Mac OS X Yosemite download: How to get the open beta of Apple's latest operating system

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Want to get your hands on the latest version of Apple’s operating system for computers? Well, access to the OS X Yosemite beta is now available to the first million users to sign up on Apple’s website.

The beta is being distributed to let users give Apple feedback about the software before its full release in Autumn this year.

“To join the OS X Beta Program, just sign up using your Apple ID. When the beta software is ready, you’ll receive a redemption code that will allow you to download and install OS X Yosemite Beta from the Mac App Store,” says Apple.

And what’s new in OS X Yosemite? Well, quite a lot really: pretty much the whole of the interface has been given a fresh lick of paint (including – gasp – changes to basic things like the close button); there’s plenty of changes to core features like the Notification Center and Spotlight; and Apple is also promising a greater integration between mobile and desktop under a bunch of new initiatives called ‘Continuity’.

This includes all sorts of interesting features, including being allowed to answer and place calls through your iPhone using your desktop and quickly swipe open browser pages from your iPad to your MacBook.

For many in the tech world this sort of back-and-forth looks essential to the future of computing – especially as mobile devices become the ‘first’ computer in many peoples’ lives. And some companies are going even further than Apple – Microsoft announced this week that it wants a single operating system for tablets, phones and PCs.