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We had to delay recommending Catalina due to incompatibility with widely used scientific software (SPSS, MathType), and our on premises backup solution (IBM Spectrum Protect), all of which took more than 90 days to reach compatibility. This pattern was not unique to Catalina and I would be surprised if it is any different with Big Sur. If our long-time users of software such as SPSS lost access due to enforced updates, they would have no option but to switch to an operating system that offered more granular control (Windows or Linux).

Thank you @rtrouton for asking about the VPP redownload error. I'm still not 100% sure if that is the same error that means VPP-distributed apps never get updated, but I hope this raises awareness.

You would have to unmount the volume to re-mount it as read-only

Many thanks for these notes! Has anyone asked what commands could be used to figure out whether an item is on the system or the data volume, and/or is there a definitive list of what is where? Formerly, the SIP-protected items were in various location, and it may be the case that all these have moved to the system volume but I don’t know how to check.One reason I ask is /System/Library/User Templates. On Catalina this folder is empty save for a folder named “*”. This either means that User Templates don’t exist anymore, which seems unlikely, or have moved to a different location to make it easier to exclude from the system Volume. It leads to the question, “is FUT dead?”.Another silly question would be: is the system bootable if the data volume is wiped/deleted? Can the data folder be recreated from Recovery?Thanks, Graham