Once you've downloaded the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store, don't install it just yet-it will auto-erase the installation app you need if you do. While there are fairly complex ways to create a bootable install drive, I'm going to skip those long processes in favor of using DiskMaker X, which has recently been updated to work with El Capitan.

Don't Miss: How to Dual-Boot Mac OS X Yosemite & El Capitan.

If you're going to use El Capitan on your only computer, you can choose to install it as a dual-boot system, that way you can easily switch back to Yosemite if you find out that you don't like the new OS version. If you have multiple computers that need the El Capitan upgrade, then a bootable install flash drive will make the process easier and faster, since the install file is over 6 GB in size (about a gig larger than Yosemite was!) and could take some time to download on each computer individually. The new OS features Split View mode for better multitasking, a cleaner Mission Control, smarter Spotlight, a way to mute Safari tabs playing audio, enhanced Mail and Notes apps, and more.

Apple's latest update to Mac OS X, 10.11 El Capitan, is currently available in the Mac App Store for everyone to download and install at no cost.

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