OMG! Are they finally getting rid of "click to focus" in El Capitan?

[YemSalat]

It has always bugged me that in order to interact with a window in OS X - I have to click on it first to bring it to focus.

I just installed El Capitan on my mac (was on Mavericks before that), and I noticed that if I open Pages and some other program (say, "Chrome") - if I focus on the Chrome's window and have the Pages window behind it - I can start interacting with the Pages window without having to click on it to bring it to focus first! (for example start selecting text)

Unfortunately it only seems to be working in Pages . And I also can't check if it was working before on Mavericks (if someone has a Mavericks machine available - can you please check this and let me know if it works there)

Could it be that Apple is planning to bring this feature across the entire OS?
Does anybody have more info on this by any chance?

Thanks!

 

[Shirasaki]

Windows 10 seems able to do the same thing: Interact with other Windows even they are not in focus.

 

[simonsi]

You have been able to scroll a non-active window for some time for instance, at least in Yosemite, not sure about earlier

 

[YemSalat]

Windows 10 seems able to do the same thing: Interact with other Windows even they are not in focus.

I am not asking about MS Windows operating system, I am talking about windows in OS X UI on a mac (like finder/other programs windows).

You have been able to scroll a non-active window for some time for instance, at least in Yosemite, not sure about earlier

Yes, scrolling has been there forever, but not direct interaction like clicking buttons or selecting text.

 

[Ritsuka]

Clicking buttons has been there since 10.0 in 2001 for Cocoa apps. I see no notable changes in 10.11.
A little tip: you can click a button on a background window and not bring it to focus if you have the command key pressed.

 

[simonsi]

Yes, scrolling has been there forever, but not direct interaction like clicking buttons or selecting text.

Ah ok.

 

[YemSalat]

Clicking buttons has been there since 10.0 in 2001 for Cocoa apps. I see no notable changes in 10.11.
A little tip: you can click a button on a background window and not bring it to focus if you have the command key pressed.

Thanks for the tip, this is awesome! Works for selecting text as well. Unfortunately does not bring the window forward, but that can actually be a 'plus' sometimes.
Is there any easy way to tell if an app is made in Cocoa?

 

[leman]

Works for selecting text as well.

Is there also a way to copy that text? So far I didn't find any.

 

[Jess13]

You have been able to scroll a non-active window for some time for instance, at least in Yosemite, not sure about earlier

It's been such a helpful feature. The Pages trick OP mentioned doesn't work for me, but in Spotlight, for TextEdit but not Pages, you're able to highlight and copy text without having to open the document.

 

[redheeler]

Unfortunately it only seems to be working in Pages . And I also can't check if it was working before on Mavericks (if someone has a Mavericks machine available - can you please check this and let me know if it works there)

Yes, works in Mavericks/Pages 5.2 as well.

You have been able to scroll a non-active window for some time for instance, at least in Yosemite, not sure about earlier

This behavior has been present since Leopard, and to some extent in earlier versions as well.