Most mac os feature updates are just updates to all that bundled stuff. I use none of that. I use my laptop to run various OSS developer tools, browsers, etc. 99% of it is available on Linux. And I have moved my workflow to a Linux laptop a few years ago. I went back for performance reasons; not for feature reasons. I can do that again. There's nothing really stopping me. But I like the Apple hardware.
This is also the reason that I don't mind the current version of Mac OS. Yes everything you mentioned is a bit meh. Which is part of why I don't use any of those applications. So I don't care. I've disabled Siri. Never used Facetime. Maps, Numbers, and all the other of the dozens of things they bundle: I never touch any of it. I don't need that stuff and when I do, I use alternatives. I have an Android phone so all of the IOS integration stuff is redundant to me as well. They've not locked me into their ecosystem. And I like it like that. I don't allow myself to be locked in.
As a work horse for doing development MacOS is still a fine OS. It does the job. Most updates of the last 10 years or so have been minor window dressing that you barely notice, some under the hood changes, and misc tweaks that mostly fall into the "whatever" category for me. For me the annoying thing is just having to sit through these lengthy updates. I keep postponing them because it's never convenient to take an hours long break when it prompts me.
And I don't really get much out of these updates. To be honest, I can barely tell apart the different versions of their OS. The main notable visual change seems to be the desktop background. Which is usually hidden by applications. So I rarely look at it.
This is also the reason that I don't mind the current version of Mac OS. Yes everything you mentioned is a bit meh. Which is part of why I don't use any of those applications. So I don't care. I've disabled Siri. Never used Facetime. Maps, Numbers, and all the other of the dozens of things they bundle: I never touch any of it. I don't need that stuff and when I do, I use alternatives. I have an Android phone so all of the IOS integration stuff is redundant to me as well. They've not locked me into their ecosystem. And I like it like that. I don't allow myself to be locked in.
As a work horse for doing development MacOS is still a fine OS. It does the job. Most updates of the last 10 years or so have been minor window dressing that you barely notice, some under the hood changes, and misc tweaks that mostly fall into the "whatever" category for me. For me the annoying thing is just having to sit through these lengthy updates. I keep postponing them because it's never convenient to take an hours long break when it prompts me.
And I don't really get much out of these updates. To be honest, I can barely tell apart the different versions of their OS. The main notable visual change seems to be the desktop background. Which is usually hidden by applications. So I rarely look at it.