MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
I am here to report that for 14 hours I have found DP1 to be frigging amazing. Far and away the most seamless OS upgrade I have ever performed, beta or not. I had exactly ONE app that flat out refused to run, and all it did was crash gently into a crash report window. Another app needed to install a System Extension that required me to restart into Boot Options and reduce my Security Policy before I could get them approved for loading. And then it worked fine. EVERYHING else has worked great. Not one hiccup.
I haven't had enough time to really explore all over the place, but one thing that I was eager to check into was the new built-in 2-factor authentication feature, and I can report that it works flawlessly. I was using OTP Auth before, and thought that was an excellent Mac/iOS/iCloud combo solution, but now I don't even have to go and GET codes to enter, it all happens automagically. It's fantastic!
- 1Blocker 3.16.1 (works flawlessly)
- AdGuard 2.5.3.955 release (works flawlessly)
- Airflow 3.3.1 (works flawlessly)
- Audiobook Builder 2.1.2 (works flawlessly)
- Carbon Copy Cloner 6.0.1 (gives message about unsupported operating systems, then allows you to continue anyway, and seems to work fine. I wouldn't necessarily use it for a restore, but definitely to do a backup)
- Cisdem PDFMaster 4.0.0 (crashes on launch)
- CleanMyMac X 4.8.4 (works flawlessly)
- DAEMON Tools 8.2 (requires System Extensions and rebooting twice to get up and running, then works flawlessly)
- Deliveries 9.1.2 (works flawlessly)
- Downie 4.2.6 (works flawlessly)
- Droplr 5.9.5 (works flawlessly)
- ExpressVPN 10.3.0 (works flawlessly, but after connection, got a message that it conflicted with iCloud+ Protected Browsing)
- FE File Explorer Pro 3.0.4 (works flawlessly)
- ff·Works 2.3.2 (works flawlessly)
- Filmage Screen 1.3.1 (works flawlessly)
- Fission 2.7.0 (message about unsupported operating systems, allows you to proceed anyway, seems to work fine)
- Friendly Streaming 5.9.7 (works flawlessly)
- Google Chrome 91.0.4472.77 (works flawlessly)
- HandBrake 1.3.3 (works flawlessly)
- IINA 1.1.2 (works flawlessly)
- iMazing 2.13.8 (works flawlessly)
- KeyboardCleanTool 3 (works flawlessly)
- Linguist 2.4 (works flawlessly)
- Facebook Messenger 97.11.116 (ONLY item to indicate needing Rosetta to continue, works flawlessly)
- Meta 2.0.5 (works flawlessly)
- OTP Auth 2.17.4 (works flawlessly)
- Pacifist 3.6.2 (works flawlessly)
- Permute 3.6.4 (works flawlessly)
- Plex 1.31.1 (works flawlessly)
- PlistEdit Pro 1.9.2 (works flawlessly)
- Radio Silence 3.1 (works flawlessly)
- Remote Desktop 3.9.4 (works flawlessly)
- Signal 5.4.0-beta.4 (works flawlessly)
- Skype 8.72 (works flawlessly)
- Spotify 1.1.60.668.gff09d345 (works flawlessly)
- Tampermonkey 4.11.6117 (works flawlessly)
- The Unarchiver 4.3.0 (works flawlessly)
- Transmission 3.00 Nightly (works flawlessly)
- WhatsApp 2.2119.6 (works flawlessly)
- Yate 6.5 (works flawlessly)
- zoom.us 5.6.6 (works flawlessly)
An intermittent but very annoying problem where nearly all my "messaging" apps (Messages, Signal, Facebook Messenger, etc.) would stop playing notification sounds has gone away. They seem totally consistent in always playing them now.
SMB network connections seem more reliable.
Podcasts app continues to occasionally not remember my specified window placement and size.
Everything else has been seamless so far - KNOCK ON WOOD.
I'm NOT a developer, but the way I see it, with Catalina they introduced the split system and data volumes with "firmlinks" to make it appear as one unified file system, and System Integrity Protection (SIP). Lots of stuff was badly broken right from the start. Big Sur introduced the cryptographically Signed System Volume (SSV) and totally eliminated kernel extensions in favor of system extensions, while also making it much harder to install and authorize and load them, so many other things badly broke. Introducing the M1 architecture brought changes to all things related to the Restore/Install/Security boot-up modes, and the way of making external drives bootable. With Monterey, it does not SEEM to have nearly as many fundamental architecture changes that appear to be breaking apps. In the past, I would DEFINITELY already have had an app freeze or crash or a kernel panic by now. This time: nothing - flawless!
-Pete
