Apple OS X 10.11 El Capitan now available, here’s what’s new!

Apple has released OS X 10.11 El Capitan to the public, and all users with compatible Macs are able to download the updated version of Apple’s desktop operating system for free from the Mac App Store. Just launch the Mac App Store to grab the download, or if you don’t see it, you can use this link to take you right to it: OS X El Capitan

OS X El Capitan brings with it a slew of bug fixes and performance improvements, tightening up everything from last year’s Yosemite release. That said, there are still quite a few user-facing improvements as well. These include:

Split View: Allows you to run two apps, full screen, side-by-side

Improved Mission Control: In Mission Control you can now clearly see all of your open app windows in their relative positions, easily create a new Space by dragging an app to the top of the screen, and more.

Improved Spotlight: Spotlight can now deliver weather, web video, stocks, transit directions, and more. You can also type into it using natural language (the same way you’d speak), and move the window around on your screen.

Full Screen Mail: When in full screen with Mail, you can now take advantage of new swipe gestures, get at your Inbox while writing an email, and add suggested events to your calendar and suggest contacts to your address book.

Improved Notes: The Notes app has been overhauled into less of a  notepad and more of a full-on Evernote competitor. You can turn lists into checklists, add photos, videos, URL, or even maps to a note. Share sheets even allow you to send things into Notes fro other apps.

Photos Improvements: The updated Photos app now supports third-party plugins to make editing and handling of photos even easier. Additionally, photos can be sorted faster, and you can add metadata like Faces and locations with ease.

Safari Improvements: Apple’s home grown web browser gets some love in El Capitan as well. You can now keep your favorite sites pinned in the tab bar for quick access, you can mute audio from tabs right from the address bar (or mute all tabs at once if you don’t know where the audio is coming from!), and you can even use AirPlay to share just web video to an Apple TV without having to share your entire display.

Public Transit Directions in Maps: Apple’s built-in Maps app now sports public transit directions in supported cities. This includes walking, subway, bus, train, and ferry directions, and you can set things by when you want to leave or when you’d like to arrive.