Apple reminds us that OS X El Capitan is launching tomorrow, September 30th

Apple today issued a press release reminding users that the next version of the Mac operating system, OS X El Capitan, will become available tomorrow (September 30th) on the Mac App Store as a free update. Of course, this has been known since Apple’s September 9th event, which included the Wednesday release date as an easter egg during the new iPhone’s 3D Touch demo. In its announcement today, Apple provides a quote from Craig Federighi that notes the success of the software’s public beta program:

“People love using their Macs, and one of the biggest reasons is the power and ease-of-use of OS X,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “El Capitan refines the Mac experience and improves performance in a lot of little ways that make a very big difference. Feedback from our OS X beta program has been incredibly positive and we think customers are going to love their Macs even more with El Capitan.”

Compared to OS X Yosemite, El Capitan is more of a minor update that focuses on under-the-hood improvements versus new end-user features and design changes. However, the operating system still does include new features such as a split-screen apps mode, new search features in Spotlight, tweaks to Safari, gestures in the Mail app, transit directions in Maps, and a revamped Notes app to match the updated app on iOS. Apple has not announced what time El Capitan will hit the App Store, but we’ll have full coverage of the launch tomorrow.