DISCLAIMER: As of the date of this entry, this review contains my first impressions of MacOS Big Sur, and may be edited in the future as I explore it more over time.

I first noticed that an updated for MacOS, Big Sur, was available two days ago, November 26, 2020. I typically don’t review OSes, but this one I felt worth talking about because I like what I see so far in the update of features.

I updated my MacBook last night, and have noticed a few superficial differences that were worth noting. Most of what I’ve noticed is aesthetic. For more information on non-aesthetic features, you can take a look at the list on Apple’s website, here. (If the link does not work, you can copy-paste the following in your web browser: https://www.apple.com/macos/big-sur/features/).

Immediately, the first thing I noticed was the change in sign-in screen. So far, I like the colors compared to the old sign-in screen (sample below), and all the app icons seem softer and more rounded, which I definitely like.

The other interesting thing worth noting is the top menu bar is now clear, and I do like this as well. Now I can pretty much see my entire chosen desktop background, which is a picture of a relaxing beach. Now it’s even more relaxing to me, haha.

The other app I use most often is messenger (great for writing long text messages with less strain on the fingers and wrists). This has gotten a visual facelift as well, and looks beautiful to me.

The other thing worth noting is there is a new feature up too, next to the search function on the menu bar, that has a “quick menu” very similar to what you see on the iPhone. I haven’t really had a chance to utilize this yet, but it seems like it’ll be useful in the future.

The only thing I wish Apple would include in these updates is the ability to choose your Finder’s start screen. I’d rather it automatically start with my documents as opposed to my “recents.” If anyone knows a workaround for this, please let me know!

For now, those are my initial first impressions. It’s not much, but I’ve only had a few hours today to explore it. Again, if you want a more complete list of newly released features under Big Sur, then you would want to see the link I posted above.

Until next entry, folks!