OS X Mavericks, the tenth major release of Apple’s desktop operating system, is now available, for free. Slashing the price to zero is a smart smart move by the Cupertino giant, coupled with the fact that its making iWork and iLife updates also free, for existing users.

Craig Federighi (Senior vice president, Software Engineering, Apple): We want every Mac user to experience the latest features, the most advanced technologies, and the strongest security. We believe the best way to do this is to begin a new era of personal computing software where OS upgrades are free.

If you are thinking of downloading the software right away, you probably can. Unlike iOS 7, we faced no major or minor connectivity issues with the App store.

OS X Mavericks is a 5.29 GB update, so keep that in mind while downloading; you can let the download happen in the background, and continue working. It is always a good idea to have your systems backed up, before installing major updates.

A quick look at some of the OS X Mavericks features now:

1. Access to iBooks library, which is now available for both iOS and Macs.
2. Apple Maps is also available for Macs now. Users can plan a trip from their Mac and send it to iPhone.
3. An updated Calendar estimates travel time between appointments, and provides a map with weather forecast.
4. A new version of Safari with Shared Links, which lets users consolidate links shared by people they follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.
5. Enhanced multi-display support, with no configuration required.
6. Interactive Notifications, letting users reply to messages, respond to a FaceTime call, or delete emails without leaving their current app.
7. Finder Tabs, which lets users consolidate multiple Finder windows into a single window with multiple tabs. Finder Tags, lets users tag, organize, and find files located on Mac/iCloud.
8. Timer Coalescing and App Nap help save energy and reduce power consumption.
9. Compressed Memory automatically shrinks inactive data.
10. Optimized OpenCL support and dynamic video memory allocation.

Any Mac capable of running OS X Mountain Lion can also run Mavericks. You can also get a free upgrade to Mavericks directly from OS X Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion.

OS X Server 3.0 requires Mavericks and is available from the Mac App Store for $19.99.

[Image courtesy: Apple]

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