Making the Big (Sur) Jump

I’m pretty blithe about upgrading my “iDevices” to the latest versions of their operating systems, but caution seems to kick in when it comes to my Macintosh computers. Waiting for the second “point revision” or so, though, sometimes means a critical mass of negative reactions accumulating such that I cling to the previous version, and having done that with macOS 10.15 after having skipped versions 10.7 and 10.10 did get to feel intimidating. The “so help me I will switch to Windows!” threats that turn up every so often started sticking in my mind more; a “bleah” reaction to the system font of Windows at work only carries so far. There’s also, of course, the passive-aggressive accomplishment of getting some version of Linux running. I did do that on a black plastic MacBook some years ago, but found no particular joy in its look either and didn’t push far enough to master “building from source.”

Acquaintances upgraded to Big Sur, though. So did family members, friends at work, and a few people I keep some track of online. Its name did not get abbreviated and turned into a cruel jab, at least so far as I’ve seen. With the second “point revision” approaching, I did get to the point of thinking I could consider making the leap myself, and ordered a solid-state drive for my bootable backup and a new hard drive for Time Machine. Then, system 11.2 showed up, and I pushed myself to get around to the upgrade.
( The drawn-out details )