I don’t think of a moderately rationalized macOS UI was ever intended as a selling point for one OS user to try the other. It’s a refresh with new features, using elements that were found to have worked on a platform with far more users, while pushing both UIs forward.
Startup chime is back!!! 
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Noticed that on the keynote.
Things will be as they should be.
(I’ve already enabled it on my iMac Pro.)
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You could re-enable the chime in Catalina.
sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
Yes, the article noted that. But this is about it being reinstated in the OS.
apple fan service 
With the break from Intel and the whole OS X timeline I think they needed to also break the UI design, and given that the iOS ecosystem is a much larger installed base, moving the Mac UI more towards that “feel” probably made the most sense.
Unify the underlying code base, unify the overlying (visual) UI – with touch remaining the wildcard for debate.
I’m personally ambivalent about the tweaks: I can’t remember being passionate one way or another about e.g., the skeuomorphism of earlier OS X UIs either. But what I do care about is how it all hangs together.
If the price we need to pay for some progress on FTFF is a UI push towards iOS, then, well, I’m more than OK with the changes.
Well they’ve succeeded.
Something I missed before, maybe it’s just with the presenter for Safari but when did toolbar icons become “buttons”?
I was the opposite, I hated the leather calendar, etc. and would patch the apps to get rid of it. At one point I was almost ready to pull a new Windows machine out of inventory.
Almost 
Overall, I like the design of macOS 11. However, I’m going to miss Mac OS X’s icons. I’m not real wild about all apps having an iOS -like square icon.
I really like and appreciate the app icon diversity in Mac OS X.
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That battery icon… I think it’s the only part of the OS that unacceptably ugly.
Messages and Facetime Icon should remove the the green shadow and make it gray imho.
The rest looks really nice, I think. Hyped for this release.
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Dear Apple,
No, Title Bar is not a good place to observe social distancing…
At the same time we know bars are crowded places.
runs away very very fast
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As @anon85228692 suggested above, it’s almost as if the new icons and more spaced-out menu items make targets more finger-friendly.
Rene Ritchie (formerly of iMore) just made this pertinent, amusing tweet:
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I think the retreat (or advancement) from ‘flat’ icons can be done well and generally has been really iterated nicely. Before and after:
and
and typical Apple attention to detail:
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The zip code is what really sells it. 
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Gary Rosenzweig of MacMost.com has posted a 6-min video walk-through showing off Big Sur’s redesign, including icons, windows, and apps.
EDIT: I just noticed that AppleInsider did a 9-minute walk-through that’s a little more in-depth with discussion.
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Looks great!
Can’t wait to install the beta… (in a VM)
(our admin first needs to approve the new Apple Developer License Agreement)
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Im not a fan. I feel like its too close to the Windows XP fisher price vibe. Cartoonish is a word that comes to mind.
