macOS El Capitan Mac

Version 10.11 of OS X, the Mac operating system

macOS is the current name of the former OS X, previously known as Mac OS X. In other words, the operating system based on Unix and developed by Apple that's installed on its range of Macintosh laptop and desktop computers.

macOS El Capitan, the replacement of Yosemite, was announced during the WWDC of June of 2015. It's version 10.11, the twelfth edition of OS X. Its name refers to El Capitan, the iconic mountain located in the Yosemite National Park in California and has to do with the range of names chosen by the Cupertino-based company after exhausting all the options of large felines. Now they've turned to singular places in California such as Mavericks, Yosemite or Sierra, which is the name given to the new version 10.12 of the operating system.

What's new in OS X El Capitan?

Every new version of Apple's operating system comes along with changes and modifications regarding the previous edition, so these are the most important new features introduced this time around:

• Design: there aren't too many design changes regarding Yosemite except for a few typography modifications, switching from Helvetica to San Francisco.
• Split View: already present in Microsoft's Windows 7, it allows us to run two applications simultaneously on a full screen. It now arrives on Mac to allow us to resize the lines that separate both apps.
• Spotlight search: improvements that expand the results and add the possibility to find information about YouTube videos, the weather or sports scores, using a much more natural language. And now we can move and resize the window.
• Metal technology: that makes the GPU work at a higher speed achieving a greater performance with a faster and more efficient rendering process.
• Improvements to applications: some of the programs pre-installed on the operating system have also undergone changes and improvements in this version. The email and Safari come along with usability improvements, Maps offers more information about public transport and Notes allows you to associate documents to each note you create.

Requirements of El Capitan

What are the requirements to install the latest macOS version? That's one of the most usual questions among Mac users when any new update comes out. Well, according to Apple this is all you need on your computer to run macOS 10.11, starting off with 2 GB of RAM and 8.8 GB of free storage space on the hard drive:

• iMac from 2007 or later.
• MacBook from the end of 2008.
• MacBook Pro from mid-2007.
• MacBook Air from the end 2008.
• Mac mini from the beginning of 2009.
• Mac Pro from the beginning of 2008.
• Xserve from 2009.

Furthermore, the following are the operating systems from which you can carry out this update:

• OS X Yosemite 10.10.
• OS X Mavericks 10.9.
• OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.
• OS X Lion 10.7.
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

How to download OS X El Capitan?

The truth is that you should be able to download it from the Mac App Store but if you try, you'll be redirected to Sierra, the next version on. Therefore, you can't download it anymore but that's quite usual with Apple that wants you to always have the latest version of their operating system due to performance and security reasons. And if your current computer can't put up with the requirements, just go along and spend some more money on a new one.