Post-WWDC 2013 

A quick recap of some of what I found interesting from the WWDC 2013 keynote. This isn't an exhaustive list, just the bits and pieces I found particularly interesting.

iOS

• Obviously, the UI overhaul is pretty huge. I'm not sold on every element of it (many of the icons are hideous, it looks like some of the transparency makes using some apps challenging), but overall, it's much needed and I many of the issues will be resolved by the final release.
• Background processes are huge, and if Apple can really get that working without killing the battery, it's a massive win.
• Control Center (the quick settings panel) is about 3 years overdue, but still, I'm enthused.
• Gestures, gestures, gestures. Loads of new gestures to make getting around the UI easier, and moving out of a world where everything in iOS is spoon fed to the user. It's still easy to get around, but power users should be able to flip around the interface rarely using a button.

Overall, it's just a massive upgrade and I really can't wait for next couple of betas, as they start to zero in on the final release. I think this is going to be a big win for iOS (and hopefully will be out with a new iPhone in the next few months, because my existing iPhone is on its last legs).

Mac OS X

• Mavericks. Horrible name. Just awful.
• Multiple monitor setup, full screen apps and desktops on dual monitors, putting the dashboard on your secondary display, having the menu bar/dock available on both displays; these all sound minor, but will have a major impact on my workflow. Huge, huge win. Oh, and that doesn't even mention the ability to use an Apple TV-hooked up display as an external display.
• Tags as a first-party element in the OS is a ballsy move. Chances are, most folks won't use it. But if Apple can get your average user to understand tags, it's a big move towards breaking the file/folder paradigm that has held users hostage for years. And will help make the Finder not completely useless. Speaking of making Finder not useless…
• Tabbed Finder. Simple, useful.
• iCloud Keychain, if implemented properly, could be the sort of seamless "everything just works across your Mac and iOS-devices" experience that Apple has needed for a while. But, then again, there's been little that Apple's been able to do on the iCloud side that's been seamless.
• Battery life and performance. Memory compression. "AppNap". All clever ideas to eek performance out of the OS in ways that the user will notice, but won't impact your experience. If they work, these little tweaks (I shouldn't call them little, as I imagine there's a huge amount of work that went into them) will be the things that Windows adopts soon.

I think I'm more excited about Mavericks, except for the name. Both of these upgrades seem like they are meaningful and make me feel like Apple's got their sea legs again, after a tumultuous few months. I'd actually advise, if you have a couple of hours to kill, checking out the keynote and seeing some of the features in motion.