed websites to the tab bar, similar to Firefox and Google Chrome. Users are able to quickly identify and mute tabs that play audio without having to search for individual tabs. Safari supports AirPlay video streaming to an Apple TV without the need to broadcast the entire webpage. Safari extensions are now hosted and signed by Apple as part of the updated Apple Developer program and they received native support for content blocking, allowing developers to block website components (such as advertisements) without JavaScript injection.[20]

Spotlight is improved with more contextual information such as the weather, stocks, news and sports scores. It is also able to process queries in natural language. For example, users can type "Show me pictures that I took in Yosemite National Park in July 2014" and Spotlight will use that request to bring up the corresponding info.[21]

System Integrity Protection

OS X El Capitan has a new security feature called System Integrity Protection (SIP,[22] sometimes referred to as "rootless"[23][24]) that protects certain system processes, files and folders from being modified or tampered with by other processes even when executed by the root user or by a user with root privileges (sudo). Apple says that the root user can be a significant risk factor to the system's security, especially on systems with a single user account on which that user is also the administrator. System Integrity Protection is enabled by default, but can be disabled.[25][26]

Releases

Previous release Current release Beta
Version Build Date OS name Notes Standalone download
10.11 15A284 September 30, 2015 Darwin 15.0.0 Original Mac App Store release N/A
10.11.1 15B42 October 21, 2015 About the OS X El Capitan v10.11.1 Update OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 Update
10.11.2 15C50 December 8, 2015 Darwin 15.2.0 About the OS X El Capitan v10.11.2 Update
10.11.3 15D21 January 19, 2016 Darwin 15.3.0 About the OS X El Capitan v10.11.3 Update
10.11.4 15E65 March 21, 2016 Darwin 15.4.0 About the OS X El Capitan v10.11.4 Update
10.11.5 Beta 4 15F31a May 3, 2016 Darwin 15.5.0 General performance and stability improvements. N/A

Reception

Upon release, OS X El Capitan was met with mostly positive reviews from both users and critics, with praise mostly going towards the overall functionality of the new features and improved stability. Dieter Bohn of The Verge awarded the operating system a score of 8.5 out of 10;[27] while Jason Snell of Macworld was also positive, rating it 4.5 out of 5.[28]

References

  1. ↑ Bonnie Cha. "Apple Announces OS X El Capitan, With Focus on Performance, Experience". Re/code.
  2. ↑ "Apple refines its computer software further with Mac OS X 'El Capitan'". Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Andrew Cunningham (July 9, 2015). "The OS X El Capitan public beta arrives: Where to get it and how to install it". Ars Technica.
  4. ↑ Benjamin Mayo (September 30, 2015). "Apple releases OS X El Capitan, featuring full-screen Split View, new Notes, revamped Spotlight Search, Safari 9 and more". 9to5Mac.
  5. 1 2 Cunningham, Andrew (June 8, 2015). "If your Mac or iThing runs Yosemite or iOS 8, it can run El Capitan and iOS 9". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ Dhiraj, Rav (June 2015). "What’s New in Metal, Part 1" (pdf). Apple Developer. Apple. p. 84. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  7. ↑ "OS X v10.11 Release Notes". Mac Developer Library. Apple. June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  8. ↑ The Mid 2007 iMac is the first iMac to support eight major OS X versions: 10.4-10.11.
  9. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew; Hutchinson, Lee (September 30, 2015). "OS X 10.11 El Capitan: The Ars Technica Review | Ars Technica". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Williams, Rhiannon (30 September 2015). "How to download OS X El Capitan". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Apple - Press Info - Apple Announces OS X El Capitan with Refined Experience & Improved Performance" (Press release). Apple Inc.
  12. ↑ "Apple — OS X El Capitan". Apple. Apple. June 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU搭載のMacをOS X 10.11 El CapitanにアップデートするとVRAMの割り当て分が増加。 [Increase in VRAM allocation for Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU in Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan] (in Japanese). Appleちゃんねる. October 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ "OS X El Capitan puts the pedal to the Metal". techreport.com.
  15. ↑ Stinson, Liz (June 9, 2015). "Why Apple Abandoned the World’s Most Beloved Typeface". Wired. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  16. ↑ "Apple iOS 9: Security & Privacy Features". Medium. Retrieved 24 October 2015. OS X 10.11 ships with LibreSSL.
  17. ↑ "Apple Announces OS X El Capitan With Split View, Contextual Spotlight, Updated Apps and More, Launches in Fall". macrumors.com.
  18. ↑ "A tiny update to the cursor in Apple's latest Mac OS solves an annoying problem every computer user can relate to". businessinsider.com.
  19. ↑ "iOS 9 & OS X 10.11 to bring ‘quality’ focus, smaller apps, Rootless security, legacy iPhone/iPad support" (Press release). 9to5mac.com.
  20. ↑ Weinstein, Brian; Christensen, Alex (June 2015). "Safari Extensibility: Content Blocking and Shared Links" (PDF). Apple Developer. Apple. pp. 6–68. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Apple announces revamped Spotlight search in OS X El Capitan". 9to5Mac.
  22. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew; Hutchinson, Lee (September 29, 2015). "OS X 10.11 El Capitan: The Ars Technica Review". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  23. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (June 17, 2015). "First look: OS X El Capitan brings a little Snow Leopard to Yosemite". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  24. ↑ Slivka, Eric (June 12, 2015). "OS X El Capitan Opens Door to TRIM Support on Third-Party SSDs for Improved Performance". MacRumors. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  25. ↑ Martel, Pierre-Olivier (June 2015). "Security and Your Apps" (PDF). Apple Developer. Apple. pp. 8–54. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  26. ↑ "What's New in OS X". Mac Developer Library. Apple. June 8, 2015. At section OS X v10.11. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  27. ↑ Bohn, Dieter (September 29, 2015). "OS X El Capitan review: Everyone's an expert". The Verge. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  28. ↑ Snell, Jason (September 29, 2015). "OS X El Capitan review: Mac upgrade that's as solid as a rock". Macworld. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

External links

Preceded by
OS X 10.10		 OS X 10.11
2015 		Incumbent
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