猫走了，大浪来了。

当 然我指的是Mac电脑用的新款操作系统Mavericks OS X。它是苹果(Apple)第10代OS X操作系统，也是多年来第一款没有用大型猫科动物命名的系统。（还记得雪豹(Snow Leopard)和山狮(Mountain Lion)么？）这一次，它的名字源于北加州海岸的一处冲浪胜地。

更值得注意的是，Mavericks供Mac用户免费下载。事实上苹果推出的免费软件已有很多。我关注了一些重要功能，其中一些很实用，另一些感觉不怎么新鲜，因为某些方面苹果不过是在追赶竞争对手。
 

首先，Mavericks将运行于2009年及以后的机器上，不过在早至2007年的一些电脑上或许也能跑。内存至少要两个G，安装至少要花两个小时。我在2012年版的13英寸MacBook Pro上面安装，耗时接近两个半小时。

电池优化

苹果声称，安装了Mavericks之后，用户可以期待，在浏览网页或观看iTunes电影时，电池的寿命会比以前长。

我 做了三次电池测试，期间设定显示器亮度为100%，循环播放iTunes音乐，打开Wi-Fi，打开一个电子邮件应用，并且不让电脑休眠。我2012年版 的MacBook Pro山狮系统坚持了5小时13分钟。然后安装Mavericks重新测试，坚持了5小时20分钟——差别不大，不过我同样没有给电脑施加很大的负担。但 是，一台配备英特尔(Intel) Haswell芯片并安装了Mavericks系统的新MacBook Pro坚持了7小时13分钟。所以是新硬件和新软件的组合给出了更加惊艳的表现。

Finder选项卡和标签

这属于那些微不足道的功能之一，但我内心里面的强迫症还是乐见苹果加上了它。你可以在Finder窗口内创建选项卡，并通过拖拽到目标选项卡的办法分享文件，而不是在桌面上堆满乱七八糟的Finder窗口。你可以给文件夹和文件打上颜色和标签（关键词），使之更好搜索。

Safari链接分享

Safari 浏览器的改进也是微小但称心。现在浏览器左手边有一个边栏显示有三个选项卡：书签（原来就有）、阅读列表（原来也有，但有所改进）、分享链接。分享链接显 示的是Twitter和LindkedIn被关注者所发的链接，而且你可以在分享链接标签里转发。如果是实时显示最新Twitter信息，我会更加喜欢。

目前分享链接的设计是通过手动刷新来查看新链接。我确实喜欢更加醒目的阅读列表，在线离线都可以使用，而且可以通过手机查看。

iCloud KeyChain

iCloud KeyChain基本上就是一个储存信用卡信息的密码管理器。当我在Pottery Barn、ModCloth等网站建立账户的时候，它就会给出多字符密码提示，并问我想不想把这些密码存在Safari里面。

平时输入的信用卡信息也可以存在Safari里面，还可以通过安装了iOS 7的iPad或iPhone访问。这是苹果第一次在网络购物流程的这一层面存储你的信用卡信息，它表示这些信息是安全的，苹果看不到。

分屏显示

以 前你可以轻松地把Mac电脑连接到外部显示器上形成"镜像"。原始设备上的一切——Dock、应用和打开的窗口——都会显示到另外一个屏幕上。现在 Mavericks为同一台机器提供了多个视窗选项。利用Apple TV，我可以在电视机上开辟额外的桌面空间。笔记本电脑上的Dock、电子邮件和Finder窗口都在，电视机上我又可以看另外一个应用，比如全屏状态的 PowerPoint或Final Cut Pro之类。用标准的辅助电脑显示屏可以达到同样效果。

桌面地图及其他

Mavericks 值得注意的其他新事物包括：苹果现在免费提供新版本的iWork和iLife应用，条件是你在9月1日前买了一台新设备，或者已经是这两款应用的用户。苹 果在宣传云协作（通过iWork里面的Pages）等功能，但这些东西来得相当晚，因为微软(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)已经通过各自的 应用提供了云协作功能。

Mavericks加进了一个桌面地图应用Maps，这是苹果以前从来没有的。它使你能够在桌面上搜索路线，点击一个分享按钮就可以发送到iPhone上（必须安装了iOS 7）。但谷歌允许用户从Chrome浏览器发送路线到安卓手机上已经有一段时间了。

而且这套操作系统刚开始难免有些小毛病。有些Mavericks用户曾说，桌面Mail客户端遇到了一些问题，Gmail无法通过这个应用下载。苹果表示计划针对这个问题发布软件更新。

Mavericks并不像其名字所示的那样是一次巨大的升级，但从总体上看，它提供了一些称心的新功能。如果苹果解决了Mail的问题，我觉得没有理由不去"冲浪"。

Big cats are out. Big waves are in.

I'm referring, of course, to Mavericks OS X, the new operating system for Mac computers. It's Apple's 10th OS X operating system and the first one in many years without a large-feline moniker. (Remember Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion?) Instead it's named after a big-wave surfing spot off the coast of Northern California.

More notably, Mavericks is free for Mac users to download. In fact, there's a lot of free software being thrown out there by Apple. I've focused on a handful of key features. Some of them are useful. Others feel obvious because, in some cases, Apple is playing catch-up.

To start, Mavericks will run on machines from 2009 and later, though it might work on some from as far back as 2007. You'll need at least two gigabytes of RAM and two hours to for the install process. The installation on my 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro took closer to 2 1/2 hours.

Battery Optimization

With Mavericks, Apple claims you can expect better battery life while performing tasks like Web browsing or watching an iTunes movie.

I ran three battery tests, which included setting the display to 100% brightness, playing iTunes music on a loop, leaving Wi-Fi on, running an email app and never allowing the computer to sleep. My 2012 MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion lasted 5 hours and 13 minutes. Then I installed Mavericks and started again. This time it lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes -- not much of a difference, but then again, I wasn't really taxing the computer. However, a new MacBook Pro with Intel's Haswell chip and the Mavericks OS lasted for 7 hours and 13 minutes. So the combination of new hardware and new software gave the more impressive results.

Finder Tabs and Tags

This is one of those features that seems small and obvious, and yet the organizational freak in me is happy Apple added it. You can create tabs within the Finder window and share files by dragging them to the desired Finder tab, instead of cluttering your desktop with many Finder windows. You can assign colors and tags, or keywords, to folders and files to make them more searchable.

Shared Links in Safari

Improvements to the Safari browser are also small but welcome. There is now a sidebar on the left-hand side of the browser that displays three tabs: Bookmarks (not new), Reading List (also not new, but improved) and Shared Links, where tweets with links from the people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn will appear. And you can retweet from Shared Links. I'd like this feature more if it were a real-time Twitter feed.

As it is now, the Shared Links feed is designed to be refreshed manually to see new links. I do like the more noticeable Reading List, which works online or offline, and can be accessed from mobile, as well.

iCloud KeyChain

iCloud Keychain is basically a password manager that saves your credit-card information. So it suggested multi-character passwords to me as I was creating accounts on websites like Pottery Barn and ModCloth, and asked if I wanted to save those passwords within Safari.

The card info you normally type in can be saved in Safari, as well, and accessed on your iOS 7 iPad or iPhone. It's the first time Apple is storing your credit-card info at this level of the online buying process, and it says it's secure and can't be viewed by Apple.

Multiple Displays

Before, you could easily hook up and 'mirror' a Mac computer to an external display. Everything on the device of origin -- the dock, apps and open windows -- would just appear on another screen. Now, Mavericks offers multiple viewing options from the same machine. I was able to create extra desktop real estate on my TV, using Apple TV. On my laptop, I still had my dock, my email and a Finder window. Then on the TV, I could view another app, like PowerPoint or Final Cut Pro in full screen. This will work on a standard secondary computer monitor.

Desktop Maps and Other Things

Among the other new items to consider with Mavericks, Apple is now offering new versions of its iWork and iLife apps free of charge, provided you've purchased a new device as of Sept. 1, or you were an existing owner of the apps. Apple is touting features like cloud collaboration through Pages in iWork, but this is pretty belated, since Microsoft and Google already offer cloud collaboration through their apps.

Mavericks includes a desktop Maps app, which Apple has never done before. This allows you to search for directions on the desktop and with the click of a share button, send them to your iPhone (which has to be running iOS 7). Google, though, has offered the ability to send directions from its Chrome browser to Android phones for a while now.

And the OS isn't without its early glitches. Some Mavericks users have said they're experiencing problems with the desktop Mail client and Gmail isn't loading through the app. Apple says it plans to issue a software update for this.

Mavericks isn't as monumental an upgrade as its name might suggest, but overall it brings some welcome additions. Assuming that Apple fixes the Mail problems, I see no reason not to ride the wave.