Apple has released the eighth build of OS X Yosemite to its developer and testing communities. This build is also the third release of Yosemite to Apple’s Public Beta testing program, and given the impending release of iOS 8 on the 17th, suggests this build may be the final release that will end up going public.
While Apple could release Yosemite at any point, one of its main offerings is how it will integrate with iOS 8, bringing features like Handoff and the ability to make calls and send and receive SMS messages on your Mac. With these in mind, and given that iOS 8 is slated for release in two days, OS X 10.10 Yosemite should not be far behind.
For those who are eager to upgrade, OS X Yosemite will have a new interface style that mimics the more flat look introduced with iOS 7, and will come with a number of augmentations to Notification Center, Spotlight, sharing services, and many of the apps that Apple includes with OS X.
If you are not already using the Yosemite beta, and are excited about upgrading, then be sure to read this article on how to prepare your Mac for the upgrade.
OS X Yosemite will be released as a free upgrade in the Mac App Store, and should run on all systems that can currently run OS X Mavericks. If you would like to double-check your Mac’s compatibility with OS X Yosemite, then you can do so by looking up its part number and board ids by following the instructions you can find here.
Tried to install beta 3. Went to software update. Clicked on install beta 3. It seemed to download fine. It then restarted. Message says installing software update. Got to about 18 minutes and did not proceed from there for over an hour. Happens every time. Any suggestions?
Well, if your Yosemite partition will still boot, the install attempt apparently did no damage. Run Disk Utility, verify the disk and repair permissions. Then try the update again.
I’ve been installing the Yosemite updates right along. The Public beta 3 update installed just fine. I wish, though, that Apple provided more information about the changes from one release to the next. There’s really no easy way to know if issues you’ve reported have been addressed.
> given the impending release of iOS 8 on the 17th, suggests this build may be the final release that will end up going public.
Based solely on what I have read so far from the Public Beta users that aren’t supposed to be talking but are, Apple still has a way to go. If I had to guess based on those comments and previous releases of related new iOS and OS X versions I’d say probably another month before GM.
This very well may be the case. My only expectation here is the interoperability of it and iOS 8 (which has a release date), that Yosemite might not be far behind. Word is that this latest update still says “Yosemite Beta” in places, so perhaps another update is in the works. Either way, we are closing in on the end and it should be out soon.