Earlier this week, Apple released it’s newest operating system for the mac, OSX Mavericks.. The best part, it’s free and it comes with some pretty cool new features. After playing with it for a few days, there are some things I’m really pleased about and some bugs that I look forward to Apple fixing.
Let’s start with the cool new things. First up is increased access to the whole iWork suite. If you’ve purchased any of the iWork apps in the past, or you are planning to buy a new mac, iWork is now free. Pages has been made much more accessible to VoiceOver users, and after many years of complaining about access to tables in a document, Apple has finally addressed this issue. Not only can VO users read tables they can also create them.
My next favorite feature is the new Maps app. If you like maps on iOS, then you’re going to like it on your mac. Also, if you’re looking for virtual navigation on your computer, now you have a free accessible option. The best part in my opinion though is that you can share your route on your mac with your iPhone. No more fussing with the phone on the fly in the car. If you’ve planned ahead, you can just import the info into your iPhone before you leave.
My final favorite new feature is iCloud Keychain. I find that remembering passwords is not a big problem for me, but not having to remember them is a beautiful thing. Once a password is saved in iCloud keychain you just visit the website and your log in info is already put in. You can also choose to save credit card info in the keychain, and then you don’t have to remember anything except the three digit code on the back. For security, if you opt for Keychain to create passwords for new websites you sign up on, you must log in to your computer every time it goes to sleep.
Now for the bad news. As with anything new, there are bugs and kinks that Apple still needs to resolve. My biggest complaint which I’ve alerted Apple to right now is that the only way to read a multipage document in text edit is to turn off wrap to page. This really freaked me out the first time I couldn’t read the text past page 1. Another problem is that iBooks has multiple unlabeled buttons. This can be solved by labeling them yourself, but Apple shouldn’t have released it without making sure it was accessible with VoiceOver. I’m sure there are other bugs, so if you’re not interested in dealing with potential issues, you may wish to wait a while for at least the first update. If you’re really excited about the new features, and are willing to work around the bugs, then I recommend making the jump to Mavericks.
Source: Go to sourceCategory: Software
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For the past three years Alena has been a feature writer for the online magazine Matilda Ziegler. She has also been a contractor for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, helping blind adults learn to use adaptive technology. She is studying to be a teacher of the visually impaired at Portland State. You might also recognize her from the Serotalk podcast Triple Click Home.
