OS X El Capitan Reviews: 'Solid as a Rock' and a Worthy Update Thanks to Performance Improvements

[MacRumors]

Following the release of the golden master version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers earlier in the month, the first reviews for the newest iteration on Apple's desktop operating system have begun to hit this morning, ahead of the wide public release tomorrow, September 30. After testing El Capitan for a few weeks, most sites agree that while OS X 10.11 isn't a massive overhaul, its performance enhancements and speed boosts make upgrading to the free new OS essentially a no-brainer.

Macworld calls El Capitan "solid as a rock," noting improvements to features like Mission Control and the introduction of Split View as big positives. Overall, Macworld views the upgrade as "routine", a welcome refresh amid Apple's continued push towards performance and security improvements.

Should you update to El Capitan? Unreservedly yes--I've found it to be stable, it's free, it'll download and install itself on your Mac with nearly no intervention, and it'll bring with it improved security, speed, and functionality.

The days of dramatic operating-system updates are over. El Capitan is as solid as the giant granite monolith that towers over Yosemite Valley. Upgrade, and get an improved Mac. It's really that simple.

Engadget gives El Capitan an 87/100 score, calling it a "modest update" after Yosemite last year, but with solid new introductions like multitasking and noticeable improvements to Spotlight, Safari, and Photos. In particular, the site points out the exciting possibilities that will come from the addition of third-party extensions for Photos, allowing users to take advantage of the editing tools of other photo apps within Apple's own Photos experience.

While Apple promised third-party extensions when it first unveiled the new Photos app earlier this year, extensions won't actually be available to download until tomorrow. Extensions can be downloaded from the Mac App Store, either bundled with an app or distributed on their own. Although some developers, like the folks behind Pixelmator, have gotten a head start, most developers are only just getting the chance to access these tools for the first time. So, we should be seeing more extensions hit the App Store as the season wears on. Personally, as an Engadget editor posting lots of hands-on photos, I'd really like to see one for batch-watermarking.

The Verge commented on the small but noticeable improvements brought by El Capitan, such as the ability to pin tabs in Safari and even mute them from the address bar, which the site says should cause Google Chrome users to give Apple's browser another look. Overall, The Verge views OS X 10.11 as Apple's evolutionary in-house solution for a handful of problems and shortcomings third-party software has addressed over the years, making the update feel both minor and substantial at the same time.

El Capitan takes the sorts of things that experts have been doing with third-party apps and utilities for years on the Mac and builds them right into the OS. Spotlight is becoming more than just a simple file search box. Window management is becoming easier. Notes is more than just a raw text box. Most of it left me nonplussed because all of these things didn't feel new and different to me -- I've been finding ways to fix all of those problems for years with third party apps and add-ons. But with El Capitan, Apple's made the learning curve you usually have to climb to become a "power user" (whatever that is) much more gradual.

Everyone will be able to get in on experiencing El Capitan for themselves starting tomorrow, when the new version of OS X launches for the public. Before the update goes live, a handful of other sites have posted reviews for El Capitan, including: The Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, CNET, and SlashGear. For a more technical overview of OS X El Capitan, Ars Technica also has an excellent review.

Article Link: OS X El Capitan Reviews: 'Solid as a Rock' and a Worthy Update Thanks to Performance Improvements

 

[bpeeps]

Muting tabs in Safari is the biggest reason I want to upgrade. So due. The amount of times I've opened up a new tab with some autoplay music/video and you have to spend eternity searching for it to mute.

 

[coldsweat]

They obviously haven't tried running FCPX on it then

Hoping for an update asap!

 

[pubwvj]

"sites agree that while OS X 10.11 isn't a massive overhaul, its performance enhancements and speed boosts make upgrading to the free new OS essentially a no-brainer."

That's what I want. Solid. Simple. Nothing Fancy. Not breaking my existing apps and work flow.

 

[zaquinho17]

Anyone still having issues with Handoff?? I'm using the GM version with the public release 9.1 on my iPhone 6s+, not getting any handoff

 

[William Gates]

I've been running the GM and Spotlight indexing has not been near as good since I first came to Mac 5 years ago.

 

[tLustej.miCin]

I just hope that it will affect not only a weekend casual applications and usage of Mac platform - facebooking, typing, listening to iTunes BUT it will positively affect the usage of Adobe applications.

Especially better drivers for Intel Iris Pro.

 

[RepentHarlequin]

They obviously haven't tried running FCPX on it then
Hoping for an update asap!

Good question: What applications are broken by this update?
I see very little activity on Roaring Apps.

Time Machine backups today!

 

[macduke]

I hope this ends up being a Snow Leopard type release. Yosemite has been good to me and this sounds even better. Completely forgot it was releasing tomorrow though, haha. As per usual I'll hold back a month or two on my work machine and install it right away on my personal machine.

 

[OllyW]

I'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks before upgrading my main Mac because they have discovered an issue with my MIDI keyboard which is causing problems and will need a firmware update to fix it.

I can still go ahead on my MBP though so I won't be totally missing out.

 

[navaira]

Those Photos extensions better support editing in Photoshop.

 

[nazaar]

I'll believe it when I download and try on my own.

Mac OS / iOS is becoming bloated (IMO).

 

[RepentHarlequin]

Before the update goes live, a handful of other sites have posted reviews for El Capitan, including: The Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, CNET, Ars Technica, and SlashGear.

"Browsing & Searching” review at WSJ - just what I really need.

 

[jmh600cbr]

The only apps that are broken are apps that are wrapped versions of web pages. Like chatty or chit chat

 

[George Dawes]

Hopefully it's the new Snow Leopard

 

[thestickman]

Maybe I won't have to wait till .3 release to install this on my studio computer this time around.

 

[johnnyenv]

Well its been in Beta for months now and Office 2011 sure needs looking at!

 

[jayducharme]

Personally, as an Engadget editor posting lots of hands-on photos, I'd really like to see one for batch-watermarking.

This. I created a work-around with Automator, but it's not ideal.

 

[ostrykolesz]

Anyone still having issues with Handoff?? I'm using the GM version with the public release 9.1 on my iPhone 6s+, not getting any handoff

Oh man, I remember reinstalling on OS X and losing continuity - frustrating as hell. The problem ended up being something on my iPhone not enabled. While hunting for a solution I realised that it could be one of the many many Continuity/Hand-off options on the phone or Mac that is causing the problem. After a few days of tinkering, formatting, resetting I ended up enabling one option on my iPhone to get it working. On the Mac you really just have to log in to iCloud to get things working (mind you there is a lot that can go wrong on the Mac), but on the iPhone there are a few sub-menus in the Settings app that could be causing you the problem. I don't remember the solution now, but Google is your friend.

PS-Continuity will keep me with Apple no matter what the competition has, I love talking on my Mac and responding to SMS on it...

 

[eclipse525]

the free new OS essentially a no-brainer...
Article Link: OS X El Capitan Reviews: 'Solid as a Rock' and a Worthy Update Thanks to Performance Improvements

Any idea's how it holds up in a corporate network running Exchange Server 2010?

 

[Jungo]

I'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks before upgrading my main Mac because they have discovered an issue with my MIDI keyboard which is causing problems and will need a firmware update to fix it.

I can still go ahead on my MBP though so I won't be totally missing out.

What midi keyboard do you have ?

 

[Costino1]

Been using the latest public beta on my Macbook Retina and 0 issues.

Of course, I don't deem myself to be a 'power user.' I use MS Office applications, OS applications, and web browsing. So far so good.

Battery life and performance is on par with Yosemite. I don't see any problems or hindrances.

 

[ooo]

Clearly no one has been testing this with external speakers.

 

[darkknight14]

By the image in this post, it looks like theres another new iTunes logo? Ewwwww..

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Solid upgrade. I'll take speed and security over flashy new features.

It's nice to see Apple continue to add many features that were previously available only through other developers. The sad part is that it kills many of these small developers. As someone that has had Apple build in functionality we use to provide, it can mean thousands in lost revenue each month if Apple takes a liking to your product.