CarolS

Has anyone used Apples new operating system Sonoma? Is it buggy. Do you think it is worth upgrading to. Thanks

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I just upgrade tonight. Too early to tell about any bugs. A few neat new features but nothing I couldn't live without (so far).

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

I ran Sonoma as a beta for weeks. I never found a problem with it.

That said, the new gimmicks... er, features don't impress me, but I'll upgrade just for performance purposes. Then again, I have a Mac with M2 silicon, so it should be an improvement.

avflinsch Loc: Hamilton, New Jersey

I upgraded on my M2 macBook and my M1 Studio - no issues yet. I have not had a chance to review all of the new features, but overall moth systems seem snappier.

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

You will find that many upgrade right away. Others, like myself, wait for the first 'bug fix' to come out before upgrading. Nothing scientific about this..just what other do.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Same experience for me!

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

I upgraded to a new MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. Overall, I am quite please, especially with the speed. Topaz Sharpen and DeNoise used to be painfully slow on my 2017 machine, and now they fly. One little bug, in the dropdown apps menu, when photoshop is open, when for instance I try to change apps from "Safari" to "mail", the machine goes to photoshop when I click on the "mail" button. When I click on the mail button again, it successfully goes to mail. Any suggestion on how to fix. Not a big deal, but a little annoying.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I am not a fan of upgrading to a .0 release. My experience with upgrading operating systems is that the .2 or .3 release is usually quite stable.

At .2 or .3 release level, I do think it’s worth upgrading to the latest and greatest operating system if your computer will support it. The primary reason is that software updates and upgrades often perform best on the current operating system.

Be sure that you have enough system resources to install and run the new operating system. Also be sure that your Mac can handle macOS 14 Sonoma. Only the most recent Macs can run it. Apple is aggressively discontinuing support for older Intel Macs. All Apple Silicon Macs can run Sonoma. If your Intel Mac was sold before 2018, look it up to be sure you can upgrade.

It’s always a great idea to do a complete backup of your entire system and data before upgrading to a new system.

If you are not quite ready for Sonoma, then upgrade to 13.6, which is what I’m installing as I type this on my phone.

Harry02 Loc: Gardena, CA

I have a minor business of taking those Intel Macs, and installing Windows on SSDs.
So far, so good! 2006 - 2010 MacPros go ZOOOM! And no upgrade worries.
Tho two have received Linux Mint. Happiness abides.

MJPerini

Apple's OS Updates are usually good, but never perfect. Your experience will also depend on your installed software and weather or not it has been optimized for any of the under the hood updates that Apple as made.
If your machine and software are currently running well, my advice is the same as many above.....
Pass on the XX.0 update, wait for others to find and report issues and when xx.2 is released feel free.
Think of it as a thoughtful approach to upgrading.
What some power users do is to make a bootable clone of your Boot Drive, upgrade THAT ONE and test your system which you can do because it is an exact copy. It works, especially because you can go back to your regular Boot Drive with a restart. But it costs time and money to do, and just waiting a couple of months, others will do the testing for you.
So I think it pays to wait.

wiz302pa Loc: Henderson, NV

I have been a Mac used for 19 years

For Apple OS upgrades, I usually wait a few weeks for the 1st or second update to occur. In this case when 14 turns into 14.0.1 or 14.0.2. This always happens. Then, I jump in -- after the initial "surprises" have been addressed.

It will only take a few weeks as Apple scrambles to recover from the blowback from initial field experiences.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Sonoma has been a nightmare for me. A whole bunch of apps wouldn't run, including PSE. After several weeks, Apple began installing fixes, and one by one the apps became functional (except for PSE).

There's another update coming tonight.

Don't be in a hurry to upgrade.

Mark

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

As a 40-year computer user, I'm always amazed at how people want to be early adopters, but then complain when things don't work as expected.

It's software. That is to say, it is a house of cards. When all is in perfect working order, it is replaced. Any software that is ever finished and bug-free is ABANDONED in favor of the next version.

The market churn rate is five to seven years for Apple hardware and operating systems. At some point, you won't want to use either. I have a 24-year old Mac that still works, but it is limited to what was current software between 1999 and 2006. It never goes on the Internet... too risky! We turn it on only to update and reprint a single document in PageMaker 6...

About ten years ago, I said, "I'm done with early adoption. It's annoying and dangerous to my data." I watched and waited while early adopters caught bug after gotcha after unintended consequence... until the ruckus died down and version x.2 or x.3 was out.

I've also learned to endure the learning curves of new systems and software. New features inevitably mean a trip to YouTube for some training snippets. I've learned that 90% of the time, when something goes wrong, it's Stupid User Error. In other words, I'm the impatient stupid user!

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

Well said.

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Are you talking about Sonoma? It was just released Tuesday.