I'm baffled by the hate. So far, it's just some nice looking cosmetic changes.

All entirely inconsequential -- I've seen nothing yet that will affect my workflows in any way.

I don't think so, apple supposedly cares about aesthetics and design. If I didn't care about little details I would use windows. Like Steve Jobs said, it comes down to taste. Why would I use a flawed unpolished product, it doesn't reassure me that the technical side was even done well.

This UI refresh seems better than Jony Ive’s attempt. The first version he was in control of was probably the worst UI they’ve had. Poor contrast, ultra-thin fonts, strange color pallet, and the buttons were gone. Need a back button, here: <. Liquid Glass seems much better than that, and they will continue to refine it, just like they did Ive’s design.

Wait until you use it a bit more and get some overlap into an unreadable mess.

Open System Settings right now, do a search, then scroll the view. That’s the least worst you’ll find.

I tried it and it works well, and looks good.

What's the bad thing I'm supposed to be seeing?