It appears that 1.0 has broken several handy tricks or shortcuts when working with paths. I'll report all these as issues when I have the time but, for now, here are the long-winded ways to work around things that used to be very simple in 0.92:

1. Convert text object to a single complex path.
   In 0.92 you could use Path > Union to convert a text object into a single complex path. For 1.0 the only workflow I've found is to use Path > Object to Path, then Object > Ungroup, then Path > Union (or Combine).
2. Inset, Outset, Dynamic Offset applied to a text object
   In 0.92 you could apply these tools directly to a text object, and it would be implicitly converted to a single path and the tool's effect applied. In 1.0 you need to follow the steps above to convert to a path first, then apply the tool.
3. Linked Offset applied to a text object
   No longer works. No direct workaround found as yet. The closest option would be to clone the text object and use a morphology filter on the clone (e.g. Filter > Morphology > Outline).
4. Path > Reverse on a sub-path
   In 0.92 you could select a single node in a sub-path and use Path > Reverse to reverse just that sub-path. In 1.0 you have to break the shape apart (Path > Break Apart), reverse the path in question, then re-combine (Path > Combine).
   https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/1125

If anyone has any better workarounds, or spots any similar regressions, please add a comment to this topic so there's a single place to point people to for solutions.

I've found a workaround for the Linked Offset with Text issue, but it's a bit of a pain:

1. Create your text object.
2. Create a separate temporary shape - I just used a rectangle.
3. Use the Path > Linked Offset feature on the temporary shape.
4. You can now delete the temporary shape if you wish.
5. With the linked offset selected, Edit > XML Editor.
6. Replace the 'xlink:href' value with the ID of the text object, preceded by a hash (#). You can find the ID via the XML editor, or by right-clicking on the text object and opening the Object Properties dialog.

This does, at least, show that the underlying engine still supports Text => Linked Offset, and it's just the UI end of things that is broken.

Bugs already exist for these issues:

• "Texts cannot be used in Boolean operations (and inset/outset) anymore" (https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/589)
• "Text Linked offset bug in inkscape 1.0rc1" (https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/1393)
• "1.0b2: Path > Reverse affects all subpaths" (https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/1125)

I don't know if the problem has been fixed already for Linked offset or if your aware but since I just updated I found this when trying to fix the problem. I used your step 1 and then used path linked offset and it gave me the single node like it did in .92 without having to do the second option workaround you mentioned. It was much easier for me. 

@abcjowen Please can you let us know your version of Inkscape and your OS, as I've still got the same issue on v1.0.1 installed from the snap package on Ubuntu.

To be clear exactly what the problem is. First, with a text object:

1. Create some text.
2. Select the text object, then Path > Linked Offset.
3. On my system I don't get the single offset handle that would be expected. Rather the text is converted to a group of paths.

With another object type:

1. Create a star or polygon using the Polygon tool. Confirm that the toolbar shows it as a "Star".
2. Select the shape, then Path > Linked Offset.
3. Drag the top object away to separate the original object and the linked path.
4. On my system the original object has been converted to a path, and is no longer a Star.

I just upgraded to V1.0.1 on windows. 

 still does exactly what your still having problems with but I worked around it by 

1.Create Txt 

2.path<object to path 

3.object<ungroup 

4.path<union 

5.Path<linked offset . Here I get the star to provide the link around the txt which was normally the shortcut in the previous Version 

That's not quite the same thing. The point of my workaround above is that the text remains as a text object, so can still be edited afterwards and the linked offset updates to match. Similarly a star remains as a star, not a path, and so on.

I go into a lot more detail about this in part 100 of my tutorial series in Full Circle Magazine (free download): https://inkscape.org/forums/tutorials/inkscape-tutorials-in-full-circle-magazine/

I've just made my first Youtube video, covering the text-to-path problems, and detailing the workarounds.

Edit: The YouTube button in the forum's toolbar doesn't seem to work with any combination of settings, so I guess I'll just paste a link to the video instead.

https://youtu.be/lx5nRCu7AKk

This will be fixed in 1.0.2! :D