OS X Yosemite Public Beta Coming Later This Month

OS X Yosemite has been available to developers in beta form for quite some time, but a public beta is said to be arriving later this month.

OS X Yosemite was announced and unveiled at Apple’s WWDC developers conference back in early June and Apple even released an initial beta to registered developers that very day. However, the company also announced that they would release a public beta later in the summer, which would allow anyone access to the beta for those brave enough to try it.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple will release a public beta for OS X Yosemite at some point this month, but seeing as how July is quickly running out, it shouldn’t be long until we see the public beta release. However, we also wouldn’t be surprised if it received a last-minute delay.

This new version of OS X comes with some pretty sweet features, including an all-new look and feel that finally puts OS X on par with iOS 7, thanks to the translucent windows and menus, as well as a flatter design overall, with redesigned icons that mimic iOS 7 icons, but still include some depth so that there’s still a bit of that classic OS X feel.

Furthermore, OS X 10.10 Yosemite also comes improvements made to Messages, including the ability to send and receive SMS text messages (rather than just iMessages), as well as make and receive phone calls as long as your iPhone is nearby and can connect to your Mac.

OS X Yosemite also includes Handoff, which is a feature of AirDrop that finally adds cross-platform support between iOS and OS X, allowing users to send files through AirDrop to either iOS or Mac computers.

Read: OS X 10.10 Yosemite: Is Your Mac Compatible?

One of the first things that Apple touted on stage with the new OS X 10.10 Yosemite was the look of the new icons. They’ve obviously been iOS-ified and include a flatter design that we’ve seen on the iPhone and iPad, but they still have a bit of depth in order to keep the design from going completely iOS.

Windows are also a lot flatter and less bubbly than we’ve seen with past versions of OS X, and navigation menus (as well as title bars of applications) are also a been transparent, similar to different elements in iOS 7, like bringing up Control Center.

As for the Notification Center, it’s similar to what we’ve grown to love since OS X Mountain Lion, but it now comes with a Today view in Yosemite, which is a feature taken right out of iOS 7. The Notification Center squeezes in all sorts of information, like calendar, reminders, weather and more. You can also extend the Today view with third-party apps and even widgets.

As for Spotlight Search, it’s been given a complete makeover as well. If you’re familiar with the Alfred app for Mac, then you’ll love the new Spotlight Search, as it’s essentially the same concept, with a pop-up search bar that appears on your screen when you enter in a key combination. We’re not sure if this will be better than Alfred, but we’re guessing Alfred will still have the advantage here for the most part.

So why haven’t we seen a public beta already? The answer lies in the operating system’s usability. Apple wanted to wait until OS X Yosemite was less bug-filled and more polished before letting the public try it out, for obvious reason. Beta software isn’t meant for public consumption, but those wanting to try out an early version of OS X Yosemite who aren’t a registered Apple developer will be able to do that for the first time in almost a decade.