Malcolm Owen
Apple has released its first beta of macOS 10.14 Mojave for testing by the public, one day after similar releases for iOS 12 and tvOS 12, giving Mac users prepared to install the beta their first taste of the upcoming operating system update.
Released on Tuesday, the macOS Mojave beta is available to download from the Apple Beta Software Program website, alongside its tvOS and iOS counterparts. The site requires users to register for the program in order to download the pre-release software, rather than downloading and installing it anonymously.
At a glance, it appears that the first public macOS Mojave beta is extremely similar to the second developer beta, which rolled out on June 19. Based on the cadence of the first to beta releases, a third developer beta could arrive later this week.
There are quite a few additions made to macOS Mojave that will make it useful for productivity, such as the new Stacks feature that can group files and images on the desktop. Many are made to Finder, including a Gallery view to show all media and metadata, and provide contextual quick actions to perform custom automator tasks on files.
Quick Look has been upgraded to invoke Markup without needing to leave the menu, and it can also be used to trim videos without requiring a separate video editor. A Screenshot HUD helps simplify the process of taking images of the desktop or recording screencaptures, with a reduced load on the processor.
Continuity Camera allows users to take a photograph using an iOS device's camera, and instantly insert it into a document without needing to manually send it between devices.
Part of a project to enable developers to convert iOS apps for use in macOS, Apple has updated some first-party iOS apps to work in macOS, including News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos. The Home app, used to maintain HomeKit, will be brought to the Mac in this way.
The Mac App Store is updated with a new user interface, including video previews, borrowing elements from the iOS App Store. New machine learning tools Create ML and Core ML2, as well as a Dark Mode, are also included in Mojave.
Just as with the developer betas, it is advised by both AppleInsider and Apple itself for users to not install beta versions of software on mission-critical systems, due to the potential of data loss. Users should try out such releases on secondary Mac desktops, and to have backups of any data held on those systems.
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26 Comments
I am tempted to try this, I mean there isn’t much super intreasting in this release but I really wanna try goth mode but I don’t know if the beta’ishness of this release is worth it.
Every OS update always comes with somewhat gimmicky new features that are exploited for marketing purposes, but which I personally end up never using. Handoff is one such feature. I loved the idea but I just never ended up using it ever. But Stacks, and the new Quick-look features, as well as the new Finder improvements however, all look incredibly useful and I can't wait. These genuinely look like features that will instantly be adopted by most people.
Is it “safe” to install this on a separate partition of your main SSD? Or is it advised that we keep it on a completely separate drive?
Seems to me the BIGGEST announcement with Mojave is that Apple is finally supporting APFS across normal HPFS+ HDD and Fusion drives. Previously, and since it first released over a year ago; it only officially supported pure Solid State Drives (SSDs); and categorically was not recommended for Fusion Drives. As Apple has shipped quite a few Fusion Drives, this left a lot of us out in the cold.
Now, as I am not hearing any releases about how APFS finally works - ROBUSTLY - across every storage mechanism; I'm going to hold off on upgrading my system to Mojave; until I hear something. I have too much to lose - as my system conisists of a Fusion boot drive, and several external HDDs running HPFS+.