To effectively test Yosemite, you should make sure to keep it a clean install. The El Capitan installer will give you the opportunity to import settings from your OS X Yosemite partition - as tempting as it is, don’t do it. Once your drive is partitioned, you can install OS X El Capitan on the new partition by downloading the installer on your main partition and choosing the partition when you get to the install screen. Disk Utility will then check the disk and make changes.Size the partition with the slider based on your free space-used space is represented in blue-and give your new partition a name.(This is the topmost hard drive icon in this list.) Select your hard drive volume in the Disk Utility sidebar.Click on Spotlight in the upper right corner of the screen and type in Disk Utility, then select the resulting app that pops up.You’ll also want to make sure you have enough free space for a partition I recommend at least 30GB free for adequate testing. What do I need to do before creating a disk partition?Ībove all else, back up your hard drive using Time Machine or another method. This does divide your available space up, however if you have an 800GB hard drive and split that up into three partitions, each partition is pulling from that 800GB total.

For our purposes, this allows you to create a small testing partition, where you can play with El Capitan without fear that a bug may cripple your day-to-day operations.

It’s kind of like a map: If the UK were to stand in and play the part of your hard drive, England and Wales would each be separate partitions.Īs such, when you create a separate partition, you can run entirely separate operating systems on it (including, yes, Windows). When you partition your hard drive, you’re essentially splitting it up into multiple autonomous parts. If you want to skip that potential hassle and terror, I suggest using your Mac’s built-in Disk Utility software to create a safe space to toy around with El Cap: a disk partition.

Sure, you can install it on your primary Mac, but only if you’re willing to endure any potential hiccups to your daily workflow. There will be bugs, quirks, and problems. Whether you’re using the Developer Preview or the newly-released public beta, OS X El Capitan is still beta software. If you want to get a taste of El Capitan but don’t want to wreck your primary machine, here’s how you can install it where it’s not likely to cause problems. OS X El Capitan may be in Public Beta now, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100 percent stable.

Setting up mac mail os x el capitan