Has anyone tried the latest update for newcomers [v2]

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. Spent the last few weekends digging into this and the deeper I go the more questions I have.

Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard. This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts.