There is nothing wrong with Sierra. Repeat There is nothing wrong with Sierra. ( For me)
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This just in....
- Thread starter JackGriffith
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Me too, so far, this is quite a big deal. The firs Mac operating system that I can't find issues with in years! The last one to be so bug-free for me was Mavericks.
Maybe this is the one to stick with, I wouldn't like to risk updating in 1 year and having the fun ruined. We shall see...
Maybe this is the one to stick with, I wouldn't like to risk updating in 1 year and having the fun ruined. We shall see...
It even boots faster then the previous. I'm using a iMac from Mid 2011, moving parts 7200rpm hard drive, 16GB ram.
Lets clairly your post. Do you have a mouse connected to whatever computer you're using? If so, do you have in Settings/Accessibility the trackpad set to ignore if mouse is present? If you do and the trackpad is active, then something is wrong with Sierra.
what does this have to do with the OP's post? if you're having that issue, then... you're having that issue. lots of people are finding challenges, problems in sierra; and some of us are doing really well.
and that's all there is. sierra is just this year's el capitan, which was last year's yosemite. for some it's good, for others not. and the whole pattern will repeat in a year.
(personally, am loving sierra. for me, it's fast, stable; "it just works").
I'm envious! I've been using OS X since it was Mac OS (not to be confused with macOS) and this is the first time I've ever had to downgrade. Sierra has been nothing but trouble for me. 
I'm envious! I've been using OS X since it was Mac OS (not to be confused with macOS) and this is the first time I've ever had to downgrade. Sierra has been nothing but trouble for me.
what was wrong? and did you try to sort it out? just curious...
The biggest reason for downgrading was external monitors. They would go to sleep and then you'd have to play the Sierra coin toss: Would they wake up or would they lock the WindowServer daemon up to the point where you had to do a hard reset? This was difficult because there's not much I know to do. I made sure there was no software involving displays that could be interfering, no third-party kernel extensions loaded, etc. When it would happen I SSHed in to see if there were any meaningful logs or errors, but I couldn't find anything. I also couldn't compel WindowServer to restart or die, nor could I reboot cleanly from the command line.
Then there was the laptop issues where 1 in 5 wakes would result in the keyboard and trackpad not working anymore. Another hard reset. Again, not really sure what I could do to resolve this one either. At least it was slightly less annoying than WindowServer. After the hard reset there were no helpful log entries that I could find for this either.
External mice (Logitech, anyway) had all sorts of issues scrolling and... moving. The most obvious solution was to download the Logitech driver after they updated, which didn't solve much. I rejiggered settings all over the place before I finally gave up on it.
I also had some disconnection issues with my IBM Model M keyboard. Sure, it's 20-something years old, but it worked fine in El Capitan and works fine in Windows.
A lot of my problems had to do with USB / HID devices, so maybe something went amiss with their implementation of those.
Let's see, what else... the rMBP also stayed consistently hot to the touch on the bottom. There was no unusual CPU activity and it was using the integrated GPU, so I don't know what that was all about. Spotlight wasn't indexing, Time Machine wasn't backing anything up, no photos existed to be analyzed. I never bothered checking battery life because I'm usually near an outlet and it's not a huge issue for me in general. With El Capitan it stays reasonably cool to the touch with the same usage. Maybe it was just hot that week.
They were all on installs as clean as humanly possible (ATA secure erased SSDs, cleared NVRAM, SMC reset, no settings or backups migrated at all, OS installed from a flash drive) so the problems seem baked in. Also tried 10.12.1 beta and it didn't resolve anything.
On the bright side, wifi and bluetooth worked great! Universal clipboard, not so much.
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these are not universal issues (at least, the macbook ones); i have sierra on a 12" macbook and a macbook pro, and no such problems. also, a 20-year old keyboard? that issue speaks for itself...
I never claimed they were universal issues... you asked me why I downgraded, not for an enumeration of confirmed issues affecting everybody. If you'll recall, I said "... nothing but trouble for me."
As for the keyboard, I can't imagine it being its fault when it works in literally every operating system BUT Sierra. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's faulty.
At any rate, I'm satisfied with my solution. Sierra didn't add any features I personally use (except the SIP things they added, I'm always interested in extra security) so the 'downgrade' really doesn't feel like stepping back. As long as they keep security updates coming, I'm comfortable staying here until 10.13.
ok, got it. but still...there's no reasonable expectation that 20-year-old tech will integrate well with current tech; and if it's a problem now (the keyboard), seems even more unlikely it will work with a later OS. anyway, am more interested in the 'under the hood' changes in each new OS than, generally, new features.
anyway, there are always options. stay with the older OS, or find fixes and workarounds for the new; all good.