AppleInsider Staff
Coming on the heels of the iOS 7 beta 2 release, Apple on Monday seeded the second build of its next-generation OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview to registered developers.
Update: Along with the new Mavericks preview, Apple released the second beta of Xcode 5, which can also be found via the Mac App Store.
According to people familiar with the new Mavericks seed, Apple has dubbed the build "13A497d," a few iterations higher than the "13A476u" designation held by the first preview issued to developers during WWDC 2013.
Apple notes in there are a few bugs with the release, including minor display issues with Safari and iCloud Keychain.
The forthcoming operating system boasts a number of improvements and feature additions like Finder tabs, Maps, App Nap and Compressed Memory, among others.
Apple's OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 2 is available now for developers via the Mac App Store.
For more on the features and what to expect from the upcoming Mac operating system, check out AppleInsider's ongoing in-depth coverage here.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
64 Comments
Not sure if you can mention it or not, but how are y'all liking mavericks so far? Does it seem faster, or smoother- even being in beta? how are maps? I love mountain lion- definite improvement from lion.
[quote name="Andysol" url="/t/158224/apple-seeds-second-os-x-mavericks-developer-preview#post_2351947"]Not sure if you can mention it or not, but how are y'all liking mavericks so far? Does it seem faster, or smoother- even being in beta? how are maps? I love mountain lion- definite improvement from lion.[/quote] Nothing to complain about, it is the most solid beta I can remember. Actually, it is causing less trouble than any release version I can remember. All drivers work (printers, scanners, video capture boards, audio interfaces), all applications work (with Mail.app plugins being the only exception - I can safely reveal that, as there are several discussions about this on the Internet already). Maps work great, including sending directions from the Mac to iDevices. It does (of course) use the same map data as the iOS version, so, your mileage may vary. It also does not have public transport schedules (where I am). Otherwise it works fine. My favorite feature by far is the vastly improved support for multi-display setups. Can't say much about the Finder improvements, as I can't live without PathFinder (the only thing I use the Finder for is AirDrop, as PathFinder does not support it).
I've learned the hard way to avoid Apple betas! I just don't enjoy that much frustration and none of my development efforts require that I be on the bleeding edge. Given that reports from early adopters is encouraging. [quote name="Andysol" url="/t/158224/apple-seeds-second-os-x-mavericks-developer-preview-u#post_2351947"]Not sure if you can mention it or not, but how are y'all liking mavericks so far? Does it seem faster, or smoother- even being in beta? how are maps? I love mountain lion- definite improvement from lion.[/quote]
My 2008 Air saw battery life improvements. Or perhaps it's an illusion.
[quote name="Ireland" url="/t/158224/apple-seeds-second-os-x-mavericks-developer-preview-u#post_2351974"]My 2008 Air saw battery life improvements. Or perhaps it's an illusion.[/quote] Battery life on my 2012 15" rMBP is certainly up 20% or more. And I do not even benefit from the default blocking of Flash ads etc., as I always had the ClickToFlash extension installed.