maxOSX El Capitan 10.11

OS X El Capitan 10.11: Refinement and Performance

Released on September 30, 2015, OS X 10.11—codenamed El Capitan—followed the tradition of Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion. It took the bold visual redesign of Yosemite and focused entirely on perfecting the user experience and boosting system performance.

For the users of Chasms.com, El Capitan represents the era where the "flat" Mac interface became truly snappy and mature.

Metal: Faster Graphics

The biggest change in El Capitan was under the hood with the introduction of Metal.

• System Efficiency: Metal allowed the OS to communicate directly with the graphics processor, resulting in system-level graphics rendering that was up to 40% more efficient.

• Pro Performance: This technology made everyday tasks like opening PDFs or launching apps feel significantly faster, while giving pro apps a massive performance boost.

Split View Multitasking

Taking a page from the iPad and Windows 7, El Capitan introduced Split View.

• Side-by-Side: By clicking and holding the green "zoom" button on a window, you could snap two apps side-by-side to fill the screen perfectly without the distraction of other windows.

• Focus: This made it much easier to write a report while referencing a website or chat with a team while monitoring a simulator.

Smarter Mission Control and Notes

• Mission Control: The interface was streamlined to make it easier to see all your open windows at a glance without them overlapping or being hidden.

• The New Notes App: Notes was transformed from a simple text pad into a rich media tool. You could now add checklists, photos, map locations, and even hand-drawn sketches.

• Shake to Find Cursor: A small but favorite feature: if you lost your mouse cursor on a large screen, you could simply "shake" it to make the pointer grow larger for a second.

Safari and Spotlight Upgrades

• Pinned Sites: You could now "pin" your favorite websites to the left side of the tab bar, keeping them active and easily accessible.

• Mute Tabs: Safari finally added a speaker icon to the address bar, allowing you to instantly find and silence any tab playing audio.

• Natural Language Spotlight: You could now search using phrases like "emails I sent in July" or "weather in Windsor," making it feel more like a personal assistant.