On Tuesday in San Francisco, Apple announced that one of its most anticipated new products, the latest version of OS X, will be available as a free download for old and new computers alike going back to 2007.
OS X Mavericks, the first operating system for Mac computers not named after a big cat, can be downloaded for free starting on Tuesday.
"With a single step update, you can run Mavericks," Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi said on stage. He claimed that with Mavericks installed, a computer should get up to an hour longer battery life on a single charge.
The move may seem strange for a company with gadget price points hundreds of dollars higher than competition, but the price of major OS X upgrades has been falling for years. OS X Mountain Lion in 2012 was $19.99. In 2010, OS X Lion was priced at $29.99.
The new OS for Apple's laptop and desktop computers introduces new finder tabs that make desktop search more streamlined. Instead of just existing in folders, computer files can be tagged by category, making them much easier to find and organize later on.
Apple promises that the OS X upgrade will make old computers run faster and more efficiently. A feature called App Nap focuses the computer's power toward applications currently in use, extending the battery life of Apple laptops.
The Contacts, Calendar and Notes apps get a sleek makeover in Mavericks that puts them more in line with how they appear in iOS on iPhones and iPad. Also for the first time, an OS X computer with multiple displays will let you look at two fullscreen apps at once.
More Apple coverage from HuffPost Tech:
Related
Before You Go
