Blender 4.0 - 4.1 smooth and sharp edges work different?

[obsurveyor]

Yes. Use the Shade Smooth operator and add an Auto Smooth by Angle modifier on your mesh before editing.

There’s already an ongoing discussion about this change over here:
https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-4-1-auto-smooth-is-now-a-modifier-only