What’s New in El Capitan
You know how Apple redesigns the iPhone in every even-numbered year—and then comes out with a slightly tweaked “s” version in odd-numbered years? (iPhone 4s, 5s, 6s…)?
Well, it does the same thing with the Mac’s operating system. In 2014, Apple released a major redesign called OS X Yosemite. In 2015, it’s a slightly tweaked version called El Capitan. Maybe a better name would have been “Yosemite S.”
Why is it called El Capitan? Because El Capitan is a rock formation within Yosemite National Park. That naming scheme matches up with past annual successions of OS X versions: “Lion” and then “Mountain Lion,” “Leopard” and then “Snow Leopard,” and so on.
El Capitan doesn’t look any different from Yosemite; instead, it’s a representation of all the little nips and tucks that Apple engineers wished they’d had time to put into the last version.
The big-ticket item, Apple says, is speed. Programs open up to 1.4 times as fast, which is especially noticeable in Photos, Apple’s recently introduced iPhoto replacement. Switching programs is twice as fast. Opening a PDF document is four times as fast. Animations—for example, when you switch between virtual monitors in Full Screen mode—feel smoother and faster. Thanks to huge improvements in Metal, Apple’s developer toolkit for 3D graphics, games and graphics apps can enjoy great acceleration (if updated accordingly).
There is no circumstance, Apple says, when your Mac will feel slower after installing El Capitan. (That’s a ...