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You would think that with each release being so much worse than previous versions that eventually OSX would quit booting up and become nothing more than a proof

by S_A_P 5y ago

You would think that with each release being so much worse than previous versions that eventually OSX would quit booting up and become nothing more than a proof of concept. So much hyperbole in this thread. A solid subset of users declares that the sky is falling and this is the end for Apple. Rinse and repeat with each iteration. I am not saying there haven’t been missteps, but it ain’t all bad. My personal experience with Big Sur has largely been a non event and I have tons of boutique usb synthesizers audio interfaces and software. I use windows Mac and dabble in a few Linux distros. None are perfect but they’re all pretty good.

Benjamin_Dobell 5y ago
Does Big Sur let you loopback audio out yet, or are third-party extensions still required? Do Soundflower & BlackHole even work on M1? The fact there hasn't been native loopback for so long is mind-boggling. I'm a Mac user and use BlackHole. I've lost count of the number of times I've been on a call and someone with a Mac has gone to share screen and been confused as to why their audio isn't being shared. COVID/WFH has made this a regular occurrence.
- faitswulff 5y ago
  Counterpoint: I don’t know or care what that feature is and I’ve never encountered anyone complaining about it.
  - coldtea 5y ago
    It's basically sending your system audio to an audio channel (e.g. to an app). You could e.g. route a Skype call audio to record it. Handy when you need it, not exactly a metric for OS quality to offer one.
- coldtea 5y ago
  >Does Big Sur let you loopback audio out yet, or are third-party extensions still required? Do Soundflower & BlackHole even work on M1? How is that relevant to a discussion about worsening software quality? OS X never had native loopback.
  - Benjamin_Dobell 5y ago
    Software quality is a moving target. iOS 2.0 was exceptional quality in 2008, if a competitor released something akin to iOS 2.0 now they'd be laughed at. Additionally, the comment was in response to a comment about audio interfaces, so it's relevant on multiple accounts.
  - S_A_P 5y ago
    Agreed, this isnt a datapoint. And I have an app called Loopback by Rogue Amoeba that does this job very well. There are plenty of reasons that you could assume OSX doesnt include this natively. The biggest I can think of is if you can capture streaming audio at no quality loss then you kinda blow up some business models. I dont hear any detailed descriptions of how the software quality has declined. What I generally see is bugs being reported which is then called evidence that apple software is bad. I think the UMN story has shown that all OS software is large, complex and bug ridden. I personally dont love how OSX is becoming more of a walled garden, but I also think that given the fact that bad people exist to make sure we cant have anything nice its a reasonable reaction to try and make the OS more secure. The days of the OS is your playground are ending. I wish that werent true but there are crappy folks out there that want to steal your data, identity, scam you, commit computer crimes against you. I will reiterate that I think Big Sur was probably the smoothest big release of MacOS Ive been through(since Tiger). Others may have different experiences, but I can only speak to mine.

by S_A_P 5y ago

Benjamin_Dobell 5y ago

Does Big Sur let you loopback audio out yet, or are third-party extensions still required? Do Soundflower & BlackHole even work on M1? The fact there hasn't been native loopback for so long is mind-boggling. I'm a Mac user and use BlackHole. I've lost count of the number of times I've been on a call and someone with a Mac has gone to share screen and been confused as to why their audio isn't being shared. COVID/WFH has made this a regular occurrence.

faitswulff 5y ago
Counterpoint: I don’t know or care what that feature is and I’ve never encountered anyone complaining about it.
- coldtea 5y ago
  It's basically sending your system audio to an audio channel (e.g. to an app). You could e.g. route a Skype call audio to record it. Handy when you need it, not exactly a metric for OS quality to offer one.
coldtea 5y ago
>Does Big Sur let you loopback audio out yet, or are third-party extensions still required? Do Soundflower & BlackHole even work on M1? How is that relevant to a discussion about worsening software quality? OS X never had native loopback.
- Benjamin_Dobell 5y ago
  Software quality is a moving target. iOS 2.0 was exceptional quality in 2008, if a competitor released something akin to iOS 2.0 now they'd be laughed at. Additionally, the comment was in response to a comment about audio interfaces, so it's relevant on multiple accounts.
- S_A_P 5y ago
  Agreed, this isnt a datapoint. And I have an app called Loopback by Rogue Amoeba that does this job very well. There are plenty of reasons that you could assume OSX doesnt include this natively. The biggest I can think of is if you can capture streaming audio at no quality loss then you kinda blow up some business models. I dont hear any detailed descriptions of how the software quality has declined. What I generally see is bugs being reported which is then called evidence that apple software is bad. I think the UMN story has shown that all OS software is large, complex and bug ridden. I personally dont love how OSX is becoming more of a walled garden, but I also think that given the fact that bad people exist to make sure we cant have anything nice its a reasonable reaction to try and make the OS more secure. The days of the OS is your playground are ending. I wish that werent true but there are crappy folks out there that want to steal your data, identity, scam you, commit computer crimes against you. I will reiterate that I think Big Sur was probably the smoothest big release of MacOS Ive been through(since Tiger). Others may have different experiences, but I can only speak to mine.