This fall, the 11th consumer version of Mac OS X will be released, for free. OS X 10.10 is better known as Yosemite, and the main thing you need to know about it is that it’s a big visual redesign. All of the features and functionality we’ve come to expect from Macs are still here, but they have a new look that’s closer to the redesign we saw last month on iPhones and iPads with iOS 8.

Every year since the release of the iPhone, we’ve wondered how Apple would negotiate the fact that it has two big, important operating systems. And every year, there are small signs that the two are coming closer together, but they never quite merge, and Apple has so far been adamant that they never will. With Yosemite, that strategy is clearer than ever. Instead of making the Mac ape the iPhone and iPad, Apple is making sure that they all can work together both functionally and aesthetically.

It’s easy to say that Yosemite does to the Mac what iOS 7 did to the iPhone, but that’s not quite right. The design principles in iOS 7 and many of the ideas that make iOS 8 so exciting are lurking behind the semi-translucent interfaces on Yosemite. But they’re not simple copies; this is Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite — emphasis on the Mac.