Hey devs, how do you handle macOS betas? Two separate machines? VMs? Partitions? How do you keep things synced up? Of course I use git to sync code, but what about in-progress work, app installs, settings, etc.?

I have one Mac and have set up a VM for Tahoe for quick testing. But it doesn’t support everything. Thinking about a Mini for testing, but hate the idea of managing two machines.

Any advice?

@jnadeau It was a great discussion! Thanks for spending the time.

@chartier Same. I love the simplicity of the previous multitasking and use it every day. I can’t believe that slide over is gone. This is just crazy. Everything gets harder.

@stroughtonsmith I am going to miss slide over. I keep a stack of “quick access” apps there. I don’t see an equivalent in the new system. Maybe I’m missing something.

@danielsaidi I think this is an awesome change. I’m looking forward to it.

@_Davidsmith A great post, David. Thank you for sharing and providing some perspective. I, too, feel very fortunate to have found my “thing” in software, and love creating for these platforms. And yes, there are certainly challenges right now that chisel away at the excitement, but I *am* looking forward to seeing what new tools, frameworks, etc. I’ll get to use.

@ibmacin Quite a dilemma, Brandon! I have the 11” iPad Pro (M4), and I love it. There have been a few times where I’ve thought about switching to a 13” iPad Pro and adding in an iPad Mini. I think I’d love that mini size! But, as you point out, the 11” is the “Goldilocks” iPad and I can’t bring myself (yet) to do it. I’ve even thought of just keeping the 11” and still getting a mini. But, I’m pretty happy with my 11”.

I’ll be interested to hear how your experiment goes!

I’m experimenting with using the 11” iPad Pro as my only iPad for the upcoming month. #ipad
https://whatsacomputer.com/posts/an-ipad-dilemma

@brentsimmons Having been in that state for 10 years(!) now, I can honestly say I would never go back. I wish the same for you.

@WarnerCrocker There may be perfectly valid reasons for this, but I have to say it’s not a good look. It makes it seem that they don’t want to deal with hard questions, and that doesn’t bode well for how they are thinking about their many messes. Avoidance does not lead to a better place.

@kyle Super cool! Thanks for sharing. It’ll be great to use and I’ve learned some things about parameter packs at the same time!

@WarnerCrocker Interesting read. Scary for sure, but at least the Anthropic guy is talking about it. Not sure anyone is listening, which is what makes it even more scary.

@kyle I thought this was interesting (assume you've seen it)

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/ai-jobs-white-collar-unemployment-anthropic

@scriptingosx I just came across your site and am learning a lot! I am writing my first Mac command line tool, and might want to distribute it. I’ve never written an installer package. I see you have a book on the topic and am wondering if it is still current. It looks like just what I need!

@brentsimmons Congratulations, Brent! You’ve been an inspiration for many years. I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

@mattiem Great post and great approach. I plan to do this as well. It’s all just so disappointing.

Things are getting worse.

The Apple developer community has a responsibility to respond and WWDC is our opportunity.

https://www.massicotte.org/resolve

@curtclifton This is really cool. Looking forward to them.

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@kyle @cakemix That’s wild. I do this, too, in the same order. As you point out, it just makes sense, and is so much easier to find things.