Two Quick Tidbits—October 28
OS Day
I installed macOS Monterey on day 1—because of course I did. I had a backup ready in case I needed to roll back, though… I’m not an animal.
First impression: it’s ok. Second impression: it’s growing on me. All my main apps seem to be working fine (even third-party plugins in Logic 10.7), so I can’t complain. Airplay for Mac works as expected, and I like beaming music from my iPad while I work on the MacBook Air (I can use the Albums app, which is nice). Focus has taken centre stage for me on both iOS and iPadOS, so its presence on the Mac is very much appreciated. (1)
But Monterey is also clearly incomplete, which is odd, even if we already knew about this going in: Universal Control is MIA, along with SharePlay, both touted as defining features—both pushed to a later date. And the one big shiny new plaything that did make it in time—Shortcuts—is a little disappointing: the UI is somewhat funky and the overall impression leans heavily towards a 1.0 version. Which it is for the Mac, so perhaps my expectations should’ve been lower. That said, the potential is definitely there: I’ve already adapted workflows from my iPad and added some useful automations to the menubar. Support for the app is already making its way to third-party updates, with some adding powerful capabilities (Pixelmator Pro released an impressive video to show off their Shortcut actions).
Bottom line: what worked before still works, so that’s good. There’s more coming, and that’s exciting. But if you’re nervous and prefer to hold off, you’re not missing much at the moment.
Side-note: I did have one serious issue with the upgrade, but it’s very niche and I managed to fix it: one of my midi controller keyboards (an Arturia Keylab Essential 49), became unusable in Logic Pro. Any note, button, or slider input would result in erratic midi messaging, resizing open windows, changing screensets, opening random plugins etc. I deleted the keyboard entirely from the control surfaces setup, re-added it, and all has been fine since.
C1 Day
It is time—once again— for the annual pre-upgrade dance: until November 9 the upcoming Capture One 22 (perpetual license) is 20% off its regular price. Here’s an affiliate link if you’re in the market for this. Also, be sure to use the LAROQUE10 discount code for an additional 10% rebate.
The big features in 22 are HDR merge and panorama stitching. I’m hoping the HDR part will do a good job with “naturalistic” implementations (for interior design work, in my case). I have to say I’m on the fence this year regarding keeping my perpetual license or moving to the annual subscription model. I might switch to the yearly Fujifilm version instead of upgrading my current installation—there’s not much that’s “perpetual” if I’m purchasing a new license each year anyway. We’ll see.
That’s it for today.
I did say quick ;)
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I do miss the ability to customize the environment for each Focus mode, however. There are no Home Screens on the Mac but we do have Spaces, and yet in Monterey, Focus is solely about notifications. It’s good to have this feature sync across platforms, but it feels like a missed opportunity in terms of contextualized computing. Perhaps something for the future.
