Apple will release its first public beta of OS X Yosemite early Thursday.
Redemption codes for the beta, the first OS X preview available to the public in 14 years, will go out via email tomorrow to those who have registered with the program, which Apple unveiled last month at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
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According to reports by people briefed by Apple, the Yosemite sneak peek will be available at approximately 10 a.m. PT, 1 p.m. ET.
The public beta will be identical to the fourth developer preview that Apple released on Monday. That update was available only to registered developers, who pay $99 annually for access to pre-release Mac software so they can begin crafting or modifying their own applications.
Apple will update the developer preview more frequently than it does the public beta. Apple issued two developer builds in June, another pair this month.
Although Apple has declined to set a launch date for the final, polished version of Yosemite, Computerworld forecast that it would ship on Oct. 15 or Oct. 22, the two dates that best match the timeline the Cupertino, Calif. company used in 2013 for OS X Mavericks, Yosemite's predecessor.
While the timetable remains uncertain, the price has not: OS X Yosemite will be available free of charge to all customers with eligible Macs.
To run the public beta, Mac owners must be using a machine that meets Yosemite's hardware requirements. The Mac must also already be running Mavericks.
OS X 10.10 -- Yosemite's numerical designation -- will run on iMacs from the mid-2007 model on; on 13-in. MacBooks from late 2008 (aluminum case) and early 2009 (plastic case) forward; MacBook Pro notebooks from mid- and late-2007 and on; MacBook Air ultra-light laptops from late 2008 and later; Mac Mini desktops from early 2009 and after; and the much beefier Mac Pro desktops from early 2008 and later.
With the public beta in circulation, it's certain that Yosemite will have a leg up on user share compared to past upgrades. Mavericks, for instance, powered one-tenth of one percent of all Macs in September 2013, the month before it released, that share based strictly on developers, who were the only ones authorized to run the OS.
The earlier start will likely drive Yosemite to a higher user share than Mavericks over time as well. As of June, Mavericks powered 59% of all Macs in use, and by Computerworld's projections, will end its reign with around a 70% share before Yosemite is officially launched in October. That will make Mavericks even more popular than OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard at the zenith of its dominance in mid-2011.
But there's also a possible risk to Apple by releasing an early build to the general public.
If the beta is not as stable as Apple thinks, and lots of users run into problems -- and the developer preview that shipped Monday is far from problem-free, according to reports -- Apple may come under fire. Many users, trained by a constant barrage of betas over the past years by companies that regularly issue works in progress -- Google comes to mind, but Microsoft has also been a big believer in the power of previews -- simply don't make a distinction between what's finished and what's not. That could lead to grousing and grumbling even while defenders remind everyone that a beta is a beta for a reason.
Mac users who want to try the public beta must register on Apple's website.
Apple is still taking requests for the upcoming public beta of OS X Yosemite. (Image: Apple)
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.
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This story, "Apple unwraps OS X Yosemite public beta Thursday" was originally published by Computerworld.