Apple is taking things up a notch, as it officially launches its new public beta program for OS X Yosemite. This takes traditionally protected software to the first million users who signed up on Apple's site. The introduction for the OS is pretty much similar to that of Microsoft. It gives enthusiasts a chance to work with an early-but-reasonably-stable build in exchange for valuable bug-squashing feedback. Basically, it will keep Yosemite from suffering from some of the general bugs that affected iOS 7.0 as it was launched last year.

The user interface for OS X Yosemite remains unchanged changed since OS X Lion in 2011, and even that was just a tweak of the OS X Leopard in 2007. When iOS 7 got its all-encompassing facelift last year, though the Mac UI would obviously be updated to match ultimately. Yosemite is the release that brings the two UIs back together.

Although Yosemite has taken many cues from iOS 7, it doesn't blindly duplicate mobile design elements regardless of how people use the desktop operating systems. The new icons, for example, still have depth and shadows and that they still come in different shapes and sizes.

Many of the day-to-day third-party Mac apps like Limechat, Spotify, Chrome don't even look out of place next to the new icons in the way that iOS 6-style icons look out of place in iOS 7. Apple's method to the icons extends to each area of the user interface, from buttons and toolbars to the applications themselves. Yosemite looks very different, but it still looks pretty much like OS X. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the entire interface is problem-free, but the transition shouldn't be jarring for most.

The beta versions of operating systems can be downloaded from Apple's developer site even if you've never written a line of code in your life for a mere $198 a year ($99 each for OS X and iOS)