After weeks and months of speculation, Apple's 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference got underway on Monday. Last week, we covered all the potential announcements that could be made during the keynote address. Now that CEO Tim Cook has wrapped up this year's keynote, we can see how accurate the predictions are.
The most noticeable takeaway from this year's address is that the only thing that was unveiled was on the software side of the business. Unlike years past where some of the lesser addressed product lines like the Mac Pro where on the docket, this year all of the focus was on iOS 8, OS X Yosemite and new development tools.
Last year's WWDC had a heavy focus on iOS 7. It was widely considered to be the most radical redesign to the mobile operating system since it was launched. This year the focus was on the computer version.
The new version of OS X borrows much of its new flat design of the iconography from the resigned iOS 7. This also includes the translucent notification screens. Other updated features include:
Notifications – The notification center will be upgraded to include many things that were included in widgets. This includes calendar and weather.
Spotlight – The search function will now open in the middle of the screen, rather from the top right. It will also display results from App Store, Wikipedia, Maps, Bing, iTunes and iBooks.
iCloud Drive – This is a simpler way to search and access files in the iCloud directly in a Finder. It is essentially Dropbox for the iCloud.
Mail – Apple has streamlined the user interface and created Mail Drop, which will improve the ability to send larger files.
Safari – New stripped down design, increased speed (loads JavaScript more than 6X faster than Firefox and Chrome) and multi-tab support.
Another major system that was announced is called Handoff. This system is a bigger step to merge the worlds of iOS and OS. While they already look similar, the new solutions make transitioning between the platforms easier. Now, projects started on one platform, including phone calls, can be continued on other platforms.
"As we suspected, OS X Yosemite brings some of the biggest design and functionality changes we've seen in a long time, most of all when it comes to the operating system's aesthetics," a Gizmodo article about the event read. "Though it's not quite a full integration of the mobile and desktop platforms, it's certainly a big step in that direction. We'll have to wait until the OS drops to see if Yosemite is as big a change as we think."
There were a number of other features that were announced and unveiled today and we have yet to touch base on the upgraded features of iOS 8. Be sure to check back throughout the week as we dive deeper into what was announced during the keynote, cover the features of iOS 8 and look at how these will affect the enterprise. Any company that uses Apple support as part of its company IT system will be sure to see changes coming when OS X Yosemite is finally available.
