I recently finally switched to NetworkManager after using Arch's netctl for years (since so long ago I don't remember why I picked it in the first place). It's been a nice experience so far and I don't have any reason to reach for something more minimal again for network management. That's the beauty of Arch—you will indeed learn a lot by default but all the options are there and well documented in the wiki of course.
Anyway, have fun, and remember, it's not a partial upgrade if you didn't sync your package lists (that one took me too long to figure out). Breaking stuff is part of the fun and learning for sure, but to be honest maintaining Arch becomes rather routine after the initial learning curve. In a way even less so than non rolling distros since there's never a jarring version bump with some big changes. My current install has been chugging along for over seven years across two different laptops.
I recently finally switched to NetworkManager after using Arch's netctl for years (since so long ago I don't remember why I picked it in the first place). It's been a nice experience so far and I don't have any reason to reach for something more minimal again for network management. That's the beauty of Arch—you will indeed learn a lot by default but all the options are there and well documented in the wiki of course.
Anyway, have fun, and remember, it's not a partial upgrade if you didn't sync your package lists (that one took me too long to figure out). Breaking stuff is part of the fun and learning for sure, but to be honest maintaining Arch becomes rather routine after the initial learning curve. In a way even less so than non rolling distros since there's never a jarring version bump with some big changes. My current install has been chugging along for over seven years across two different laptops.