Apple Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan Developer Beta 1 now available for download

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan Beta 1 for developers. In order to download the newest release of Apple's desktop platform, you will have to be registered in the Apple Developer Program for Mac.

El Capitan does not offer a major update over OS X Yosemite. Instead it builds on the desktop platforms features, further strengthening its core set of features. Despite the lack of substantial features, the enhancements in El Capitan make the update rather rewarding.

Apple has not been shy about borrowing some features from its competitors for El Capitan. Firstly we have a new window management feature, which allows users to snap windows into place similarly to what Microsoft offers on Windows. The second feature being the introduction of some new gestures to help trigger actions without hunting for a button, again, a very handy feature.The update also offers several other smaller, yet useful improvements, such as the new audio button in Safari, tab pinning, and natural-language search throughout the OS.

But Apple's overall goal has been to offer a more powerful and smoother user experience. According to the company, OS X El Capitan is much faster than its predecessor, and well, it should be, but perhaps the most impressive update is the addition of Metal support, which lets developers make full use of the hardware El Capitan is running on to deliver the ultimate performance in gaming – just like how developers can on iOS.

Registered developers will be able to download the first beta of El Capitan immediately by heading to the Mac Developer portal. General users who are keen on trying out these new features should head over to the Apple Beta Portal and enroll to partake in the public beta which arrives in July.

Keep in mind that this is still a pre-release build of Mac OS and should only be tested on a spare Mac. The final release will arrive later this fall, bringing all of the enhancements to the public.