My usual practice is to erase the hard drive and install a new operating system. It’s a hassle and takes time, especially for the Photos app, to sync and re-index. I realize this is not necessary, but I have found it a good way to start everything fresh.
I’m curious about what others plan to do when you update your OS. Will you perform a Nuke and Pave or upgrade?
Be honest I never do this on any device.
And surely I won’t do on Sequoia because my MacBook Air 2018 will not have any update more. Just hope my Apple Notes will not be broken. 
The only time I’ve done a nuke and pave is when I went from Intel to Si. Otherwise I just upgrade.
I always do a full fresh install.
I install so much nonsense over the course of the year that it’s a good opportunity for a clean slate. I have the settings for the essentials and the hardy perennials symlinked to Dropbox, so it doesn’t take that long to relink them and be up and running again, this time without all the cruft I’ve accumulated. I also don’t bother with restoring from Time Machine – I just inherit the settings and carry on where I left off (though I have to look up the commands to do this every year…)
I have to do it twice (desktop and laptop), but I usually stagger it over a week or two. I don’t download the full Photos data on the laptop, just the thumbnails (and it’s on an external SSD on the desktop), so that’s not really an issue. I think it’s worth it.
I very rarely reinstall the iPhone or iPads though.
I’ve never done a nuke and pave. Just a regular upgrade, and with new systems I use Migration Assistant to move everything over. I manually delete those apps that end up with a “do not enter” overlay on their icons, or otherwise no longer work.
Always just updated using Migration Assistant and always wait until at least .1 update but more times than not, .2.
I simply update. Nuking and paving of course is the best course, but I have a lot of licensed audio stuff that need to deactivate & reactivate licenses, so it’s quite a hassle.
I will let you know next August after you guys beta test it for a year… but I quit nuking and paving in 2020. Prior to that I nuked and paved even when it was fresh out of the box.
I always do a “nuke and pave.” Probably a hangover from my Windows era.
Only ever upgraded, going all the way back to the original OS X beta. Never had an issue.
However I wait for either the 0.1 or 0.2 release before taking the plunge.
I’ve worked on both Windows and macOS systems and I’ve never had new systems. I had to look a bit deeper into the operating system to see where things were stored and what was going on to optimize my systems.
I can certainly see where Windows would need to be nuked and paved every so often. But macOS sure seems to be a lot more efficient with memory and efficient with storage. There’s no registry. I’ve quit nuking and paving macOS systems, especially on Apple Silicon.
It just doesn’t make any sense anymore - the signed sealed volume that protects the operating system is pretty much inviolate and cannot be touched. The only thing you really need to redo is the data partition, if anything.
I go for update. Used to do nuke and pave in the past but now have stopped, mainly due to time it takes to reconfigure everything
However when I upgrade computer (laptop or desktop) I usually take that opportunity to start a fresh and don’t restore backups
That’s where I am at too. Lots of data to move around, lots of configuration files to sort out, etc.
Unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise, I am likely to upgrade in place.
IMHO, the aversion to accumulate cruft on a working computer is a remnant from the 90s. I would say that macOS (and Windows btw) have gotten very good at managing the cruft by themselves so that it is there but usually it doesn’t have a real impact other than occupying disk. It’s not like other apps stop working or the system becomes unuseable. For me, I just run GrandPerspective or DaisyDisk from time to time and see where the space is going and take action, which involve using an app uninstaller (Forklift has one).
As a note, I remember being slightly amused when I got my new Mini this year, didn’t migrate from my older Macbook Pro, and went to the Console app on the freshly installed system and it was sreaming all types of warnings and errors. We need to stop worrying about what’s under the hood and enjoy our drive 
The best thing about nuking is that you start fresh and it’s an ocasion to rethink your workflows and tools.
Some people around here could do with fewer incentives to rethink their tools… 
I don’t remember the last time I nuked and paved. I’ll just upgrade… But I don’t plan to install Sequoia on day one. I’ll wait and see. Not to mention that Sequoia sounds like a huge PITA with all the permissions…
I’ve only ever updated my Macs and have never had an issue after an upgrade. I never did a complete wipe, which would also create additional work with deactivating all the licensed software, etc.
Four or five years in, when a ‘nuke and pave’ approach is perhaps needed to remove the cruft, I generally upgrade to a newer model anyway, but I’ve never felt the need to ‘nuke and pave’ as in my pre-Mac days with Windows.
I almost always set up new Macs from scratch, and that’s when I generally review my overall software setup and try to start with a lean one.
I’ll update, not nuke and pave. I have too many software licenses to uninstall and reinstall. Plus, I have four Macs in my house between all my family to upgrade, so I’d lose a lot of time!
I’m actually all for that, occasionally. But “Apple released a new update,” IMHO, doesn’t make sense as a trigger for that process.
I can’t see the value in nuking and paving every time a new macOS version comes out.
I’ve always done it on a new Mac, although I may try the migration assistant when I go from one Apple silicon Mac to another. I’ve almost always used it on iPhones, and it’s worked fine.