No, the Dallas Mavericks basketball players aren’t being held captive by your Apple Business Consultants. Mavericks is actually Apple’s new moniker for the next upgrade to its OSX operating system. Apple is abandoning its previous series cat names (Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard) and heading for the surf with its upcoming fall release of OSX 10.

Apple’s Mavericks is named after a famous northern California surfing area just a few miles north of Half Moon Bay, where according to Surfline:

“Mavericks … [is] not just a perfect wave, but a perfect 20-foot wave that breaks like a hollow 6-footer, exploding top to bottom with a ferocity that makes brave men shudder.”

Fortunately, Mac users have nothing to fear from the upcoming release. Where the Windows 8 Metro interface completely changed the look and feel of Windows, Mac promises nothing so radical. It will build on the OSX foundation, but will offer improved user interface, better resource management and some additional apps migrating from the iPod and iPad realm.

Here’s a quick rundown:

• Better file management interface through Finder tabs and tags. The new Finder Tabs, according to the Mac preview, “help you declutter your desktop by consolidating multiple Finder windows into one.“ Then the tags feature will allow you to embed one or more keywords in a file for project groupings across all your file folders and multiple applications.
• Better multiple display management. Mavericks does not require you to designate a primary and secondary display. Hook up more than one display and each will have its own menu bar and dock, as well as the ability to run full-screen apps on both screen.
• Improved Calendar. The calendar has a new flat, sleeker look, continuous monthly scrolling for partial multiple month viewing as well as an intuitive event inspector that digs into your contacts to suggest addresses as you start typing in the location field. It also integrates with the iMap app to get directions and travel times. (See below.)
• A faster and slicker Safari web browser. Mac promises “Safari in OS X Mavericks [will deliver] blazing performance and breakthrough technologies.” Look for a power-saving feature where you won’t have to waste power accessing background or plug-in content.
• A new iCloud Keychain where you only have to maintain one Keychain inventory for all your passwords. You’ll be able to use the same Keychain on all your devices.
• Mac iBooks comes with Mavericks. Whatever books you have already downloaded to your other devices will show up on your Mac.
• Mavericks will also throw in iMap. According to the Apple preview, “The Maps app lets you use every pixel of your display to explore new destinations, and it takes full advantage of the graphics power of your Mac.”

Advance beta tester reviews of Mavericks have been generally favorable. The new release, providing Apple holds down the cost of upgrading as it did with the Mountain Lion version, promises to be slam-dunk hit and worth the upgrade.