First Impressions?

[Goldfinger]

It's not indexing anymore. I might try all those steps later but right now I have to get back to work. I am sceptical though clearing caches will help with quick look. With small files it's still fast. However try using it with let's say a photo and it is slide show. It's nuisance, but in Catalina it was buttery smooth.

I'm noticing the same. It's very laggy using quicklook.

Continued.. Wow! Mail notifications lost instant delete button. Now you have to click 'Actions' and then 'Delete'. Usability is getting better and better. I used it a lot, another great addition.

EDIT: Good news is, Mail no longer seems to open by itself. However I'd give it yet more time.

Just noticed this as well. That's an insane UI decision. Fingers crossed for the Mail opening by itself bug that was in infuriating one!

 

[Strangedream]

So far it works and the UI feels fresher so I'm happy.

 

[n-evo]

Installed it this afternoon and it's been smooth sailing so far. All my apps work fine, for a rev A interface release it seems polished enough. No errors as of yet. The new interface is also a bigger change than expected. The redesigned apps are especially striking. I like it.

 

[ozziegn]

I did a clean install of Big Sur on my 2015 15" MBP last night and so far so good. I'm not noticing anything running slower or likewise. The UI is definitely different but I'm okay with that. I generally don't update my OS that often so the UI change is good for me.

 

[tornado99]

But you seem to be deciding for everyone else what they should and shouldn't like. I have NO problems with the new look. Then again, I had no problems when Apple switched to their flat look with Yosemite. I do like the new layout such as clicking on the date and time on the menu bar and bringing up the widgets slide over window. Safari has some nice and improved privacy features and the translate feature is beyond welcomed. It's nice going to a website in a different language and having Safari translate the words for you.

This is all pretty much rinse and repeat. This version of macOS xx.xx is the worst and buggiest followed by singing its praises a year later when we get the next edition. So you may not like the look but I can guarantee there are many who do, I know I do.

"But you seem to be deciding for everyone else what they should and shouldn't like." - I was referring to the people who are complaining its ugly, but still go ahead and install Big Sur anyway.

But generally, yes I agree. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Martyimac]

you can’t lose performance as described with one OS update. The benchmarks for every bit of hardware are identical in Big Sur compared to Catalina.

If there’s something bringing down your performance then it’s your system indexing and temp folders full of junk that needs to be cleaned up.

Steps:

1 If your system is indexing let it finish

2 When it is finished delete all the legacy stuff Catalina created in the following folders:

User/Library/Caches
User/Library/Application Saved State

3 Clear all the logs in the Console app

4 Reset the PRAM and NVRAM

5 Ensure all your apps are updated to latest versions, especially if they are updated for Big Sur. if you’re using some age old software that hasn’t been updated then nobody can help that.

The one thing about your post I found interesting was the part about deleting stuff in the user/library section.
I went there and guess what, I had no application saved state and secondly, every folder in caches was dated/timed after I installed Big Sur. I'm guessing that the installer did a lot of that work for us.

 

[Beavix]

I'm noticing the same. It's very laggy using quicklook.

QuickLook is laggy here as well, on a Mac Mini 2018. It wasn't laggy before the upgrade.

 

[barstep]

Started the download - went for a shower and when I looked again it was finished. Clicked Upgrade and all done within the hour. Runs smoothly, looks like an iPad but everything works. Had to tweak a few things - mainly iStat Menu settings. No complaints so far.

 

[anthonymoody]

+1 for the notion that things really do seem snappier.

 

[timelessbeing]

Surprised people are shocked by the UI. Is it much different than the hundreds of screenshots which have been visible for months ?

That's not the point. Most of us like to keep our OS current so we can enjoy all the newest features and improvements. You either move up or stay back forever. But we don't have to like everything do we?

 

[timelessbeing]

QuickLook is laggy here as well, on a Mac Mini 2018. It wasn't laggy before the upgrade.

Yeah it kind of jitters as it opens (a text document for example)

 

[deivydas]

I love it somehow. Looks clean and fresh. And performance wise I'm really happy with how fast it is (iMac 27", 5k, 2015).

 

[827538]

I'm enjoying it, had some buggy notifications pop up and the animations looked choppy but it was probably due to the machine indexing on first boot. Seems great now. New UI looks nice.

My only complaint is the space the URL bar sits in is huge and takes up an unnecessary amount of empty space. I wish they could shrink the height of it to give me back a little more space.

 

[timelessbeing]

Oh my god! They made email subject text grey on white. WTF! I'm supposed to squint while using my mac?? Please tell me there's a way to change this.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I don't like the look but I'm sure I'll get used to it - fonts seem smaller and contrast isn't as much which I'm finding in a lot of updated apps and web sites. Don't like the mail top of screen.
Also, in the mail app you used to have a trash level which included all mails similar to what is still there with inbox and all sent and all drafts. This made it easy to delete from Trash the contents from all the mail accounts I have. Now I have to go into each. Not sure if a bug but why would they remove this function?

 

[bp1000]

Some of the icons are awful. But I like the refresh.

 

[Phil A.]

I really like the new look and not had any major issues so far: The only app that's not working is Vanilla and control centre has let me remove a lot of icons from the menu bar so it's not a major issue

All my major 3rd party apps (Visual Studio for Mac, VS Code, IntelliJ Idea, Fusion 360, VMWare Fusion, Simplify 3D, Office 365 and Adobe Creative Suite) are working fine

I've only upgraded my MacBook Pro so far (I needed to check out app compatibility before hitting my main machine), but will be tackling the upgrade on my Mac Pro over the weekend

 

[tonyr6]

Really whats the problem with the UI. I think it looks great coming from Windows 10 which is so dated and different parts look modern and the rest dated the worst is that there are still icons going back to Windows 2000 that are never updated. The new icons on Big Sur look great to me.

I liked the look of the iPad and Apple TV, don't have an iPhone but it looks the same. It matches all their OS.

 

[timelessbeing]

everything looks good coming from Windows

 

[NiCk-]

Love the looks and the performance. It is definitely the first time that I have updated to a x.0 version of OS X/MacOS and I feel that my computer is faster (I've been a user since the Tiger days) than the previous version, so I'm quite excited about that.

My only - minor - complaint is the folder icon. I'm sure I'll get used to it but it kind of looks strange at the moment

 

[iBug2]

This may be the first mac os release in a long time that has an extremely fast UI. Maybe the last release like this was Snow Leopard or Leopard.

Everything from mouse selection to menu scrolling to folder opening is snappy. They probably did rewrite a lot of the old Finder code.

Used Photos, it's 10 times faster than Catalina. Noise reduction applies instantly, preview updates instantly when I use any slider on 45MP RAW's. It's insanely fast. My 2017 iMac never felt this fast.

I'm sure there will be some issues here and there, but in terms of UI speed and general responsiveness, this is the best release in a long time.

 

[halofan56]

I installed it last night and it takes getting used to. They're trying to make look like the IOS. Its pretty snappy.

 

[timelessbeing]

My only - minor - complaint is the folder icon. I'm sure I'll get used to it but it kind of looks strange at the moment

You mean this?

Yes it's very cute-sy just like all the other iOS style cartoon icons. I guess they're trying to appeal their products towards children.

 

[ZestyOne]

Oh my god! They made email subject text grey on white. WTF! I'm supposed to squint while using my mac?? Please tell me there's a way to change this.

screenshot?

 

[NiCk-]

You mean this?


View attachment 1665401


Yes it's very cute-sy just like all the other iOS style cartoon icons. I guess they're trying to appeal their products towards children.

Yes, that’s the one. Ironically, seeing it here makes it look much better 😝

It’s a matter of getting used to it I guess. Don’t forget that this kind of reaction happened again and again in the past (iOS7 for example) and after a few refinements and updates people started to prefer the new look than the previous one.

I’m sure this will be the case for Big Sur too !