A Reddit user with a throwaway account has posted a series of images showing various OS X 10.10 features. This is “the new OS X,” he wrote, adding that he took the photos himself at Apple in California. While the user has since removed the images from Reddit and deleted his account, the pictures have apparently been verified by one of Reddit’s mods, and also by MacRumors’ sources.
While Apple will not merge iOS and OS X anytime soon, the company plans to further blur the lines between them when it comes to user interface design. According to the leaked screenshots, OS X 10.10 will borrow various visual elements from iOS 7, but also certain features, apparently confirming similar claims from earlier reports.
Overall, the new OS X version will resemble iOS more than its predecessors, offering translucent menus and simpler design elements.
The Dock, a major element of OS X, has been redesigned, ditching the “old” shelf motif in favor of a translucent strip. While most Dock icons seem to remain unchanged, the Finder icon is much simpler, lacking a background image, but keeping in place the dual face drawing.
The search inside OS X appears to have been significantly improved, with a screenshot showing a floating search box with integrated Quick Look functionality, which appears to take on popular OS X app Alfred.
When it comes to borrowed iOS features, OS X 10.10 apparently has a Control Center like the one found in iOS 7, and a similar Notification Center.
The new Control Center is featured in a translucent vertical slide-in panel on the left side of the screen that features “About This Mac” and “System Preferences” buttons as well as Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb features, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles, a brightness slider, Music playback and volume controls, AirDrop and AirPlay butons and buttons for system sleep, log out, restart and shutdown.
Similarly, the Notification Center slides in from the right side of the screen, looking very much like iOS 7’s “Today” view inside the mobile OS’s notification’s center. The panel features various details including Calendar, Weather and Stocks information.
Safari has also been updated in OS X 10.10, at least according to one of the screenshots, which shows an Internet browser that’s similar to the iPad’s Safari. The browser features large buttons for bookmarks and frequently visited sites and toolbar buttons that seem “somewhat flatter,” according to MacRumors.
The screenshots have been taken on March 24 – since then, OS X 10.10 may have undergone various changes – although it’s not clear how the mystery Reddit user was able to take these blurry pictures.
Apple is expected to demo OS X 10.10 alongside iOS 8 on Monday during its WWDC 2014 keynote.
The OS X 10.10 images that were posted on Reddit follow below.
