Will OS X Yosemite Bring More Grief for Apple? For those willing to brave the possible bugs in an unfinished operating system, Apple's beta version of OS X Yosemite can be installed on any Mac running Mavericks. The beta is free to download, as will be the full update in the fall. Yosemite will replace Apple's Mavericks OS X, which has been plagued with complaints from users.

Apple released to the public the beta version of its OS X 10.10 Yosemite operating system on Thursday. The beta had already been released to developers, but is now open to a limited number of Apple users, marking the first time since 2000 that Apple has made a Mac OS open to the public prior to its completion.Yosemite, which is set to launch this fall, is the successor to Apple's Mavericks OS, which has been plagued with problems since it launched last October. Complaints from users include problems with installation, the Mail app and support for multiple monitors, as well as numerous other issues. Yosemite was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco in June, and is said to support increased integration with Apple's iOS for mobile devices. The company released the fourth preview version of the OS to developers on July 21. A Million Guinea Pigs The public beta is limited to the first million users who sign up. Although Apple fans will have the opportunity to check out Yosemite's new look, some functionality such as making iPhone calls from your Mac or turning your iPhone into a hotspot for your Mac, will remain unavailable for now. For those willing to brave the possible bugs in an unfinished piece of software, the beta can be installed on any Mac running Mavericks. The beta is free to download, as will be the full update in the fall. Users can sign up for the beta program using their Apple IDs. Included among the improvements are a flatter look inspired by the current iOS design, an enhanced toolbar, changes to the way notifications work, and file-sharing with mobile devices through the AirDrop program, similar to the way Dropbox works. Party Like It's 1999 Opening the latest OS beta to the public may give Apple a better shot at avoiding the problems and bad press that plagued Mavericks and the much derided iOS 7 update. However, the company appears to be looking to further integrate the styling of the two operating systems, with screenshots from Yosemite indicating that icons in 10.10 will sport the flatter look of recent iOS updates. Apple hasn't released a public beta of an operating system since the introduction of OS X in 2000. Then, eager users could have a copy of the beta version mailed to them on a CD-ROM for $30. The company's latest move comes amidst allegations that security backdoors in iOS could allow surveillance and law enforcement agencies such as the National Security Agency to access user data stored on the company's 600 million mobile devices. Cupertino has denied the accusations, saying that data cannot be transmitted to third parties without user consent. Apple said it had "never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services." The company has also been accused by Chinese journalists of collecting information on user locations within that country. The security researcher who uncovered the backdoors, Jonathan Zdziarski, said he believed the vulnerabilities were unintentional weaknesses on Apple's part, rather than the result of overt cooperation with the NSA. "I am not suggesting some grand conspiracy," Zdziarski said in a blog post. "There are, however, some services running in iOS that shouldn't be there, that were intentionally added by Apple as part of the firmware and that bypass backup encryption while copying more of your personal data than ever should come off the phone for the average consumer."