Installing OS X 10.11 El Capitan Once the update goes live, download times are likely to be long as users around the world look to upgrade their systems all at once.

How to clean install OS X El Capitan on your Mac Step 1: Double-check to see bootable USB flash drive is securely connected to your Mac and restart the computer.

As expected, OS X El Capitan has been released and can be downloaded right now from the Mac App Store. Here’s how to perform a clean install of OS X El Capitan.

1. If the "Install OS X El Capitan" application is not already in your Applications folder, download it from the App Store. 2.

Install the El Capitan beta on that drive and boot from it whenever you want to test El Capitan. If you have problems with the beta OS, at least they won’t affect your “production” Mac.

OS X El Capitan takes the legacy of Yosemite's features to a new level. It's easy to enjoy the new OS for Mac: all you need is a compatible computer, 8GB flash drive and directions on how to install.

Reasons to install OS X El Capitan and reasons not to install. We’ve heard from users who bought new Macs in 2016 and found them running OS X Yosemite, which brought them to this decision.

The developer beta of OS X El Capitan has been available since WWDC in June, but to get it you needed to sign up for one of Apple's $99-a-year developer accounts.