Macbook Air install log
Contents |
I got a new MacBook Air. These are the first things I do with it given my experience with the older 2011 MBA, based on what worked well for my environment and what not.
- Open the box, unpack stuff, got upset that the power supply has a new MagSafe adapter - this means my old power brick will not serve without an adapter.
- Charge the battery. Set up the basics and register the Mac.
- Log in for the first time. Change the background, make the dock smaller.
- Set the trackpad to the tap mode - I prefer light tapping to strong clicking.
- Remove some apps from the dock that I rarely use: the stock email reader, FaceTime, Contacts, etc. Many of these are integrated in Google apps.
Tweaks
- Fix Safari (and Chrome) settings to not save passwords, and start with my favorite start page.
- Move Terminal shortcut to the Dock
- Terminal->Properties->Settings->Shell-> change "When the shell exits" to "Close if the shell exited cleanly"
- Terminal->Properties->Window change width to 120 - I wan to see long messages.
AppStore
Install some apps from the AppStore:
- TextWrangler
- Evernote
- Numbers, Pages, Keynote
- MplayerX
- SmartConverter Pro
- The Unarchiver
- Caffeine
- Sketchbook Express
- Kindle
Other Apps
Install some apps from other sources, or directly from the developer.
- Google Chrome
- KeyRemap4MacBook - to rearrange the keyboard
- Winebottler - like Wine on Linux
- DropBox
- TotalFinder - makes the Finder suck less
- CyberDuck - for SFTP and other file transfer protocols
- Sketchup - easy 3D modeling
ToDo
- Microsoft office
- Parallels
- Handbrake
- Python Launcher?
- Keyspan Serial Assistant
- Gimp
- Google Drive
- Arduino, Tinkerkit
- Waspmote?
- smcFanControl
- VirtualBox?
- VLC?
- EagleCAD
- CoolTerm
- DiskRing?
To-not-Do
There are some things that I have decided to stay away based on previous experiences or storage and other restrictions.
- No MacPorts for now. Will see, how long can I stay this way.
