Now that Apple has officially launched its iOS 7 mobile operating system, Mac users will be waiting for the arrival of the new Mavericks OS X, which is expected to be released before the end of the year.
Apple's latest version of the Mac operating system was first introduced at Apple's WWDC event in June this year. Since then, eight Developer Previews of OS X Mavericks have been released to developers.
The eighth Developer Preview of OS X Mavericks was only seeded three days ago, just two weeks after the release of the seventh Developer Preview. It is currently available to download for registered developers via the Mac App Store.
New features for the latest OS X include a new Maps app, a tabbed finder, iBooks, new look to the calendar, improved Safari, iCloud Keychain, multiple displays and more. See Apple's preview of the new features here.
The final version of the Mavericks OS X is expected some time in fall, possibly by the end of October.
Last year, the Mountain Lion OS X released on July 25, 2012 for $19.99. The previous year, Apple charged $29.99 to upgrade to OS X Lion.
Although the iOS 7 upgrade was offered free for iDevice users this year, it is likely that Apple will charge or the OS X upgrade as in previous years.
However, with Windows offering existing Windows 8 users a free upgrade to Windows 8.1 this year, who knows, Apple may surprise customers by offering a free upgrade to the new Mavericks OS X – but let's not get our hopes up!
The new operating system may be released with the upgraded version of Macbook Pros, Macbook Pro with Retina Display, and iMacs – all of which are long overdue.
Apple will hold another media event to launch the fifth-generation iPad and iPad Mini 2 some time in mid-October. The Cupertino-company may very well decide to use the October media event as a platform to release the updated Macs packed with Intel's all-new Haswell processor and the latest Mavericks OS X .
The Macbook Pro has not yet been refreshed this year, but it is likely that Apple will release the Haswell-packed Pro before the frenzied shopping period begins for the holidays.
As expected, Apple remains silent on releasing any official launch dates for their new OS X, Macs and iPads.
