Setting up a dual-boot environment for OS X Mavericks and OS X 10.8 (or even 10.7 and 10.6 if you’re still running an older version of Mac OS X) is easy and allows for a fresh installation of Mavericks to test and develop with. Because the original OS X installation remains untouched, it’s also the safest way to give Mavericks a trial run, which is perfect for running the Developer Previews or if you’re just not sure you’re ready to run OS X 10.9 full time yet.

You don’t need another hard drive to be able to do this, instead you utilize unused space on the existing drive to create a new partition that runs the alternate OS. This process can be completed from a Mavericks boot drive if desired, and using such an USB installer tends to prevent any potential errors with Disk Utility (more on common errors you may encounter at the very bottom of this article), but it is not necessary.

Be sure to back up the Mac before modifying the partition table, the easiest way to do that is by starting Time Machine immediately rather than waiting for the scheduled backup to take place. Let that complete before beginning.

Partitioning & Installing OS X Mavericks for a Dual Boot Mac

• Launch Disk Utility, from /Applications/Utilities/
• Select the hard drive from the left side menu, then choose the “Partition” tab
• Click the [+] plus button to add a new partition, size it to at least 12GB and name it something logical, like “Mavericks”, then click “Apply”
• Quit out of Disk Utility when finished, then launch the “Install OS X 10.9” app from the /Applications/ folder
• At the installation menu, choose the “Mavericks” partition you created as the destination drive, then choose Install (you may need to click “Show All Disks” for the partition to show up)

OS X Mavericks will install and, when finished, will boot directly into 10.9.

To switch booting between OS X versions, restart the Mac and hold down the Option key, then choose whichever partition you wish to start up from. You’ll notice the initial boot menu does not display the OS X version, which is why it’s important to name the partitions something fairly explanatory, like “Mavericks”. You can also change the boot disk by going to “Startup Disk” within System Preferences and selecting the OS X partition to use, the preference panel option will display the OS X versions for each partition.

The whole process should run trouble free, but if Disk Utility throws an error it’ll probably be either ”Couldn’t unmount disk” or a “Partition Failed” message, both will require a reboot and slightly different methods to resolve, and can be mitigated by using a USB install disk rather than attempting to partition from the active startup drive.

For those of us who use several different types of network connections to get online, you may want to take a moment to set the networking service priority in OS X. This insures that a Mac isn’t connecting through the wrong networking interface when multiple network services are available.

For example, if you have a Mac that is connected to an ethernet network, but also finds available wi-fi networks, you can set one of those to be the preferred connection type. This can also be used to prioritize connections through a VPN, and you can go a step further and set the priority on a per-location basis, which is perhaps the most useful way to use this trick.

Use Service Order to Prioritize Network Connection Types

At it’s most basic function, you can choose the networking service priority by doing the following:

• Open System Preferences from the  Apple menu, then go to the “Network” panel
• Click the [+] plus icon in the lower left portion of the networking panel and choose “Set Service Priority” from the drop down menu
• At the “Service Order” window, drag networks according to the desired priority, the topmost service will have the highest priority

In this example screenshot, “Wi-Fi” has top priority, with “Wi-Fi Hotspot” as the second most prioritized service (meaning, if wi-fi is not available, use wi-fi hotspot if it’s available, otherwise use the services below it in descending order)

Note this does not prioritize one wireless network over another, unless the Mac happens to have multiple wi-fi cards available to it with unique interfaces, though that would be a fairly unusual circumstance. Instead, prioritizing individual wireless networks is done through the Advanced Wi-Fi options as described here.

Using Network Locations & Network Service Order

Setting network priority per “Location” is perhaps the most useful way to use this trick. This lets you set priorities that are specific to unique networks or areas, like work ethernet, home wi-fi with VPN, telecommuting hotspot with an iPhone or a tethered Android, a shared Mac hotspot, etc

• From the “Network” panel, pull down the “Location” menu and choose “Edit Locations…”
• Click the [+] plus button to create a new network location
• Adjust the network settings as appropriate to the given network location setting, then use the “Set Service Order” trick mentioned above

Once different locations are set up with their respective service orders, you can now easily switch between them directly from the  Apple menu by pulling down to the “Locations” menu and choosing the desired network location.

This is highly recommended for anyone who regularly uses different networks, but laptop users who travel frequently between different locations with their Mac will likely find it most useful.

The visual change between iOS 7 and iOS 6 is obviously significant, and this graphic does a great job of showing just how the iOS home screen has evolved over time with the iPhone. Covering versions 1.0 through 7.0 and a time period of 2007 to 2013, it gives an interesting look into how things have changed in the past and how they are changing now:

Click here or on the image above for the full sized image

When set alongside each other like this the newest changes with 7 look less drastic, but certainly much brighter and more colorful than before. In some ways the iOS 7 home screen has more commonality with the original 1.0 through 3.0 releases than the more recent 4, 5, and 6 builds, at least in flatness and the Dock design. If you want to get a preview of what 7.0 will look like on your iPhone or iPod touch, load these iOS 7 preview videos and screen shots on your iOS device, they do a fairly good job of what to expect, at least with what we’re seeing in beta 1 and what is visible through Apple’s initial marketing materials.

Heads up to @applespotlight for retweeting this find

Disk Utility usually works trouble-free, but a frustrating “Couldn’t Unmount Disk” error can halt whatever the attempted task is right in its tracks. This can happen during partitioning, disk verification and repair, and even during formatting, and there’s usually little to no additional information provided as to how to resolve the problem or even what the problem is.

Typically the “Couldn’t Unmount Disk” error pops up when the currently boot drive is being modified, thus the easiest solution is to boot from another drive and run Disk Utility from there instead. For the boot drive, it shouldn’t matter which version of OS X it’s for (assuming 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9 at least), the only requirement is that it has Disk Utility – which they all do. This will allow you to fix the problem, regardless of the cause, by one of two means, the first is a sure-thing to fix the issue, while the other only works sometimes. We’ll cover both with a bit of explanation.

Resolve the Unmount Error with a USB Boot Drive

This is the recommended method because it should always fix the error. You will need any OS X boot drive to complete this task, I used a Mavericks boot installer drive for this purpose but others should work too, whether they are installation drives or just recovery drives, the important thing is they are bootable and separate from the primary boot disk that stores the installed OS:

• Attach the USB boot drive to the Mac and reboot
• Hold down the OPTION key during boot, then select the attached boot drive (typically has an orange icon at the boot menu)
• At the boot menu, choose “Disk Utility” (if using an Installer disk, pull down the “Utilities” menu to access Disk Utility)
• Go to “First Aid” and verify the disk, then repair if needed
• Now perform the original task that threw the “Couldn’t Unmount” error

I ran into this twice recently, first when attempting to modify partitions on a drive, which came right along with a separate “partition failed” error, and again was triggered when attempting to format those partitions. The above steps did the trick and everything was working again as expected.

This is a good example of why it’s very valuable to have a bootable USB thumb drive set up with whatever version of OS X is running on your Macs, because without a separate boot drive some of these errors would be unresolvable. Such boot drives are easy to create on your own, here are instructions for making boot disks for OS X 10.9, OS X 10.8, and OS X 10.7. For older Macs running prior versions of OS X, typically anything running OS X 10.6 or earlier will have a SuperDrive, and thus shipped with a bootable DVD that can serve this same purpose.

Fixing Disk Utility Errors via Recovery Partition

If the Unable to Unmount Error is triggered by first aid or formatting a non-boot partition, you may be able to fix the error by booting from the Recovery partition that is included with all new versions of OS X. This will not work if the error was triggered by attempting to modify the boot disk through partitions or formatting, and you will need to use the method above instead.

• Reboot the Mac holding down the “Option” key and choose the Recovery partition
• Select “Disk Utility” from the boot menu
• Go to “First Aid” to verify and repair the disk, or go to “Erase” to format the disk

Again, if the disk throwing the errors is the same as the primary boot partition that Recovery is also on, the above method may not work to resolve the problem. In that case, you’ll need to boot from a separate USB drive to fix the error.

The visually overhauled iOS 7 beta includes a handful of nice new default wallpapers, two of which are static (the left pink blue dots and galaxy image), and two are animated (the right two varieties of blue and purple vector bubbles). Obviously without iOS 7 you won’t be able to get the animated wallpapers, but you can get a static image of them and they still look pretty nice. These are all sized for the iPhone and iPod touch with 4″ displays at a 640×1136 resolution. They’ll look fine on the smaller 3.5″ displays too, but trying to size these up for an iPad or Mac just won’t look that great.

Save the full sized images below, or you can download them all in a convenient zip put together by CultOfMac.

Download all wallpapers in a zip


(If you download the zip bundle directly to an iPhone or iPod touch, don’t forget to grab an app like WinZip too so you can extract the zip archive directly in iOS, otherwise you’ll need to download it to a Mac or PC and unzip it there first)

Pink & Blue Dots (static)

Galaxy

Purple & Blue Vector Bubbles

Subtle Blue Vector Bubbles”>

We can expect to see quite a few more default wallpapers bundled with iOS 7 with the final release, as well as versions of the existing wallpapers sized for the iPad retina display when the beta 2 build arrives to support the iPad, but until then make do with these.

Don’t forget to grab the nice default wave wallpaper from OS X Mavericks too or check out our numerous wallpaper roundup posts.

You’re probably aware that iPhone will automatically detect phone numbers in web pages, allowing you to tap directly on a phone number and choose to call that number, send it a message, add it to Contacts, or to copy it to the clipboard. The tap-to-dial function is easily the quickest way to call a number found on the web:

But what about phone numbers that are mnemonic and listed as letters? Often called vanity numbers, these will be like 1-800-COMCAST, 1-800-MY-APPLE, 1-800-SOS-APPLE, etc, and they are not automatically detected by iOS. At first glance they don’t appear to be usable on the iPhone, but it turns out they are, just not directly.

Dial Vanity Numbers with Copy & Paste

To call a vanity number and convert it to numbers, you just need to tap-and-hold on the alphabetic version, select “Copy”, and then go to the Phone app. Once in Phone app, choose the Keypad, then tap and hold on the blank region on the top and choose “Paste”. This will instantly convert the lettered vanity number into an actual phone number, that’s nice in and of itself, but of course you can then dial it too.

You’ll notice the vanity alphabetic number is still maintained below the converted numerical version, so you can be sure you are calling the right place.

Heads up to iLounge for finding the handy little converter trick.

The designers at Teehan+Lax have built a complete iOS 7 GUI elements template, and are now offering it for free as a very functional PSD file. Everything is fully layered, well-labeled, and organized logically, making it an excellent tool to use for mocking up apps and concepts as they would appear natively in the completely redesigned iOS 7 interface.

Being a PSD it is obviously aimed at Photoshop, but it works perfectly fine in Pixelmator in our testing, and all layers remain intact (at least in Pixelmator 2.2).

• Get the iOS 7 elements PSD here from Teehan+Lax

Do note that because iOS 7 is currently in beta, some of the elements may change slightly from the beta release to the final release. We can expect Teehan+Lax to update the template file for any significant changes though. Happy designing.

Fed up with iOS 7 beta and it’s quirky bugs? You can downgrade fairly easily, which is probably a good idea for most casual users who aren’t accustomed to handling beta OS releases in various stages of development, because it’s really not meant for everyday use on your primary device anyway. Yes, Apple’s developer notes attached to iOS 7 beta releases specifically say that any iPhone or iPod touch that upgrade to iOS 7 can not downgrade back to iOS 6, but that’s not actually true in practice. In fact, just like with prior beta versions of iOS, you can downgrade back to whatever the most recent stable iOS release is with relative simplicity, so ignore the dev portal message and get back to a stable version. It only takes a few moments, and it’s not much different than restoring iOS in general.

Requirements are minimal, but be sure you have a recent version of iTunes running on a Mac or PC, the IPSW files for iOS 6.1.4 or 6.1.3, and a USB cable. Before getting started with the downgrade process, you will want to download the appropriate iOS 6 IPSW for your device and save it somewhere easy to find, like the desktop:

• iPhone 5 – iOS 6.1.4 IPSW – (direct links to GSM or CDMA)
• iPhone 4 – iOS 6.1.3 – (direct links to GSM CDMA)
• iPhone 4S – iOS 6.1.3 – (direct link to GSM & CDMA)
• iPod touch 5th gen – iOS 6.1.3 – (direct link)

As with any other iOS update, downgrade, or modification, you should back up before beginning. You can do that with iTunes to the computer, which is often faster since you’re already connected through USB, or with iCloud if you prefer.

Downgrading iOS 7 Beta Back Down to iOS 6.1.4 or iOS 6.1.3

Have the IPSW for your device downloaded? Then you’re ready to go:

• Connect the iPhone or iPod touch to the computer through a USB cable
• Open iTunes and select the iOS device, then go to the “Summary” tab
• Now you need to restore, but through IPSW instead of letting iTunes do the work. Mac users: Option+Click the “Restore iPhone” button, Windows users: Shift+Click the “Restore” button
• Locate the iOS 6 IPSW firmware file you downloaded a moment ago, and choose “Select”, then confirm by choosing “Restore”

The iOS device will go black, you’ll see the little loading bar, and in just a few minutes iOS 6.1.4 (or 6.1.3) will be loaded back onto the device and the iPhone or IPod touch will boot as if new.

Once the device has rebooted back to iOS 6, you’ll probably want to restore from a backup made recently so you can get all your stuff back, or just use the iOS device as new.

Heads up to iClarified who first noticed the process, though their variation includes a few steps that are not quite necessary. Additionally, many other sites have included various downgrade steps or overly complicated the process, so unless you’ve managed to brick the device, you do not need to put the device into DFU mode. Likewise, unless you updated directly from a jailbroken version of iOS 6.1.2 or see an iTunes 3194 error, you do not need to edit the hosts file at all to block or unblock any servers.

Happy downgrading, and enjoy iOS 6 again. Remember, the final version of iOS 7 will be released this fall, likely in late September or sometime in October.

Just like other recent major Mac updates, OS X Mavericks arrives as an app that wants to update the current OS X installation, and with a little work you can make a bootable USB installation drive. This allows you to easily perform partitioning for dual boot situations, clean installs, upgrades on multiple Macs, and more, plus it’s just really convenient to have for troubleshooting and simple future installations, without having to re-download OS X 10.9 every time you want to install it or perform an upgrade.

But unlike before with creating prior version OS X boot install drives, the process is slightly different with Mavericks and requires an additional set of steps to make the installer actually function as a a bootable installer disk. It’s not too complicated, just a bit more time consuming.

Before beginning, make sure the Mac you want to install Mavericks on meets the system requirements for 10.9. You will need OS X Mavericks (obviously), and an 8GB (or larger) USB drive that you don’t mind formatting, we’re using a USB thumb drive for the purpose of this walkthrough but an external hard drive should work as well.

Create a Bootable OS X 10.9 Mavericks Installer

• Download OS X Mavericks (get Developer Preview from Apple, devs only for now) but do not install it yet
• Attach the USB drive to the Mac and launch Disk Utility
• Choose the USB drive from the left side menu, click the “Partition” tab, select “1 Partition” from the drop down menu, and then click the “Options” button to select “GUID” as the partition type, click “OK” then click “Apply”
• Launch Terminal to show hidden files and relaunch the Finder using this defaults command string:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE;\killall Finder;\say Files Revealed

• Go to the /Applications/ folder to locate the “Install OS X 10.9 Developer Preview.app” file
• Right-click and choose “Show Package Contents”, then open “Contents” and open “SharedSupport”
• Double-click to mount “InstallESD.dmg”
• Open the mounted ‘OS X Install ESD’ image, and right-click “BaseSystem.dmg” choosing “Open” to mount the image (BaseSystem.dmg is invisible by default, thus why invisible files must be made visible in the earlier step)
• Go back to Disk Utility, then select “BaseSystem.dmg” from the sidebar and then click the “Restore” tab
• With “Source” set to “BaseSystem.dmg”, set “Destination” to the USB drive by dragging the USB drive into the box, then click “Restore” to begin – confirm that contents of the drive will be erased
• When finished, go to Finder and navigate within the newly created USB drive to System > Installation > and delete the file (alias) located here named “Packages” – keep this window open
• Go back to the ‘OS X Install ESD’ mounted drive, and drag & drop the “Packages” folder into the /System/Installation/ directory you just deleted the Packages alias from, let this large folder copy

Once that Packages folder is finished copying to the drive, the USB drive is now ready to be booted from which it can install OS X Mavericks from.

Booting from OS X Mavericks Install Drive

• With the USB drive attached, reboot the Mac and hold down the Option key
• Select the orange drive, labeled “OS X Base System 1″ from the boot menu
• Proceed with the installation as usual

Enjoy OS X Mavericks! By the way, if there is a more direct method to create a bootable installation drive, we couldn’t figure it out. Trying to restore or use the InstallESD.dmg file does not work like it used to in the past, but it’s entirely possible there is another way. If you know how to do it, send us an email, hit up @osxdaily on Twitter, let us know on Facebook, or hollar at us on Google Plus.

Of course the best way to preview iOS 7 would be to install the beta, but let’s face it, that beta is buggy, incomplete, and besides, it requires a developer account to use, which makes it inaccessible to the vast majority of people. So what’s the next best thing to preview the new iOS without installing the beta? Viewing full-sized, full-screened videos and screen shots directly on your iPhone or iPod touch. This gives you an excellent idea of how iOS 7 will look on your device, and with the videos, it also gives a good preview of how certain aspects will behave. This goes far beyond just viewing feature screen shots and visual comparisons between iOS 7 and iOS 6, and it really is the next best thing to just installing the beta, but without the hassles.

All videos are sized for 4″ displays on an iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5th gen, of course you can still load them onto other device resolutions but they won’t be quite as accurate. Below you will find a screen shot sized for an iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S to get a stationary look sized appropriately for those devices.

See Active iOS 7 Previews with Video

Load this post on an iPhone or iPod touch (preferably with 4″ display for the most accurate results), then click any of the links below to get an active preview of what iOS 7 will look like on your device:

• Notification Center from Lock Screen
• Multitasking
• Control Center from Home Screen
• Messages
• Mail
• Weather
• iTunes Radio
• Photos
• AirDrop, Sending
• Camera with Filters
• Safari
• Siri

Each of these videos is provided by Apple and hosted on their servers, tapping any link will open the video in a new window where you can play it on your iOS device to get a feel for things.

If you’d prefer a stationary preview of what iOS 7 will look like on your iPhone or iPod touch, below are some high-res screenshots that can load onto your device and get an idea.

Get a Stationary iOS 7 Preview with Screen Shots

The goal here is to open the preview shots on an iPhone or iPod touch. For the most accurate results, you’ll want to save the images after loading them full screen with a tap and hold, then find the image in Photos app and open it.

iOS 7 home screen on 4″ display for iPhone 5 & iPod touch:

iOS 7 home screen on 3.5″ display for iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S:

Control Center:

Messages:

Notifications:

Safari tabs:

Siri:

Settings:

Most of these screen shots are from Apple and their preview pages, we posted these rather than taking our own because there’s technically an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) in place for developers running the iOS 7 betas, not that anyone else is paying attention to that or anything….

iOS 7 brings a significant user interface overhaul to Apple’s mobile devices, and though it’s best to be experienced and used first hand, screen shots can do a fair job of demonstrating the differences. If you’re not a developer and can’t use the beta releases yourself, then comparing iOS 7 to iOS 6 side-by-side can give an appreciation for the changes ahead, so we rounded up a few comparisons of the home screens, common apps and app interfaces like Notifications, Siri, Messages, Mail, multitasking, and Weather, and also a large side-by-side chart showing the differences between icons in both iOS versions. Take a look.

Comparing Home Screens: iOS 6 vs iOS 7

The iOS 7 visual overhaul has drawn a fair amount of criticism, most of which seems to surround the home screen. Whether it’s the choice of icons (more on that below), the lack of shadows under icons and text, or the simplified Dock which is now just a simple blurred bar at the bottom of the screen. Admittedly, the first boot of iOS 7 (at least in beta 1) is a bit jarring, largely because of the default wallpaper choice of the microdotted pastels, shown here compared to a screen shot of iOS 6:

Interestingly, Apple uses a different wallpaper to demo iOS 7 on their website previews and that alternate wallpaper winds up making everything look better. The home screen is otherwise the same:

Common Apps in iOS 6 vs iOS 7

iOS 7 really starts to shine when you look at individual apps and their visual changes when compared to the prior versions of iOS. The focus is on simplification, modernization, and refinement, and it works very well:

Notifications Center before and after:

Messages removes all the bubble elements and winds up looking quite different, shown before and after:

Siri gets a new UI, shown before and after UI:

Weather is redesigned and the new app is beautiful, looking similar to the popular Yahoo Weather app:

Multitasking shown before and after are so different that users will have to get used to completely different interaction, even quitting apps is different, and it remains to be seen how multitasking is handled on the iPad through gestures with iOS 7:

Mail redesign is mostly just simplification, both in mailbox selection and composition:

Comparing Icons of iOS 6 vs iOS 7

Every stock icon looks different in iOS 7, some are hard to recognize when compared to their iOS 6 counterparts:

This graphic comparing icons side by side between comes from @pawsupoforu via CultofMac on Twitter.

Comparing iOS 7 vs iOS 7 User Interface Elements

Each UI element has also changed, some rather significantly:

UI element comparison via @ManzoPower on Twitter.

Apple has yet to provide an official list of OS X 10.9 compatible Macs, but as we mentioned before regarding the first Mavericks Developer Preview, most Mac hardware that supports OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) should be able run OS X Mavericks (10.9) without any issue. This has been confirmed apparently by AppleInsider, who notes that Macs can even upgrade to Mavericks directly from OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 without having installed 10.7 or 10.8, assuming they meet the system requirements.

OS X Mavericks System Requirements

Macs must have a 64-bit Intel CPU and an advanced GPU to run OS X 10.9, additionally, at least 8GB of available disk space is required for installation. An internet connection is required to download OS X Mavericks.

OS X Mavericks Supported Hardware List

AppleInsider has provided the following list of what they say is Mavericks-compatible Mac hardware, it should be noted the initial list matches the supported list from 10.8 identically, and it could change by the time the final version ships.

• iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
• MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
• Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
• Xserve (Early 2009)

Features like Notification Syncing that rely on iOS-to-OS X integration and vice versa will require iOS 7 to be installed on the mobile devices to function, and obviously any iCloud specific features will require an Apple ID and internet connection to be able to use.

Additionally, features like OpenGL 4, accelerated scrolling, AirPlay Mirroring, AirDrop, PowerNap, and perhaps some of the newer features and system-level performance enhancements may have stricter system requirements, and generally tend to require newer Mac models for full support. Obviously any battery specific improvements to OS X 10.9 will require a portable Mac.

Because OS X Mavericks is currently in beta, it’s possible the system requirements will change before the fall release. Apple has yet to provide an official list of supported hardware or requirements for the next version of OS X, though they have shown what devices will be compatible with iOS 7.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 1 is now available to download directly from Apple. Registered developers can access the installation from Apple’s Developer Center. Much like prior OS X betas, installation of OS X Mavericks is done through the Mac App Store, and it is highly recommended to back up OS X with Time Machine before beginning installation of any beta operating system.

• Get the first developer preview directly from Apple

It appears that most Macs capable of running OS X 10.8 are to be eligible to run 10.9, though many of the iOS-to-OS X features will rely on iOS 7 or newer. To test those cross platform features, developers registered with Apple will also find iOS 7 beta 1 is available as well.

OS X 10.9 includes over 200 new features and enhancements, including Maps, iBooks, a revised Notification center with shared alerts from iOS devices, an all new Safari, an iCloud password keychain, tabs and tags in the Finder, multi-display support with full screen mode, and a wide variety of other improvements under the hood. Much of the refinements in OS X 10.9 are aimed at improving performance of Macs, including extending the battery life of portable devices.

OS X Mavericks is scheduled for a public release this fall.

The first developer release of iOS 7 has arrived and is now available to download. iOS 7 beta 1 has a build number of 11A4372q, and can be installed onto any compatible iOS device, including iPhone 4, 4S, 5 and newer, iPad mini, and iPod touch 5th gen. Currently, iOS 7 beta does not yet support any iPad model, but that is expected to change in the coming weeks as Apple continues to create new image assets for the major interface overhaul for the larger screened iPad, which it will be compatible with for nearly all versions post 1st gen.

It is highly recommended to back up any devices with iCloud or iTunes before installing iOS 7, then once finished with the installation you can restore from the backup that was created beforehand. Initial reports are that that iOS 7 beta 1 is certainly usable, though there are some quirks and bugs which is to be expected with a beta release.

iOS 7 Beta 1 Download Links

These are hosted directly by Apple as DMG files. A developer login is required.

• iPhone 5 (Model A1428 GSM)
• iPhone 5 (Model A1429 CDMA)
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4 (GSM Rev A)
• iPhone 4 (GSM)
• iPhone 4 (CDMA)
• iPod touch (5th gen)
• Mobile Device Installer Package

Only those registered with Apple’s developer programs are eligible to download the iOS 7 beta IPSW files. As usual, Apple cautions “Unauthorized distribution or disclosure of Apple Confidential Information is prohibited.” Developers (and the curious) who would like to try out iOS 7 themselves, but who are not yet part of the official DevCenter program, can register with Apple here and pay a $99 yearly fee to gain access to the beta releases of iOS and OS X software.

OS X Mavericks (10.9) will be out later this year, but you don’t have to wait that long to get the sweet new wave wallpaper that will be the default desktop background on future Macs and OS X releases.

• Grab the full resolution version (mirror) or get it directly from Apple (5120×2880, 1.1MB)

You can also get the wallpaper by clicking the image above. This is the full retina resolution uncompressed version directly from Apple, a lower res variation is floating around but you may find some artifacts in that version, so it’s best to grab the full-res if you want to have it look it’s best at all screen resolutions. Put this on your Mac or iOS devices in anticipation for the fall public release of Mavericks… it looks pretty great. Interesting to note is the 5120×2880 resolution, which is 2x what the default wallpapers are for OS X right now… suggesting a retina Mac is in the works somewhere…

In case you were interested in some background, the wave pictured in the shot is from Mavericks, a popular big-wave surf spot north of Half Moon Bay in California, which is also what OS X 10.9 Mavericks is named after.

Want some more wave wallpapers? You may recall that we posted a gallery of wave backgrounds last month… ;] check them out too!

Obviously iOS 7 looks incredible enough that virtually every single iPhone, iPad, and iPod owner on the planet is going to want to run the amazing new iOS on their devices… leading to the big question on everyones minds being, what devices does iOS 7 support? And what new features work on which device? The full lists are below, but it’s safe to assume that basically any semi-new iOS device has full support, though not all devices compatible with iOS 7 will get every single feature (like AirDrop).

Here is what we know so far, courtesy of Apple:

iOS 7 Supported Devices

These are the officially supported iOS 7 devices:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 5
• iPad 2
• iPad 3
• iPad 4
• iPad Mini
• iPod touch 5th gen

Of course, any new and unannounced iOS devices released this fall (likely alongside iOS 7) will also support the major update.

iOS 7 Compatibility List

Wondering which devices will support certain features? Here’s what we know so far from Apple:

• AirDrop – iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch 5th gen
• Swipe & Panorama Photos – iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch 5th gen
• Square photos and video formats – iPhone 4 and newer, iPad 3rd generation and newer, iPad mini, iPod touch 5th gen
• Live filters from Camera app – iPhone 5, iPod touch 5th gen
• Filters in Photos app – iPhone 4 and newer, iPad 3 and newer
• iTunes Radio – All iOS 7 devices will get iTunes Radio through the Music app

Apple does note that features are subjected to change though, so there could be some changes in either the supported devices or compatible features list before the release this fall.

iOS 7 is the most significant update to iOS since the original iPhone debuted, and Apple executives are describing installing iOS 7 as “like getting an entirely new phone”. Packed with tons of features and a beautiful new interface, with tons of animated interface elements that respond to movement of the device and provide a 3D appearance, it really must be seen to believe. Let’s review some of what was shown today at WWDC 2013, covering some of the major features and, of course, some screenshots too.

Developers can get their hands on iOS 7 Beta 1 today, but the rest of us will have to wait until Fall to install it on our iPads and iPhones (assuming they meet this iOS 7 compatibility list). Until then, check out these gorgeous screenshots and feature list…

iOS 7 Screen Shots

Many of the new interface elements must be seen live in video to understand just how fancy they are, and Apple has an excellent webpage up with videos demonstrating the features, take a look over there to see. Here are some official screenshots from Apple.

iOS 7 icons & homescreen:

Here is the quick access settings panel Control Center, the new Notification Center, and the new Multitasking interface:

iTunes Radio, Photos with Moments, and AirDrop Sharing:

New Mail app, new Weather app, and the all new Messages app:

Screen shots of iTunes Radio, new Multitasking UI, home screen, Control Center, and Safari tab browser:

So what is all this new stuff? Check out the all new features and enhancements…

iOS 7 Features

So what is all this new stuff? Here’s a greater look at the features and various enhancements, with screen caps from WWDC.

Control Center

Quick settings panel, swipe up from the bottom to reveal settings, brightness adjustments, flashlight app, access AirPlay, accessible from the lock screen

Control Center is accessible from anywhere in iOS, including the lock screen

New Multitasking Interface

Swipe between running apps, see full live previews of active apps, tapping any of them brings that app to become active

Safari

Safari gets a beautiful new interface, and a very fancy tab, bookmark, and window browsing feature

AirDrop Sharing

Easy file sharing between iOS devices (and presumably, Macs), accessible from share sheets system-wide, provides encrypted peer-to-peer transfers directly between devices

Camera with Filters

The Camera app has been redesigned, now includes filters, and an improved interface with easy swiping between features

Photos app

Photos app will now automatically organizes photos into moments, grouped by date and location, sort by month, or even by year, easy scrubbing between photos for previews, allows for instant image editing with filters, new sharing options include AirDrop and Flickr

Shared iCloud Photo Streams

Anyone invited to a Photo Stream can now add new photos to photo streams, supports video sharing as well

Siri

Siri gets a new interface, can switch between male and female voices without the old trick of changing languages, can perform system tasks like “increase brightness”, integrated with Twitter, Wikipedia, and Bing Search is now integrated

iOS in the Car

The iOS interface can now be outputted to in-car displays with support for Siri, Maps, iMessages, Phone, and more. Will debut in 2014 with many, many car manufactures.

App Store

The App Store gets a huge refresh, and apps automatically update in the background now. New ways to find apps based on age recommendations or location.

iTunes Radio in Music App

iTunes Radio is a streaming music service from Apple, built into the Music app. Featured Stations, create your own stations, share stations with friends, buy songs directly from iTunes Radio, skip songs

FaceTime Audio Calls over Wi-Fi

You can now make audio-only FaceTime calls without the quirky tricks of enabling audio-only

Phone, FaceTime, and Message Blocking

No more funky block lists to block annoying callers. You can now natively block anyone system-wide from calling you, facetiming, or sending messages and texts

Notification Syncing Between Devices

Acknowledge a notification on one device, and you don’t have to see it on your other devices. Syncs with OS X Mavericks and allows for cross-platform notification management and alerts.

Activation Lock

A huge anti-theft deterrent, Activation Lock ties iOS devices to Apple ID’s and allows you to block a device from being used, even if it was formatted or restored. Prevents stolen iPhones from being used by anyone except their rightful owner.

There’s much more too, be sure to check out Apple.com!

Apple announced a significant MacBook Air update today at WWDC alongside the all new Mac Pro, and the new Air includes dramatic battery life that lasts all day.

New MacBook Air Features

The new MacBook Air includes all-day battery life for both the 11″ and 13″ version:

• Intel Haswell CPU’s
• MacBook Air 11″ – 9 hour battery life
• MacBook Air 13″ – 12 hour battery life
• 802.11ac wireless
• Dual microphones
• FaceTime HD camera
• Two USB 3.0 ports, and a Thunderbolt port

The new MacBook Air is an excellent update for users who require significant battery life, and will be available to order today.

In the past, Apple has included a free update to future versions of OS X with new hardware, and it’s possible these new MacBook Air’s will be able to get an update to OS X Mavericks when it’s released later this year.

Apple gave a sneak peak of the all new Mac Pro at WWDC 2013, setting very high expectations for the release later in the year. Professional users will be extremely excited with the new Mac Pro, which looks like something out of the future that has been somehow transported to our era, and the specs are equally as impressive.

New Mac Pro Features

• Unified thermal core
• Intel XEON, up to 12 core CPU’s
• ECC Memory, 1866Mhz DDR3 RAM
• Thunderbolt 2: 6 Thunderbolt devices per port
• New Flash storage, 1.2GBps reads per second, 1GBPs writes
• Dual AMD FirePro GPU’s
• Supports up to three 4K displays (retina displays…)
• 1/8th the volume of the prior gen Mac Pro
• HDMI out, gigabit ethernet, lights up IO ports, top is a handle
• Released later this year
• Made in the USA
• OS X Mavericks pre-installed

Here’s what it looks like opened, almost looks like a Darth Vader helmet:

Wow.

There is no precise release date for the new Mac Pro yet, and likewise we have no information on pricing. It’s likely that the new Mac Pro will come out this fall alongside OS X Mavericks, and pricing is probably similar to that of the current Mac Pro, meaning it won’t be cheap, but wow it looks worth it.

Check out Apple’s awesome preview page for the new Mac Pro

The next version of the Mac operating system, OS X 10.9, is officially labeled as OS X Mavericks. Mavericks, named after an epic surfing spot in northern California, has a lot of new features, but also represents a change in naming conventions away from the familiar cat themes. In future versions of OS X will follow the same naming convention and all be named after inspirational places throughout California, where Apple is located.

OS X Mavericks Features

Many of the OS X Mavericks features are aimed at power users, some of the feature highlights include:

• Finder has tabs support with drag and drop, window merging, and full-screen support
• Tags come to the Mac for searching meta data, tags show up in the sidebar
• Multi-display enhancements: support for full screen, menus span multiple displays, Docks can be summoned from any display, spaces span independently across multiple monitors
• Significant performance improvements, including compressed memory, AppNap, Timer Coalescing, OpenGL 4, accelerated smoothed scrolling
• AppNap suspends and resumes background apps and processes on the fly, behind the scene (very similar to the command line tools we have discussed here, except automated)
• Safari 7 includes major under-the-hood improvements, and includes a social stream and link sharing feature that watches your social networks for interesting links
• iCloud keychain keeps track of all passwords and logins, stores them encrypted in iCloud and remembers all logins, Safari will auto-suggest ultra strong passwords
• Notification Center improvements, you can now respond directly to Notifications from the Notification Center without launching the specific apps, and iOS push notifications will arrive in OS X, they will also show up on the lock screen of OS X
• Apps automatically update in the background
• Skeumorphic interfaces are gone, missing from apps, from Calendar, Reminders, etc
• Calendar improvements provides suggestions, weather updates for location, travel expectations for time to arrival, and much more
• Maps come to OS X, can send directions from Mac Maps to iOS Maps
• iBooks arrives on OS X as a book reader, syncs with iOS devices, allows note annotation, includes built-in study cards based on notes

By the way, if you want that awesome new default background picture, you can grab the Mavericks wave wallpaper here.

OS X Mavericks Screen Shots

Finder in OS X Mavericks:

Tags in Finder:

Multi-monitor Support

Respond to Notifications directly from Notification Center, Notifications come to the Mac from your iOS devices:

Pictures captured from WWDC livestream and from Apple.com. Be sure to check out Apple’s official preview page for more information and walkthroughs.

OS X Mavericks release date is set for Fall 2013

Over 200 new features, enhancements, and improvements, makes Mavericks it an excellent update to the Mac operating system. Developers gain access to Mavericks preview today.