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Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Big Sur to Public Beta Testers

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Apple today seeded the first beta of the upcoming macOS 11 Big Sur update to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to give the software a try ahead of its public release this fall.

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Beta testers who signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the macOS Big Sur beta through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile.

Mac users who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate on the beta website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS betas. Potential beta testers should make a full backup before installing ‌macOS Big Sur‌, and it may not be wise to install the update on a primary machine because betas can be unstable.

macOS Big Sur introduces a refined design for the macOS operating system, which is more similar to iOS but immediately familiar to Mac users with tweaks to window design, color palette, app icons, system sounds, menu bars, and sidebars.

The update brings Control Center to the Mac for the first time, providing quicker access to system controls for things like volume, keyboard brightness, screen brightness, Wi-Fi connection, and more.

An updated Notification Center includes more interactive notifications and redesigned widgets that mirror the new widgets in iOS 14. Notifications are now grouped by app, and you can customize which widgets show up.

Safari has a new customizable start page, built-in translation, and a Privacy Report feature that lets you know which trackers each website is using to follow you across the web. There's a new Mac App Store category for extensions, and you can now control the specific sites that extensions are able to work with for more privacy.

The Messages app for Mac has been overhauled to bring it more in line with the Messages app for iOS and it supports features like pinned conversations, mentions, inline replies, Messages effects, and Memoji creation and Memoji stickers. Search is also better to make it easier to find old conversations, photos, links, and more.

A redesigned Maps app in macOS Big Sur adds support for Look Around, indoor maps, Guides, and Shared ETA updates, plus it can be used to generate cycling routes and routes with charging stops for electric vehicles, which can be sent to iPhone.

There are also smaller updates for apps like Photos, Music, and Home, with a full list of everything new in macOS Big Sur available in our roundup.

Article Link: Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Big Sur to Public Beta Testers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/06/macos-big-sur-public-beta/
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Anyone know how big the install is? I'll probably install it onto my external Samsung SSD so I don't FUBAR my daily driver Macbook Pro.
 
chama98 said:
Not even going to bother. If any of the developer betas have anything to go by. I am holding off till the final release date. Life is too short to go bug hunting, going to leave that to you lot.
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I just want to see, whether it works in my Parallels VM. The Developer Beta 4 did not. It booted into a black screen.
 
chama98 said:
Not even going to bother. If any of the developer betas have anything to go by. I am holding off till the final release date. Life is too short to go bug hunting, going to leave that to you lot.
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I know the experience varies by machine so take it for what's it worth. I've been running Big Sur on my 2020 MBP since the first release and I have to say it has been mostly smooth sailing. Certainly less bugs than the past few releases over the years which I've subjected myself to. Stability is really good and right now the only app I'm having issues with is Parallels and there is a work around for that.
 
Mydel said:
Thats really bad net! I dowloaded in 36 min...using 100/100 connection
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I thank god that I have a 80 down and a 20 up Internet connection. In this day and age and a pandemic with more people working at home having a slow internet connection makes life painful. I hope that the United States wires up the whole US with fiber in my lifetime. It is like in the 1930's when rural people in the county had no telephones to communicate. A project like this would put people who have lost their jobs work.
 
jlocker said:
I thank god that I have a 80 down and a 20 up Internet connection. In this day and age and a pandemic with more people working at home having a slow internet connection makes life painful. I hope that the United States wires up the whole US with fiber in my lifetime. It is like in the 1930's when rural people in the county had no telephones to communicate. A project like this would put people who have lost their jobs work.
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True. But from my experience US has generally bad internet and expensive. I have slowest possible now in Norway (100/100) and its only like 25USD a month
 
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FYI...Parellels doesnt work on Big Sur without using a workaround found on the Parallels.com site. I think this is common every year and they are quick to resolve it but wanted to make note of it in case its a deal breaker.
 
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kjm18 said:
d20ab80542887e2d2c913b688ee81bbc.jpg

This keeps coming up, gonna try again later
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Looks like some kind of legacy system extension with a Logitech device. I upgraded my Netgear WIFI adapter A7000 driver so I would not be out of date with Catalina before doing the upgrade.
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jlocker said:
Looks like some kind of legacy system extension with a Logitech device. I upgraded my Netgear WIFI adapter A7000 driver so I would not be out of date with Catalina before doing the upgrade. I did see that I will need to get the newer version for Big Sur once I install the beta.
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dannyyankou said:
The fact that the public beta was delayed tells you all you need to know. Proceed with caution.
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Apple usually releases the MacOS about a month after the iOS version. It is always the same with betas. I find it an odd practice as everything is supposed to work together....but not for a month...
 
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