[bayindirh]

> Maybe I am getting old but I find “starting fresh” to be extremely expensive.

I used to think like that, then I got a new mirrorless camera, which has a ton of settings with a menu which it feels like an open world. Then, I stopped worrying about setting things the way exactly I want. Instead, I started to change things I dislike.

This brings two advantages from my point of view. First, it doesn't feel overwhelming; two, it's really a smooth way of learning new things or relearning things in the new way.

I also run a micro server on a SBC. I fed up with the Ubuntu installation running on it and decided to migrate to Debian. I got two-three essential files (basically fstab, dnsmasq config files), and nuked the card. It was running in less than 15 minutes. I made a lot of small changes after that, but it was much smoother and nicer. Since I was not in a rush, I made the changes calmly and enthusiastically. Now, that thing works 10x better than Ubuntu.

No need to rush, just solve a single thing in one go, and you won't believe how far you can go in very short time.

Of course, this is my two cents and YMMV.

[mulmen]

Ok but it sounds like your new camera is actually better. My new MacOS is just the same, or slightly worse. The changes in Big Sur don't solve any problems I actually have. Notifications are just more fiddly. Common actions are no longer prominently available, they are hidden behind hovers and tiny buttons, or simply gone. The interface uses more space and provides less information.

[Pokepokalypse]

>Notifications are just more fiddly.

OMG - I hate the new notifications. Dismissing them is a very expensive task. Almost makes me want to disable notifications altogether.

[bayindirh]

Strange. I’m using macOS for ~12 years now and Big Sur is not worse for me.

I’m not trying to say you’re wrong. On the contrary, since I don’t use macOS that deeply (I’m a Linux guy mainly), not feeling the change for worse is intriguing for me.

[mulmen]

Disruptive changes to me personally in Big Sur:

1) They changed keyboard shortcut and navigation behavior, I now have to use twice as many keystrokes to navigate Mail than I did before. Some keyboard navigation options are now impossible.

2) Messages was rewritten for Catalyst and is far more unstable. Keyboard navigation is impossible.

3) Notification buttons and behavior. This now requires hovers and the gestures do different things than they did before.

4) Application icon shape and location. Mail has buttons moved around and the icons are different. Functionality is basically the same but muscle memory is reset.

5) Window title bars are bigger and application minimum sizes are larger but fewer options are available, requiring more clicks to get to nested functionality, if it is even available. My 16” screen on Big Sur now shows as much information as my 13” screen on Catalina.

They are small changes but they are still changes. Small enough that the functionality is basically the same but big enough I have to re-learn it, and for no benefit to myself.