Is Catalina as bad as it looks on this board?

[fsinclaire]

I installed Catalina a few months ago on a 2017 iMac. It's fine. The only "issue" is it may be incompatible with some of your software. In my case, the only affected apps I particulalry cared about losing were Microsoft Word & Excel, but at a suggestion by someone at mac-forums, I downloaded SoftMaker's free office suite, and that works fine and accepts all my Microsoft docs.

The OS seems to me faster and cleaner. It just feels better. It's the first upgrade for me since Leopard that really feels different. I like it.

 

[fisherking]

Or are you simply failing to see the higher than normal amount and nature of complaints about this particular OS?

'higher than normal'... what is that compared to? the 'real world'? the people on this forum? and yes, there are some issues related to the end of the 32bit era. but where are you getting your numbers from?

speculation is fine, but call it what it is. some people have serious issues, some don't... as with previous mac os'es.

now i will get back to work, on both my macs, running catalina, (mostly) without issue.

 

[randolorian]

Or are you simply failing to see the higher than normal amount and nature of complaints about this particular OS?

Do we have any data to support that, or is it just anecdotal? This forum blows up with complains after each macos release, but it's not obvious to me that the complaints are more numerous this time around.

 

[fisherking]

Do we have any data to support that, or is it just anecdotal? This forum blows up with complains after each macos release, but it's not obvious to me that the complaints are more numerous this time around.

all of it is anecdotal. so, perhaps... more issues than previously. or perhaps more ppl on this forum than previously. or...

it doesn't matter, since no one has the numbers. more important (i think, anyway), is... to discuss the issues, and get help.

instead of pointless rants.

 

[xnsys]

Do we have any data to support that, or is it just anecdotal? This forum blows up with complains after each macos release, but it's not obvious to me that the complaints are more numerous this time around.

I guess I do, technically - judging by the help-desk management software we use - just pulling out statistics over the past 10 years, the past 3 months has seen a substantial higher number of incidents raised for Mac - the same happened when 10.10 was first released and then quietened down...but not really surprising given that the majority of the issues effected the corporate world, and not so much the home user world.

 

[hesus30]

Today I decided to remove this CRAP!
A lot of problems on MacBooks, iMacs - this should be called MacOS Vista.

 

[skippermonkey]

Clearly Catalina is a work-in-progress. But why is it so 'bad'? Mojave was really good and solid after a few updates. Has Apple had to start again from scratch to remove all 32-bit support, or is it just adding lots of new features that have broken the underlying OS?

My worry is how long it will take to get Catalina back to where we were with Mojave (or the likes of Snow Leopard). Like many, I'm actually hoping Apple doesn't release a new macOS this year.

 

[fisherking]

Today I decided to remove this CRAP!
A lot of problems on MacBooks, iMacs - this should be called MacOS Vista.

all good on my 12" macbook (2016), and my imac (2019).... just pointing out not everyone thinks the os is 'crap'..!

 

[WilliamDu]

There is just a page of people posting issues with new replies every few minutes. Is catalina as bad as it looks form this forum?

I was going to install it but now i am not so sure at all.

Thanks!

If you have a lot of iTunes files, DON't touch Catalina. Check posts for iTunes problems. Reports of losing iTunes files and all sorts of problems with Music and iTunes.
Catalina has so many bad posts on the Forums, I can't understand why anyone still upgrading from Mojave. I certainly won't.

 

[DinkThifferent]

If you have a lot of iTunes files, DON't touch Catalina.

How many itunes files is a lot of iTunes files? I have like 50 GB/4000 songs. Would that be a huge issue? I have a brand new 2019 iMac running on Mojave and I transferred my files from my old to my new iMac through restoring the last time machine back up. So it’s not an older Mac that has gone through 5 OS versions, it’s new running the first OS it was shipped with.

 

[Cayenne1]

Should I just go to Mojave at this time?

I currently have High Sierra and am planning to do an OS upgrade. The size of this thread gives me pause about Catalina. I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017).

 

[sugargliderdude]

Should I just go to Mojave at this time?

I currently have High Sierra and am planning to do an OS upgrade. The size of this thread gives me pause about Catalina. I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017).

i've been wanting to install Catalina, but it seems so bad, i was going to install with 10.15.4, but I think i will just skip Catalina and hopefully install this years macOS,

macOS Mojave is very good, i recommend installing Mojave for now.

 

[Dahoffman85]

I have a late 2013 27" iMac and have had zero issues other than Transmission unexpectedly quit on me twice in an hour one day but has never done so since. I primarily use it for a media server and some other light use work. The only weird thing about my use is I'm very rarely at my iMac and 90% of the time I control it via remote desktop and have had no issues with doing so since the upgrade.

 

[vixster1901]

BAD BAD BAD!!! just, don't do it!

 

[fisherking]

If you have a lot of iTunes files, DON't touch Catalina. Check posts for iTunes problems. Reports of losing iTunes files and all sorts of problems with Music and iTunes.
Catalina has so many bad posts on the Forums, I can't understand why anyone still upgrading from Mojave. I certainly won't.

what do you consider a lot? my itunes library migrated fine; i lost exactly 4 album covers (for some reason), and replaced them. and life goes on.

all these 'sky is falling' posts. it will be ok... the OS, like all before it, will get better, and better... then 10.15 will happen, and people will be trying to move back... to catalina.

hysterical, really.

 

[Tony_YYZ]

I just wiped my Late 2013 13" rMBP earlier this week and installed Catalina as a fresh install. I was on the latest build of Mojave and had done in-place upgrades since I bought this machine new in Jan of 2014. I was planning on staying on Mojave but my machine was starting to be a bit sluggish and I'd get a random lockup of everything for a few seconds several times per day before it would just go away and work normally like nothing happened.

That prompted me to backup some files and perform a full wipe. I was going to just reload Mojave but decided to go straight to Catalina since I only had a couple of small apps and some printer drivers that were 32 bit. The small apps I barely used so I didn't bother trying to fix those and Canon had Catalina drivers for my printer.

I've been running Catalina on this machine for a week now and so far so good! I'm very much liking all the new security/permission additions. Performance is much improved from the partial degraded state I was in prior to wiping. I was contemplating buying another machine before doing this but I'm no longer in that mindset. I feel I can get several more years out of this one now. I mainly use the MS Office 365 Suite, Plex, messaging apps, Spotify, Safari for browsing, Youtube, Netflix, etc. and various other non-super intensive tasks.

Prior to using OSX/MacOS full-time on my personal machine, I'd format my old Windows laptops every year or two. I had not needed to do that with this machine until the 6+ year mark. I'd call that a win. This is one nugget of information.

Late 2013 Macbook Pro Retina Dual Core i5 5th Generation 8GB RAM 256GB PCI-E SSD

 

[antisomnic]

I don't really seem to be having any issues with Catalina. I never was a really big iTunes guy so that's not really a problem.

 

[WilliamDu]

How many itunes files is a lot of iTunes files? I have like 50 GB/4000 songs. Would that be a huge issue? I have a brand new 2019 iMac running on Mojave and I transferred my files from my old to my new iMac through restoring the last time machine back up. So it’s not an older Mac that has gone through 5 OS versions, it’s new running the first OS it was shipped with.

I have 107GB/15,000+ tracks, accumulated over thirty years, backed up and/or also stored on Time Machine and a second external disc, my iPod Touch 7th gen 256GB and an aged Classic 160 GB and some on DVDs. I haven't seen anything I can't live without in Catalina that would let me consider risking that collection. At 88, Mojave does lots more than I need.
I'm a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
The Touch is my primary player, through my iTonics hearing aids, my Echo, and a set of TaoTronics 60 noise canceling earphones. The latter from Amazon for about $60 are the best portable alternative if you don't have hearing aids. Their resolution is excellent and they are very comfortable.

 

[PhiLLoW]

I'm a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I regret upgrading so much. I only gained performance, keyboard and loading issues with my macbook Air. Catalina sucks. Don't upgrade.

 

[Wolf1701]

I think Catalina is different, very different from other macOS releases.

Yes, is true, with every new release there are individual problems that can make seem the whole OS crap. There are usually personal problems with apps, preferences, no clean install, ...

With catalina I think that we are in a new situation (for mac users anyway). Many (too many) users reports the same problems, mail, music, icloud, network and so on.

I think Apple is using Catalina as a perpetual beta (and no, for obvious reasons, they can't simply say that). Things will surely improve but this is not the quality that we expect (and deserve) from Apple.

 

[DinkThifferent]

I'm a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Thanks for your reply.

I think the reason Catalina is so buggy, is that Apple ripped out all the 32-bits app supporting code out of Mac OS. Code that has been in MacOS for years. Now some code that perhaps communicated through 32-bit pieces are suddenly hanging loose and it takes a lot of time (and updates) for Apple to make those loose hanging threads whole again and making them communicating with each other again. That's the only logical explanation i can think off.

 

[fisherking]

Thanks for your reply.

I think the reason Catalina is so buggy, is that Apple ripped out all the 32-bits app supporting code out of Mac OS. Code that has been in MacOS for years. Now some code that perhaps communicated through 32-bit pieces are suddenly hanging loose and it takes a lot of time (and updates) for Apple to make those loose hanging threads whole again and making them communicating with each other again. That's the only logical explanation i can think off.

thanks for that scientific explanation...

 

[DinkThifferent]

thanks for that scientific explanation...

I never said it was a scientific explanation, I said that i think that that might be the reason. I spoke to an Apple Support guy on the phone and he said that Catalina is/was indeed rough around the edges. So it's not us users who only think that.

I noticed that you are defending Catalina very much, which is fine. I wish I would love Catalina as much as you do, and I am ready to give it a go when 10.15.4 is released to the public, but my description of why I believe Catalina is so rough makes sense. I mean, dropping support for 32-bit apps is a major and fundamental change in MacOS, replacing iTunes with Music/Podcasts/AppleTV not so much.

So what do you think may have caused the issues MANY users are facing with Catalina?

 

[fisherking]

I never said it was a scientific explanation, I said that i think that that might be the reason. I spoke to an Apple Support guy on the phone and he said that Catalina is/was indeed rough around the edges. So it's not us users who only think that.

I noticed that you are defending Catalina very much, which is fine. I wish I would love Catalina as much as you do, and I am ready to give it a go when 10.15.4 is released to the public, but my description of why I believe Catalina is so rough makes sense. I mean, dropping support for 32-bit apps is a major and fundamental change in MacOS, replacing iTunes with Music/Podcasts/AppleTV not so much.

So what do you think may have caused the issues MANY users are facing with Catalina?

since i'm not experiencing any real issues currently, it would be foolish for me to explain what's happening for others. and i don't love catalina, i just use it (as i've done with every mac os since 10.2).

all oses, especially early on, are 'rough around the edges'. but your theory is just that; a theory, without any real science to back it up. still, no harm in opinions or theories (but facts still, hopefully, rule the world)...

 

[DinkThifferent]

all oses, especially early on, are 'rough around the edges'. but your theory is just that; a theory, without any real science to back it up. still, no harm in opinions or theories (but facts still, hopefully, rule the world)...

Just because your Boeing 737 Max didn't crash, doesn't mean the design itself isn't faultless. I have been using Mac OS X since 10.7 and Catalina is the release with the most complaints about it by far, coincidentally Apple removed 32-bit app support in this release.

I mean, just the initial release was already faulty, the OS couldn't be installed on some computers so Apple had to release updates, before 10.15.1 got out. Remember that? And now i read a lot of kernel panics, sluggish interfaces and missing music libraries. Not things i read when High Sierra or Mojave was released.