OS X El Capitan (/ɛlˌkæpɪˈtɑːn/elKAP-i-TAHN) (version 10.11) is the twelfthmajor release ofmacOS (named OS X at the time of El Capitan's release),Apple Inc.'s desktop andserver operating system forMacintosh. It focuses mainly on performance, stability, and security.[3] Following theCalifornia location-based naming scheme introduced withOS X Mavericks, El Capitan was named after the famous eponymousrock formation inYosemite National Park. El Capitan is the final version to be released under the name OS X. OS X El Capitan received far better reviews than Yosemite.
The first beta of OS X El Capitan was released to developers shortly following theWWDC keynote on June 8, 2015.[4] The first public beta was made available on July 9, 2015.[5] There were multiple betas released after the keynote. OS X El Capitan was released to end users on September 30, 2015, as a free upgrade through theMac App Store.[6]
OS X El Capitan is the final version of OS X to support aluminum Macs andXserve, as its successormacOS Sierra is incompatible with the mid-2007 and final models of these products.
All Macs supporting OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Mavericks, and OS X Yosemite support OS X El Capitan,[7] although not all of its features will work on older models.[8] For example, Apple notes that the newly availableMetal API is available on "all Macs since 2012".[9]
These computers can run El Capitan, provided they have at least 2 GB of RAM, with an exception:[10]
Of these computers, the following models were equipped with 1 GB RAM as the standard option on the base model when they were shipped originally. They can only run OS X El Capitan if they have at least 2 GB of RAM.
The upgrade varies in size depending upon which Apple Mac computer it is being installed on; in most scenarios, it will require about 6 GB of disk space.[12]
An example of thesplit screen view in OS X El Capitan
OS X El Capitan includes features to improve the security, performance, design and usability of OS X. Compared to OS X Yosemite, Apple says that openingPDFs is four times faster, app switching and viewing messages inMail is twice as fast and launching apps is 40% faster.[13][14]
The maximum amount of memory that could be allocated to the graphics processor has been increased from 1024 MB to 1536 MB on Macs with anIntel HD 4000GPU.[15]
OS X El Capitan supportsMetal, Apple's graphics API introduced iniOS 8 to speed up performance in games and professional applications.[16]
OS X El Capitan adoptsLibreSSL as a replacement forOpenSSL used in previous versions.[18]
OS X El Capitan introduces newwindow management features such as creating a full-screensplit screen limited to two app windows side by side in full screen[19] by pressing the green button on left upper corner of the window orControl+⌘ Cmd+F keyboard shortcut, then snapping any supported other window to that full screen application. This feature is slightly similar to, although less extensive than, the snap-assist feature inWindows 7 (and later) and severalLinuxdesktop environments, such asGNOME.[20] OS X El Capitan improvesMission Control to incorporate this feature across multiple spaces. It also enables users to spot the pointer more easily by enlarging it by shaking the mouse or swiping a finger back and forth on thetrackpad.[21]
OS X El Capitan addsmulti-touch gestures to applications like Mail andMessages that allow a user to delete or mark emails or conversations by swiping a finger on a multi-touch device, such as a trackpad. OS X also analyzes the contents of individual emails in Mail and uses the gathered information in other applications, such asCalendar. For example, an invitation in Mail can automatically be added as a Calendar event.
TheNotes application receives an overhaul, similar to Notes in iOS 9. Both applications have more powerfultext-processing capabilities, such asto-do lists (like in theReminders application), inline webpage previews, photos and videos, digital sketches, map locations and other documents and media types. Notes replaces traditionalIMAP-basedsyncing withiCloud, which offers betterend-to-end encryption and faster syncing.[22]
Safari in El Capitan lets users pin tabs for frequently accessed websites to the tab bar, similar toFirefox andGoogle Chrome. Users are able to quickly identify and mute tabs that play audio without having to search for individual tabs. Safari supportsAirPlay video streaming to anApple TV without the need to broadcast the entire webpage.Safari extensions are now hosted and signed by Apple as part of the updated Apple Developer program and they received native support forcontent blocking, allowing developers to block website components (such as advertisements) withoutJavaScript injection.[23] The app also allows the user to customize the font and background of the Reader mode.[24]
Spotlight is improved with more contextual information such as the weather, stocks, news and sports scores. It is also able to process queries in natural language. For example, users can type "Show me pictures that I took in Yosemite National Park in July 2014" and Spotlight will use that request to bring up the corresponding info.[25] The app can now be resized and moved across the screen.[26]
Photos introduced editing extensions, which allow Photos to use editing tools from other apps.[27]
OS X El Capitan has a new security feature calledSystem Integrity Protection (SIP,[28] sometimes referred to as "rootless"[29][30]) that protects certain systemprocesses,files andfolders from being modified or tampered with by other processes even when executed by theroot user or by a user with root privileges (sudo). Apple says that the root user can be a significantrisk factor to the system's security, especially on systems with a single user account on which that user is also the administrator. System Integrity Protection is enabled by default, but can be disabled.[31][32]
The shadow cast by the apple logo on the boot screen was removed.
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Upon release, OS X El Capitan was met with positive reception from both users and critics, with praise mostly going towards the overall functionality of the new features and improved stability. Dieter Bohn ofThe Verge awarded the operating system a score of 8.5 out of 10;[33] whileJason Snell ofMacworld was also positive, rating it 4.5 out of 5.[34] Edward Mendelson from PC Mag gave it a 4.5 out of 5. Many people criticized Apple's native apps for not having improved beyond third-party applications. In summary, OS X El Capitan had good reception with some criticisms.
After the 10.11.4 update, many users started reporting that their MacBooks were freezing, requiring ahard reboot.[35] This issue mostly affects Early 2015MacBook Pro computers, although many others have reported freezes in other models.[36] Several users created videos onYouTube which showed the freezes.[37][38][39] Soon after this, Apple released the 10.11.5 update, which contained stability improvements. Apple later acknowledged these problems, recommending their users to update to the last point release.[40]
After the December 13, 2016, release of Security Update 2016–003, users reported problems with the WindowServer process becoming unresponsive, causing the GUI to freeze and sometimes necessitating a hard reboot to fix.[41] In response, on January 17, 2017, Apple releasedSecurity Update 2016-003 Supplemental (10.11.6) to fix "a kernel issue that may cause your Mac to occasionally become unresponsive" and at the same time released an updated version of Security Update 2016-003 which includes the fix released in the supplemental.[42] Users who have not previously installed Security Update 2016-003 are advised to install the updated version to reach build 15G1217, while users who have already installed the December 13, 2016 Security Update 2016-003 only need to install the supplemental update.
^"What's New in OS X".Mac Developer Library. Apple. June 8, 2015. At section OS X v10.11.Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. RetrievedJune 18, 2015.
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