Apple announces OS X 10.11 El Capitan, plans for fall release

The torrent of news and announcements from this year’s WWDC keynote starts here.

It starts with El Capitan.

On Monday, Apple announced OS X 10.11 El Capitan, the next version of its operation system. The updated OS will feature new versions of multiple stock apps, including Safari, Mail and Notes, improved Spotlight search with natural language enhancements and contextually aware results, Metal for Mac and other new features and refinements.

The announced changes are as follows:

Safari: A new pinned feature enables users to keep websites listed at the top of Safari, similar to a bookmarks bar. The browser also gains a universal mute feature that allows users to mute a website that is playing music, even with several tabs open.

Mail: The new Mail app features enhancements to its full-screen mode, tabs in the compose window, the ability to hide in-progress messages and go back to the main Inbox. There are also new gestures built into Mail for archiving and deleting — simply swipe on the trackpad.

Spotlight: Apple has significantly improved Spotlight search in OS X El Capitan with natural language enhancements and contextually aware search results. “Get Mail from Brian about El Cap,” for example.

Metal for Mac: Metal for Mac has arrived, combining the computing power of OpenCL and graphics power of OpenGL into a new API that does both. 50% improvements in rendering with 40% less CPU processing power required for graphics. Metal on OS X El Capitan offers better battery life and improved graphics performance for both games and professional apps.

Apple has announced that OS X 10.11 El Capitan will go into public beta in July and be released in the fall.

The company has yet to announce required system specifications for the new operating system.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via MacRumors