I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro M1 and I am lovin’ it. I have found the M1 processor incredibly fast, and running the applications, even ones not recompiled for the M1 to be lightning quick. However, as good as the M1-based computer is – I can’t say the same for Big Sur. I have a fair bit of support work and development work for SBS and clients, and I have been a Mac OS X user for over 20 years.
Big Sur does not feel fully baked, even several months past its release date. Just one example, I applied the latest OS patches to the new M1 Laptop this morning – and as Apple all too frequently does, it prompted me to log in to iCloud again ( I had just been prompted to login into iCloud an hour before, for no reason apparent to me). This time the login happens before the OS is fully booted, that matters Apple – I don’t have access to my password manager. It is a lot of friction, a lot. IT pro’s coach people to use password managers, and not having access to one – forced me to another device to look up a password that is way too long to type.
I don’t want to discourage people from committing to password managers, it is really a first-line defense in modern online computing, so deal with the friction. I certainly don’t want to discourage people from using Mac OS X to produce meaningful content for the professional lives because that remains a valid choice. Just a little more attention to the little things in Big Sur, like Apple has always been famous to do, would have made it a little easier.
