As I’m switching to a new machine, this is the ideal time for me to list all of the tweaks and changes I make to OS X and various core apps.
System Enhancements and Plugins
- FunctionFlip “individually controls your MacBook or MacBook Pro’s function keys, turning special keys back to regular F-keys, or vice-versa. FunctionFlip is a preference pane; you’ll find it in the “Other” category in System Preferences.”
These are the settings I flip for the newer model MackBook Pro:- F8 for quick Spaces access
- F9, F10 and F11 – To provide quick access to Expose functionality
- F12 – To PRovide quick access to Dashboard
- Set it to start at login
- KeyRemap4MacBook
- Growl is a must-have for every Mac.. It provides a platform for programs to notify you of activity.
- Start at login
- iStat Menus
- The Blaqua skin with the Fire skin color
- Disable checking for updates at startup, relying instead on checking every 24 hours
- I monitor the CPU, combining multiple CPUs into a single graph
- I monitor Memory
- I disable monitoring of other stats
- I enable Date & Time, using it as a replacement for the system time stamp in the top right because I like the compressed calendar layout
- Witch Thanks to Flip for the link
(The Developer appears to have disappeared altogether, so there isn’t a site to link to)- Set it to ignore the LastFm.app
- Set it to “Ignore Windows that identify themselves as floating windows (tool bars etc.)”
Overlay Drawers for Dock Stacks are a nice touch, but do not provide anything beyond aesthetic pleasure
SymbolicLinker simplifies the creation of symlinks.
Preferences and Settings
- Disable Bluetooth I don’t use any Bluetooth devices, so there’s no need to drain the battery and chew up processing power for it. I also take it out of the menu bar to reduce clutter.
- Pair a Remote The Apple remote that used to come free with Macs can be really useful, to the point that I keep mine with the laptop wherever I go. You never know when a presentation will bust out in the street.
- Sound Effects – I go with Submarine as I like it a bit better. Exciting huh?
- Universal Access – I enable access for assistive devices, which provides hooks for a couple of other 3rd party tools.
The Dock
- Enable Dock Magnification – I like to enable a subtle magnification, so the currently indicated icon has a bit more prominence.
- Enable Automatic Hiding and Showing of the Dock – I don’t like the Dock cluttering the screen and using up pixels when I don’t need it.
Spaces
- Enable Spaces – I like to use four spaces to separate different types of activities. Additionally I select the box to show Spaces in the menu bar for easy access via Mouse.
- Disable Switching Spaces Shortcuts – I don’t typically switch to a space, more often I switch to an app which happens to be in a space, so the shortcuts aren’t useful for me and occasionally conflict with application short cuts. I leave the activation shortcut (F8) as it is.
Keyboard
- I bump up the default key repeat rate a notch
- I do not check the “Use all F1, F2 , etc. keys as standard function keys” as I install FunctionFlip which provides the granularity to select which action is taken for each key. See below for detail on my settings.
- Check Illuminate Keyboard in low light conditions and set it to turn off after a minute of inactivity.
- I change the Full Keyboard Access to “All Controls” as it makes it easier to navigate through some applications without the mouse.
Finder
- Customize the Tool Bar
- I add the Path button to the left of the display options
- Enable Use Small Size Icons
- Enable the display of Hard disks on the desktop
- Disable the display of iDisk in the sidebar
- Select “Show all filename extensions”
- Modify the search behavior so that Search defaults to searching the current folder instead of the entire machine
8 comments so far… Jump into the discussion and tell us what you think.
Great list! Thanks for sharing.
FWIW, here are a few more utility apps worth considering:
* http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/
* http://www.orange-carb.org/SBM/
* http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
* http://docs.blacktree.com/quicksilver/quicksilver
Great additions Steve. I used to love QS, but as development ground to a halt I switched to Launchbar, with which I’m very happy. It’s not free, but has proven itself well worth the $35.
Nice list, Alex. I hadn’t heard of istat menus before; I’ve relied on the Activity monitor in the dock instead.
Speaking of impromptu presentations, I’d add Caffeine to the list, displaying in the menu bar. It’s handy to set your screen to blank out & lock by default, but during presentations or demos, you want to suppress that behavior.
You know, I have Caffeine on my personal machine, but as I use it so rarely I forgot about it. But you’re right, it’s very useful during presentations and meetings, so I’m going to add it to the new MBP. Thanks Tim!
I’m a big fan of LaunchBar (but Quicksilver is good too), and of CoverSutra for the Last.fm’ing. NotationalVelocity has replaced large parts of my brain. Glims and Adblock for Safari.
Link for witch: http://www.manytricks.com/witch/
I also customize:
* Go to international settings and turn on the topbar menu for ‘Show onscreen keyboard’ and ‘Show character palette’.
* Go to accessibility and enable zoom; set it to use Option+mousewheel to zoom, and to only move when cursor hits the edge.
=== if you are a developer or use the terminal: ===
* Add the Bitstream Vera fonts, or Panic Sans if you have Coda, and drop that in everywhere you need a monospaced font.
* Terminal: ‘pro’ color scheme, anti-alias fonts, option=Meta
* The developer tools from Apple
* Fink, FinkCommander, X11
Thanks for the suggestions Flip, and for the link to Witch, which I’ve added above. I’ve heard great things about Notational Velocity, but have yet to try it. I will do so soon.
I love the Accessibility > Zoom settings and use it a lot for design. Can’t believe I missed that one. I’ve found that I don’t use the character pallet enough to let it clutter my menu bar – but I’m weird that way. ;)
I love both Bitstream Vera and Panic Sans in addition to the excellent Inconsolata for dev work. I’ll take a look at the ‘pro’ color scheme as well.
I may reinstall the Developer tools and X11 some day, but I haven’t had time to give them the attention that they need for me to really harness the packages.
Again, many thanks!
The main reason to do the dev tools is so you can install Fink — I rarely use them apart from that.
There is one additional goodie in the dev tools, which is the ‘Digital Color Meter’. I’m sure there’s fancier ones out there, but this gives you a nice simple loupe that reads off the color of the pixel under the cursor (along with the 16x magnified surrounding pixels)
Ahh gotcha. The Digital Color MEter sounds very useful, and perhaps worth the entire install.