Do you think Catalina will be stable, snappy and smooth at launch?

[Populus]

I'm planning a drive replacement on my 2014 Mac mini, exchanging my 5400 rpms HDD for a fast Samsung 860 SSD. And I'm waiting because I literally don't know which Operating System install from scratch, the latest Mojave or wait for the first Catalina version.

I'm sick and tired of reading lots of complaints about Catalina being supper buggy, with lots of sync issues. And honestly, we are in September, in less than a month Catalina will probably be released, and I don't think it will be stable enough, but maybe I'm wrong, that's why I'm here to ask your opinion.

Should I wait, and install Catalina on the new SSD the release day? Or I should install the last version of Mojave and stay there until 2020?

Also: I'd like to install iOS 13 on my iPhone 8, and on my iPad Pro 11" as soon as I can, because external storage and other features are crucial for me. And I'm afraid I won't have a good sync between Mojave and iOS 13.

I'll gladly read your comments, especially from those who are using the beta, and especially from those who are running the beta on a 2014 mini. YES, I KNOW A BETA SOFTWARE IS USUALLY UNSTABLE, just in case someone will throw that comment here. But we are less than a month ahead of the release, and from what I read, Catalina is not mature enough, unlike releases like Sierra or High Sierra.

 

[theapplehead]

Catalina will be released in the next two weeks, I believe. In my opinion, it is far from being stable. I would 100% recommend installing the latest version of Mojave since it is the most stable version it could possibly be. I would advise staying away from Catalina for a few weeks after the public release so there is some time to see what the masses are saying. In short, install Mojave, not Catalina.

 

[mikzn]

I have been on Beta since Beta 4

I like the option to "Try / Test" a beta version and even once the version is released because - you still have to consider software applications that may not have caught up and may not work with the new Catalina OS

I don't have any complaints about Catalina - no crashes, iCloud works fine for me (so far) - High Sierra was much more of a concern in comparison - IMHO.

That said, I am running Catalina on a separate (clean install) drive and only installing software - one at a time - to test and make sure things are ok - while continuing to keep my main drivers on Mojave

Same on iOS / iOS Pad

None of my OS drives are HDD - all are SSD - it is worth the expense to put the new drive on SSD

HDD is fine for archive and access - but why install a new OS ?

And like you mentioned - it is still Beta - LOL

 

[Populus]

None of my OS drives are HDD - all are SSD - it is worth the expense to put the new drive on SSD

HDD is fine for archive and access - but why install a new OS ?

I'm planning a drive replacement on my 2014 Mac mini, exchanging my 5400 rpms HDD for a fast Samsung 860 SSD.

________

Catalina will be released in the next two weeks, I believe. In my opinion, it is far from being stable. I would 100% recommend installing the latest version of Mojave since it is the most stable version it could possibly be. I would advise staying away from Catalina for a few weeks after the public release so there is some time to see what the masses are saying. In short, install Mojave, not Catalina.

I think you're right, and I'm closer to your position. The only problem is that I will be using iOS 13 along with Mojave, and sometimes it has brought me some incompatibilities. Hopefully this time there won't be many.

Also, I'm eager to get rid of iTunes (lol), and having just a music app.

Thank you to everyone for voting and commenting!

 

[tibas92013]

I am now in the process of updating my MM(Late 2014), 2.8GHz,8GB Ram,256SSD from OS High Sierra to OS Mojave. I plan to update to OS Catalina a week or so before the next major Mac OS Update happens in a year or so. I have been using this system for the last five(5) years or so which has work well for me.

 

[Jack Neill]

I am now in the process of updating my MM(Late 2014), 2.8GHz,8GB Ram,256SSD from OS High Sierra to OS Mojave. I plan to update to OS Catalina a week or so before the next major Mac OS Update happens in a year or so. I have been using this system for the last five(5) years or so which has work well for me.

You've been missing out then, Mojave is miles ahead of High Sierra in stability and speed.

 

[tibas92013]

You've been missing out then, Mojave is miles ahead of High Sierra in stability and speed.

I guess I will find out if this is so for my MM over the next year or so.

Also, I am now updating from Mac OS Sierra to Mac OS High Sierra on my other MM(Late 2012),16GB Ram,500GB HD.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

Catalina is far from being ready to release. I'm excited to see how they handle this one.

 

[nortonandreev]

It depends on when it will be released, but if it’s September...

 

[adrianlondon]

It currently has some minor issues but no show-stoppers for me. The apps I like to use work ok (well, apart from the 32-bit ones) and I've not had any OS crashes/reboots.

A couple of my Applescripts are failing and iMessage (Messages.app) is a bit of a mess but both my feedbacks are marked as "more than 10" similar reports so I expect them to be fixed before release.

I'll be sticking with Catalina. It runs surprisingly well on my late-2013 MBP. When I think that this is a 6 year old laptop, I'm impressed.

 

[CTHarrryH]

There will be at least 1 thread on this forum about how bad it is and how unstable and slow even if it isn't so how will we know

 

[user_xyz]

I'll wait at least 6-8 months after release.

 

[kemo]

As usual, I'll personally wait at least until .2 or .3 before trying to install it on my Macbook Pro, which I use daily and I rely on with my web development work. It never hurts to wait a bit. No matter what others say - whether it's rock solid or not, developing a complex software like OS is something which most of the time is not done on planned schedule and as you can see latest beta is a proof of that.

If that means I won't and can't update my mobile devices (iPhone XS, iPad Pro) to the latest, so be it. It will only gets polished by the time I will be installing it so no big deal for me.
[doublepost=1568008944][/doublepost]

I'll wait at least 6-8 months after release.

This is definitely a wise time to wait as I highly doubt Catalina will be stable enough to not encounter bugs on daily/weekly basis, heck even Mojave got some bugs such as sleep/wake one fixed not long time ago (and I hated that single bug since release) when arriving in the office and my laptop restarted because of that.

 

[jdw13]

Yes, it is wise to wait a few months, especially for Catalina as there is more to consider than just the stability of Catalina itself.
Depending upon what software you use, it may be a while before all that you need has been upgraded and stable in 64-bit mode.
For example, I use Brother Control Center for my scanning and it is still 32-bit...

As with any major OS update, one should be fully ready to revert to previous release if the update does not work well for you.

 

[Wowmail]

Catalina basically makes it a headache to have an eGPU. Also permission mess, and asking for icloud password over and over. News is a mess, Books unusable. I hope they fix it, But I am not very sure they can by September.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I wait until there are legitimate comments here and other places. I know there are some threads that will talk about worst ever but you can generally pick most vs. those that have problems.

 

[Tapiture]

Considering in the latest beta my TouchID stopped working.... could be a few weeks after the event before it's released.

 

[mmomega]

Catalina basically makes it a headache to have an eGPU. Also permission mess, and asking for icloud password over and over. News is a mess, Books unusable. I hope they fix it, But I am not very sure they can by September.

Complete 180 degree difference from your experience.

I have 3 different model Macs on Catalina with 3 different eGPU's. One is the one my wife uses to game on and if I was going to hear a complaint, she'd be letting me hear it on the daily if it was messing up.
News and News+ work normally.
I do not use Books so this I can not comment on.

I've had 2 experiences where Catalina wasn't very stable and I was ready for the next release and they were very early on.

I also do first aid immediately before and after an upgrade so repair any permissions or issues leading in to and after installs. But I also do this with point upgrades as well.

Either way, here's to hoping others start experiencing more positive results, I have been enjoying it so far.

 

[Wreckus]

Got the upgrade itch. Tempted to say hell with it and just start fresh with the public beta now..even though the GM could be released tomorrow.

 

[aevan]

Catalina will be released in the next two weeks, I believe. In my opinion, it is far from being stable. I would 100% recommend installing the latest version of Mojave since it is the most stable version it could possibly be. I would advise staying away from Catalina for a few weeks after the public release so there is some time to see what the masses are saying. In short, install Mojave, not Catalina.

Or, you know, have fun a little and install the latest and greatest.

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

OG macrumors forum members might update to Mojave in the coming weeks. Might!

 

[Jack Neill]

I guess I will find out if this is so for my MM over the next year or so.

Also, I am now updating from Mac OS Sierra to Mac OS High Sierra on my other MM(Late 2012),16GB Ram,500GB HD.

I personally thought HS was slower and buggier than 12.6 After 13.4 it was pretty stable tho. Mojave has been rock solid and perfect on every machine I have used it on all the way from .1 to .6.

 

[Wowmail]

I think the eGPU problem may be limited to the 2018 Mac Mini.

 

[haralds]

Using it pretty much full-time, but I have Mojave on a separate ssd. I have been migrating my system step-by-step. I am using an unsupported Mac Pro 5,1 with upgraded WiFi and video. It runs with SIP after bringing it up, but there will be Mojave on this system forever.

 

[macdragonfl]

I found Catalina Betas to be quite stable, I do run Mohave on another drive. I use Airfoil for streaming audio through out my home. It was just updated to run on Catalina. That was the reason I still run Mohave on the other drive. Mohave betas were a little more troublesome.