By the time you read this, the latest version of Mac OS X – sorry – macOS, will be available to download from the App Store. macOS 10.12 Sierra, to give it its full title, finally sees Apple move away from the OS X nomenclature given to every version of its desktop operating system since 2001.
You might be thinking, "Why macOS?" Well, the answer is simple: the new naming convention brings it in line with Apple's other operating systems: iOS,watchOS and tvOS. After previously naming versions of OS X after big cats of some description, the company turned to locations in California for recent releases.
This latest one name-checks Sierra County, which is home to the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range depicted in the default wallpaper. And it looks awesome on a Retina display.
How to download macOS Sierra right now
Apple tends to release new versions of macOS with a "tick, tock" cadence. Back in 2009 it followed up OS X 10.5 Leopard, which introduced hundreds of new features and improvements, with Snow Leopard – a performance-focused update. It repeated the trick with Sierra's predecessor, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, which was basically a much faster version of Yosemite with a few new multi-tasking features baked in for good measure.
Instead of using the new name as an opportunity to overhaul OS X, Apple has made Sierra another iterative release in the vein of its recent predecessors.
However, it makes a clear attempt at swinging the focus back to
