nico.fyi
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Configuring New Mac

Authors
  • avatar
    Name
    Nico Prananta
    Twitter
    @2co_p
new-mac-mini

I've been thinking of buying a Mac mini to replace my Macbook Pro as my main computer at home. But it turned out I didn't need to buy since my company loaned me a Mac mini to use at home! So it's time to set up this thing. Setting up a new computer is both fun and annoying. There are some features that I wish were a default.

Desktop

  1. Enable dock magnification. (System Preferences ➡️ Dock)
  2. Show the day of the week and the date in menu bar. (System Preferences ➡️ Date and Time ➡️ Clock)

Keyboard

  1. Add custom keyboard shortcut for switching to the other windows of the same app. I always use Option+Tab for this. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Shortcuts ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Move Focus to The Next Window)
  2. Change Full Keyboard Access to All Controls. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Shortcuts ➡️ All Controls)
  3. Disable automatic spell correction. I usually type in three languages: English, Indonesian, and Japanese. The automatic spelling correction annoys me so much when I type in Indonesian. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Text)

Trackpad

  1. Enable Tap to Click. (System Preferences ➡️ Trackpad ➡️ Point & Click)
  2. Enable Silent Clicking. Without this, clicking the trackpad is so loud. (System Preferences ➡️ Trackpad ➡️ Point & Click)

Sound

  1. Enable feedback when volume is changed. (System Preferences ➡️ Sound ➡️ Sound Effects)
  2. Show volume in menu bar. (System Preferences ➡️ Sound ➡️ Sound Effects)

Finder

  1. Show Library folder. (Finder ➡️ Go to your home folder ➡️ Right click in the folder ➡️ Click Show View Options ➡️ Enable Show Library Folder)
  2. Show Path Bar. (Finder ➡️ View menu ➡️ Show Path Bar)
  3. Show Status Bar. (Finder ➡️ View menu ➡️ Show Status Bar)

Safari

  1. Show full URL. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ Advanced ➡️ Show full website address)
  2. Show develop menu in menu bar. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ Advanced ➡️ Show Develop menu in menu bar)
  3. Disable automatic opening downloaded file. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ General ➡️ Disable Open "safe" files after downloading)

TextEdit

  1. Use Plain text format for new document. (TextEdit ➡️ Preferences ➡️ New Document)
  2. Disable Smart Quotes and Smart Dashes. (TextEdit ➡️ Preferences ➡️ New Document)

Apps

  1. Go2Shell to quickly open Terminal from Finder.
  2. Alfred. I use it mostly for the Clipboard history.
  3. DragonDrop. Unfortunately this app is no longer available for download. But I cannot live without it. It truly makes drag and drop better. So I copied it from my other Mac.
  4. FlatTerminal theme. It looks nice.
  5. VLC to watch stuff.
  6. And any other useful apps.

What other configurations do you recommend? Let me know on Twitter!