The developer preview of OS X Yosemite is already seeing rapid adoption numbers, and it isn’t even officially available yet.
According to new research, Yosemite accounted for 0.2% of OS X ad impressions in North America between the dates of June 2nd and July 2nd. That’s nearly four times the number of Macs running the developer preview of OS X Mavericks this time last year.
Why the big spike in usage? The answer is actually simple.
“In the three days following the release of the first OS X Yosemite Developer Preview, adoption jumped significantly – hitting 0.15% of total U.S. and Canadian Mac OS X Web traffic,” according to Chitika. “That figure is particularly impressive considering that adoption of the OS X Mavericks Developer Preview achieved only a 0.05% share after 30 days. The increased level of aggregate activity for Yosemite is likely partially driven by the prominent changes present in this OS version fueling a higher degree of developer curiosity and experimentation.”
More importantly, Apple isn’t limiting who can test Yosemite to just registered Mac developers this year. Anyone can sign up to help test Yosemite through Apple’s OS X Beta Program.
All you need to give Apple is your Apple ID, and you’ll get sent a redemption code that will let you download the latest Yosemite preview through the Mac App Store.
You have to sign an agreement with Apple before joining the program, because Yosemite is in beta and not intended for normal use like Mavericks. Apple doesn’t want you to be mad if apps don’t work and things randomly crash, because that’s the price you pay for testing software that’s unfinished.
The third developer preview of Yosemite came out just yesterday, and Apple still has several updates to go before it will be ready for public download in the fall.
Chitika also has an interesting graph on the different versions of OS X in use right now. Mavericks is of course leading the race with nearly half of North American adoption.
Source: Chitika
