I'm thinking about it. I already have a desktop gaming PC, so why not? With Microsoft out of the mobile game, and (hopefully) having learned some lessons from Windows 8, it seems unlikely now they'll start dumbing down the Windows UI.
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First Impressions?
- Thread starter ZestyOne
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- big sur
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First impressions so far (from a mid-2014 13" MBP that didn't get bricked 
) :
- love the white ! For me middle grey UI elements have always looked like an heritage of the 90s. The combination of white everywhere and increased spacing visually de-clutter the UI for me and makes everything more legible. That being said there are plenty of areas where it seems that the UI team didn't seem quite sure which way to go and reverted to light grey gradients to provide UI separation (example : preference panes various "areas") instead of sticking to being unapologetically white and thoroughly change the UI to conform to that principle. Besides there are still way too many legacy design aspects IMO (again, for example the sharing preferences pane, which looks completely off next to the control centre preferences pane).
- I really like the new menu bar control centre menus overall. As an example they provide a faster access to controlling my AirPods. But there are also plenty of small niggles to work out.
- I love Apple's newer B&W menu icons language, but some can sometimes be confused between each others.
- I'm one of those who would have much, much preferred if Apple simply had copy / pasted iOS icons instead of redesigning ones with very questionable embossing. Frankly I find the coloured apps and preferences panes icons over-thought and over-designed compared to the rest of the UI.
- Maybe stable, but very buggy. There are plenty of small UI bugs everywhere (such as the improperly centered accentuation box below). The worst bug for me so far is that my AirPods Pro just won't ever auto-switch from my iPhone to my Mac (but is that because it's an older model ?) and when selecting them manually, only the audio output gets switched (I have to manually switch the input as well).
Let's just say that I think that Apple's teams will be busy in the next few months to address these bugs and continue to coalesce the leftover UI elements towards this new language.
) : - love the white ! For me middle grey UI elements have always looked like an heritage of the 90s. The combination of white everywhere and increased spacing visually de-clutter the UI for me and makes everything more legible. That being said there are plenty of areas where it seems that the UI team didn't seem quite sure which way to go and reverted to light grey gradients to provide UI separation (example : preference panes various "areas") instead of sticking to being unapologetically white and thoroughly change the UI to conform to that principle. Besides there are still way too many legacy design aspects IMO (again, for example the sharing preferences pane, which looks completely off next to the control centre preferences pane).
- I really like the new menu bar control centre menus overall. As an example they provide a faster access to controlling my AirPods. But there are also plenty of small niggles to work out.
- I love Apple's newer B&W menu icons language, but some can sometimes be confused between each others.
- I'm one of those who would have much, much preferred if Apple simply had copy / pasted iOS icons instead of redesigning ones with very questionable embossing. Frankly I find the coloured apps and preferences panes icons over-thought and over-designed compared to the rest of the UI.
- Maybe stable, but very buggy. There are plenty of small UI bugs everywhere (such as the improperly centered accentuation box below). The worst bug for me so far is that my AirPods Pro just won't ever auto-switch from my iPhone to my Mac (but is that because it's an older model ?) and when selecting them manually, only the audio output gets switched (I have to manually switch the input as well).
Let's just say that I think that Apple's teams will be busy in the next few months to address these bugs and continue to coalesce the leftover UI elements towards this new language.
Stop telling people to not upgrade if they don't like the changes.
Imagine they installed a contraption in all new cars that kicked you in nuts when you sat in it. It's like you telling them "hey if you don't like it, then keep your old car". This is really dumb.
People who buy new machines aren't going to have a choice.
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It's a perfectly valid comment. Nothing weird about it. You're right that some people resist change of any kind, and that's something that will happen. And you'll appreciate that as you get older. But they can stay behind and not be bothered too much.
"celebrate change for change’s sake" is fanaticism. You're basically a mindless cheerleader.
First impressions so far (from a mid-2014 13" MBP that didn't get bricked
- love the white ! For me middle grey UI elements have always looked like an heritage of the 90s. The combination of white everywhere and increased spacing visually de-clutter the UI for me and makes everything more legible. That being said there are plenty of areas where it seems that the UI team didn't seem quite sure which way to go and reverted to light grey gradients to provide UI separation (example : preference panes various "areas") instead of sticking to being unapologetically white and thoroughly change the UI to conform to that principle. Besides there are still way too many legacy design aspects IMO (again, for example the sharing preferences pane, which looks completely off next to the control centre preferences pane).
- I really like the new menu bar control centre menus overall. As an example they provide a faster access to controlling my AirPods. But there are also plenty of small niggles to work out.
- I love Apple's newer B&W menu icons language, but some can sometimes be confused between each others.
- I'm one of those who would have much, much preferred if Apple simply had copy / pasted iOS icons instead of redesigning ones with very questionable embossing. Frankly I find the coloured apps and preferences panes icons over-thought and over-designed compared to the rest of the UI.
- Maybe stable, but very buggy. There are plenty of small UI bugs everywhere (such as the improperly centered accentuation box below). The worst bug for me so far is that my AirPods Pro just won't ever auto-switch from my iPhone to my Mac (but is that because it's an older model ?) and when selecting them manually, only the audio output gets switched (I have to manually switch the input as well).
Let's just say that I think that Apple's teams will be busy in the next few months to address these bugs and continue to coalesce the leftover UI elements towards this new language.
View attachment 1668289
The Windows 10 File Explorer is even whiter. In the default toolbar-hidden mode it's literally a white box with the only non-white elements being text and file icons. So by your logic that must be the pinnacle of UI design?
Interest tidbit (well, only interesting to me) is that I'v never liked Dock magnification, but now that all of my mainstream apps are rounded squared icons I find that I don't find magnification as disorienting and I may even try a left-aligned Dock.
I think when each app had their own shape I could immediately identify it without much thought. Now tat there is an inherent sameness, I think the slight magnification helps to identify focus. This isn't a bad thing, just different.
I think when each app had their own shape I could immediately identify it without much thought. Now tat there is an inherent sameness, I think the slight magnification helps to identify focus. This isn't a bad thing, just different.
"Everything looks the same and I cant effin see what it is, so I have to magnify it"
That is definitely a BAD thing! LOL 🤦♂️
That is definitely a BAD thing! LOL 🤦♂️
Installed it this morning and within two hours was trying to get Time Machine to work so I could uninstall it. Overuse of big empty spaces (maybe fine for a giant 34" monitor - though even that I begrudge, but not when I'm trying to use a 16" MacBook Pro monitor), transparency in inappropriate places (like the menu bar - when I have a fullscreen app, the menu bar showing me the contents of my dark wallpaper/background is quite jarring), that awful control centre and notification centre, stacked buttons in dialogs but only some of them, titlebars inconsistently being present and not present depending on what the dialog is, no indicator of the boundary of a toolbar button vs the gigantic space between buttons for no reason. And from a technical perspective Teams meetings now have annoying static when others are speaking that did not happen with Catalina, and to make it worse Time Machine can no longer connect from Recovery Mode (meaning, you guessed it, I can't uninstall it without booting off a Catalina USB and erasing the disk).
Apple missed the mark with this OS version, and the only reason I'm using it is because it broke my ability to get rid of it.
Apple missed the mark with this OS version, and the only reason I'm using it is because it broke my ability to get rid of it.
Except that only turns it off in some places (menu bar, dock). Notification Centre remains annoyingly transparent. And I don't want the dock to be opaque - I prefer it at roughly 80% opacity, same as the menu bar. Which it was in Catalina, but now the dock is stuck at 80% opacity and the menu bar stuck at 0% opacity.
And I would mind my own business if I were you! I happen to have excellent vision thank you very much.
Grey on white text is really bad design.
No, I'm not picky. I expect the UI to not get worse between versions, and I expect it to be at least internally consistent. Additionally, the opacity level of the menu bar is definitely 0%, however it applies what looks like a gaussian blur to the content behind it. Still inconsistent with the dock which actually has an opacity applied (but which can no longer be configured).
Boy are you acting like a jerk to other people for no reason.
relax I'm just ribbing ya. Just realize you can't ever make everybody happy.
The bar is not 0% because I can see a dark band. I's say it's around 10-15%
The bar is not 0% because I can see a dark band. I's say it's around 10-15%
Sorry, hard to tell over the internet.
I think we can all agree though, if the Dock is 80%(ish), should not the menu bar be consistent? If it insists on not being like the rest of the OS UI, should it not try to adopt the colour of the window chrome nearest to it? Using Edge/Chrome which have grey chrome, the menu bar is jarringly black (black desktop background). Using Outlook which is blue chrome, it's still jarringly black which is not as bad since the black contrasts better with blue. Using Finder which is now white for who only knows what reason the menu is the opposite colour. And if I then proceed to open Notifications, I get a bunch of floating grey boxes on top of whatever I have open.
My biggest issues with Big Sur is the way everything seems slower to load, but I read that the servers at Apple are overwhelmed with the amount of traffic as Apple checks the Apps as they load, hopefully, this will change, It downloaded reasonably quickly and installed with no errors, I am only using one monitor with an HDMI cable and haven't had any issues so far except the speed factor. I have the mac mini late 2014 with 8GB of ram
I just installed Big Sur on my mid-2013 MBA and for me it's instant regret. The installation went fine (which was a relief as some users have reporting bricking of 2013 MBPs), however, the interface is a massive step backward in terms of appearance and usebility. To reiterate what others have said, it's ugly as hell.
Within Finder windows, the menu icons are now jammed over to the right in order to accomodate the file name on the top left hand side. The folder name used to be above the icons, meaning the icons were spread across the top of the folder. The icons themselves are small and bland. Throughout the OS the text seems to have gotten smaller but been bolded, which is not pleasant at all.
Very disappointed and I totally regret upgrading.
Within Finder windows, the menu icons are now jammed over to the right in order to accomodate the file name on the top left hand side. The folder name used to be above the icons, meaning the icons were spread across the top of the folder. The icons themselves are small and bland. Throughout the OS the text seems to have gotten smaller but been bolded, which is not pleasant at all.
Very disappointed and I totally regret upgrading.
@JonBOY26 , I think your screenshot sums up the two major problems with Big Sur regardless of whether you like the design 1) Loss of information density - you simply can't fit the same amount of things on the screen as before 2) Smaller font size even where it doesn't need to be
Some might argue this same debate happens with every new Mac OS version, but I simply don't remember the same problems with Catalina vs Mojave, Mojave vs High Sierra etc.
Some might argue this same debate happens with every new Mac OS version, but I simply don't remember the same problems with Catalina vs Mojave, Mojave vs High Sierra etc.
Look at the difference between active and inactive windows and the buttons. Geez. Instead of making it better and easier for user let’s hide all the buttons and make us click more. How is this better?
Hello, guys, i have an issue since i updated at BigSur my macmini (2018) at BigSur.The Universal Clipboard stopped working between my Mac and my iPhone(XR-iOS14.2). I have tried various solutions like turning on-off b/t and wifi on both devices, restarts etc nothing changed. The funny thing is that the Universal Clipboard is working as expected between my iphone and my ipad (10,2-2020) , and between my iPad and my Mac!!
Can anyone help me on this?
Can anyone help me on this?
I kind of like it, but - the UI is woefully in need of more - contrast, or 'definition' or whatever one might call it. It looks pale, washed-out. Especially in the toolbars. Windows look out of focus when they aren't. It's just hard to see the UI.
Increasing contrast doesn't solve it - that begins to look cartoonish.
I can't use dark mode as that hurts my eyes and gives me migraine.
I hope this aspect of the UI will be tweaked/tweakable at some point, though somehow I rather doubt it.
Increasing contrast doesn't solve it - that begins to look cartoonish.
I can't use dark mode as that hurts my eyes and gives me migraine.
I hope this aspect of the UI will be tweaked/tweakable at some point, though somehow I rather doubt it.
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