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Big Sur -Public Beta
- Thread starter gw0gvq
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The question I've been pondering though is, with the exception of the new UI, do Intel mac users have a real reason to upgrade to Big Sur after it's released to the public ? It seems like the really big features such as being able to run iOS apps, and iPadOS apps directly on the mac without change is reserved to macs with ARM. I'm not saying I don't like the new UI, as I do, but while testing stuff out, It really doesn't feel different functionality wise over Catalina. Is the new look going to be enough for people to upgrade, especially those in an environment where stability is key ?
how is this different than 90% of the OSes we've gone thru since around 10.4? each new OS is a build upon the previous, with new features, GUI changes, etc.
but what always interests me most is what's happening under the hood, my main reason to update regularly. and yes, some things are ugly (i still vote for the stickies icon as 'ugliest ever', even with the new icon).
I hear you, and while you are correct, the main difference between tiger and newer was the PowerPC to Intel transition.
With this said, It was still possible to run most PPC apps through Rosetta, so that didn't take away from software that could run. With the Intel to ARM Transition, that will still be possible with Rosetta 2. That I understand. My main question is, for current Intel users, will there really be any big changes to upgrade for outside the UI, it looks to me most of the changes are for ARM macs, meaning it would be a bigger benefit to get new hardware first. An example here is, I am looking forward to running some of the apps I use, on the iPad, and Phone, on the Mac, however, this will not fully be possible unless I get a whole new computer, and while I may do so in a few more years, right now, it's not worth the cost, and time, and it sounds like, as I said, while I like the new interface, beyond that I won't be getting much outside of that over what I already have on my current iMac.
I'm finding just the opposite. Reboots, and even log-out/log-ins are much faster than with Catalina and Mojave.
going from any mac os in the last decade or so is a similar move forward, so you can move to big sur... or not. what cost? and how much time? and how is it different going to, say catalina (much more involved, moving to a 64-bit-only architecture), of going from, say high sierra to mojave>
but do what works for you.
but do what works for you.
I simply meant buying a new mac at this point just to get arm only features isn't worth the cost at this point as what I have works and meets my needs. You make a good point though, I thought going from Mojave to Catalina was going to be a bigger pain than it actually was when it comes to dropping 32-bit support. Thankfully all my major apps were ready, and the only thing I keep a copy of Mojave around for now, are old DOS games that weren't updated to run within a 64 bit runtime. Truthfully though, I haven't really missed them.
Anyway, sorry if I my thoughts were a bit misleading here. I was simply thinking out loud based on my experience testing the beta compared to Catalina, and so far, the only thing I've found new to me was the new user interface. So that's why I asked if that's all intel Mac users get at this point.
What Mac do you have? I’ve been testing on my 2014 MacBook Pro retina, general day to day is quicker but I’m not so sure about boot and reboot
I have the Public beta on a late 2013 MBP (13-inch), and I would say that I haven't noticed much difference either way, when it comes ot overall speed. The two mac models are also just a slight spec bump as well, unless yours has a dedicated GPU, where mine only has integrated. Just giving some additional feedback from a similar specked machine running the public beta.
I've got Big Sur on a 2015 Mac – the 1st gen butterfly one that everyone loves to hate – and it runs superbly. Instant-on when the lid opens from sleep, and on a fresh boot it's about 5 seconds to the password entry window. Mojave would have a think about it.
My only Big Sur niggle is the right-click menu on dock icons is all-white in dark mode. Been fiddling and on-and-offing things, but no go so far.
My only Big Sur niggle is the right-click menu on dock icons is all-white in dark mode. Been fiddling and on-and-offing things, but no go so far.
well I have a 2017 13“ i7 16GB installed PB on a 2nd partition. To mee it seems snappier could be that the animations are faster and or that I did a clean install and busted copied over a bunch of apps via „shared“ for testing (office 365 etc.) might just be a placebo effect as shiney shiney but lets see. Next move is I’ll use the migration assistant to been over my settings and keychain. Etc. let’s see if is still snappier when really „configured“ but I do agree that startup and „restart“ is a lot faster
Does someone know if the weather widget can be edited to add more cities? I miss the old weather widget on the old sidebar 
By the way a huge bug (or maybe not that huge) that's driving me crazy is that when I go to login to any website/forum whatever, the Touch ID pop-up that should appear right underneath the login box now appears on a random place on the screen...
By the way a huge bug (or maybe not that huge) that's driving me crazy is that when I go to login to any website/forum whatever, the Touch ID pop-up that should appear right underneath the login box now appears on a random place on the screen...
Open Notification Center>Choose Edit Widgets>Choose Weather>Click on the widget, it will flip over>enter Location. Very intuitive.Does someone know if the weather widget can be edited to add more cities? I miss the old weather widget on the old sidebar
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Open Notification Center>Choose Edit Widgets>Choose Weather>Click on the widget, it will flip over>enter Location. Very intuitive.
It's very intuitive if you only want to know the weather in one city, but there's no way to have 2 or more cities at the same time on the widget.
i have a 2013 unsupported mbp I want to download big sur public beta to my download directory - can I do this?????
You can have multiple widgets for weather though, if that helps, on for each city. The weather widget isn't built to do multiple in 1 widget.
I also miss the third party widgets, like Monity or Deliveries.
They will come, when Devs make ones for the new Widget interface ☺️
Ah mine is 15” with nVidia. Tbh since I posted it does seem to be nippier starting up. It’s hard to tell.
Does it bother anyone else that with dark mode on the Safari Menu Bar is this light grey/blue shade rather than black/grey as it was in Catalina? Guessing there's no way I can change this...
Overall I'm enjoying the beta and find the OS to be mostly beautiful and smooth. A lot of my initial dislike really just came from that disgusting color splash art they default to with the background in all they marketing for Big Sur - it looks 100% better if you just pick the Big Sur wallpaper haha.
Overall I'm enjoying the beta and find the OS to be mostly beautiful and smooth. A lot of my initial dislike really just came from that disgusting color splash art they default to with the background in all they marketing for Big Sur - it looks 100% better if you just pick the Big Sur wallpaper haha.
For me Catalina was stable, this is a beta so it’s never going to be perfect - so way more glitchy than 10.15.6. Lots of apps need updating, Little Snitch won’t work till it’s updated. Atom works for me, which is all I need at the mo.