It helps that there were almost 2 years between the release and your adoption. I had a very early M1 and it was not too bad, but there were issues. I knew that going in.
I had an M1 Air early on and I didn't run into any issues. Even the issues with apps like Homebrew were resolved within 3-4 months of the M1 debut. It's amazing just how seamless such a major architectural transition it was and continues to be!