Combine macOS and Big Sur forum

[Savage]

I think these two forums should be combined now that Big Sur is the current version. Having additional sub-forums for the older versions makes sense, but having one for macOS and one for Big Sur doesn't.

The content in macOS and Big Sur is [now] relevant to anyone using Big Sur, but this content is being spread across two separate sections making it harder to keep up with.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

[Savage]

I just noticed that the iOS forums don't have this spit; the iOS 14 forum is where you'd be if you're up to date with your software. My suggestion would also make things more consistent with the iOS structure.

 

[Populus]

I mostly agree with this. Let's hope the staff reads it and leverages if it is doable.

Thanks to you for the suggestion.

 

[mikzn]

My 2 cents - Much nicer to have a separate Big Sur forum so that it is separate - that way people that have Big Sur know that they are not getting replies from people that don't even have it installed or are not using it yet

There are a lot of issues that are unique to Big Sur and as a new / major update / it is good to know that people posting there are actually using it

 

[Savage]

My 2 cents - Much nicer to have a separate Big Sur forum so that it is separate - that way people that have Big Sur know that they are not getting replies from people that don't even have it installed or are not using it yet

There are a lot of issues that are unique to Big Sur and as a new / major update / it is good to know that people posting there are actually using it

I get that and I think the iOS sections do it correctly. There's iOS 14 (Big Sur), iOS 13 (Catalina), iOS 12, and ones for older iOS. But it doesn't have one for iOS in general (macOS) because it would be redundant. So, to keep things consistent and more organized, the macOS section should be merged into the Big Sur, Catalina, and older sections, accordingly.

 

[retta283]

The macOS forum has posts going back to 2004, obviously well before Big Sur. So renaming it Big Sur is not a real solution. It does seem a bit odd to have forums for each version then a megaforum. They'd have to send the macOS board to the archives preferably.

 

[Savage]

The macOS forum has posts going back to 2004, obviously well before Big Sur. So renaming it Big Sur is not a real solution. It does seem a bit odd to have forums for each version then a megaforum. They'd have to send the macOS board to the archives preferably.

I mentioned the solution to that in my previous post (distributing the threads to the proper OS section) but moving it to archive would be easier and quicker for @arn.

 

[QCassidy352]

Good point. What exactly is supposed to go in the “macOS” forum rather than a version specific sub forum?

 

[primarycolors]

I think it's fine to have discrete forums for both, perhaps just encourage the use of the Big Sur forum for Big Sur questions. Besides the obvious issue that the MacOS forum spans years before Big Sur, some questions may cover several OS or not apply to a specific OS.

 

[arn]

I think it's redundant, I'll see about combining them.

 

[velocityg4]

Good point. What exactly is supposed to go in the “macOS” forum rather than a version specific sub forum?

I'd think something general. Like how to create a new folder. Although I can see people being confused as to whether their question is a Big Sur question or general macOS question.

 

[retta283]

Combining the macOS forum to the Big Sur one is not a realistic solution or you're going to have 16 year old threads about Panther in the Big Sur forum. I think the way is either to combine Big Sur into the macOS forum, and then recreating the Big Surprise forum when 12.0 comes out, or sending the macOS forum to the archive and going from there. Parting the threads out to their intended OSes is not realistic unfortunately, there's over 1,200 pages of posts to sort through and I assume those are not always clear as to what OS is being discusses.

Pretty much what I said before but I hope it was a bit clearer. Edit: For some reason Big Sur kept autocorrecting to Big Surprise even that it's their own OS LOL

 

[maflynn]

think these two forums should be combined now that Big Sur is the current version. Having additional sub-forums for the older versions makes sense, but having one for macOS and one for Big Sur doesn't

The macOS forum is a generic forum where people ask help, or discuss things that tends to be non-version specific. I think making it Big Sur only could cause some confusion especially when Apple rolls out the next version.

 

[Savage]

The macOS forum is a generic forum where people ask help, or discuss things that tends to be non-version specific. I think making it Big Sur only could cause some confusion especially when Apple rolls out the next version.

If that is the logic then maybe the iOS forums should be changed to work like this as well?

 

[maflynn]

If that is the logic then maybe the iOS forums should be changed to work like this as well?

There's less reason to have a generic iOS forum, where as Macs tend to be more open in what you can do with the computers and operating system.

In other words the macOS forum is good to handle things that tend not have a good home, where as iOS doesn't have that problem

 

[Savage]

There's less reason to have a generic iOS forum, where as Macs tend to be more open in what you can do with the computers and operating system.

In other words the macOS forum is good to handle things that tend not have a good home, where as iOS doesn't have that problem

True, I get that.