Loved Macs but had to switch to Windows in 99. In 2010 I bought an iiMac and given Unix base and iPhone using Macs now for home. Ongoing process to match amass software and tweaks I have for Windows 7.
To keep things clean, I use the following notation,
* - Can be manually dropped into the system without an installer and can be made portable (not reliant on the Operating System).
~ - Semi-portable. Can be setup without installer but will set itself in the Operating System.
32-bit - Only 32-bit version exists.
@ - Open Source
% - Free
$ - commercial product
Customizations
- Finder,
- Preferences - Show all filename extensions
- View
- Show Path Bar, Status Bar, Sidebar,
- Printer - Using native drivers will ensure updates are automatic.
Office and Day to Day
- VLC Media Player - play DVDs and almost any video format
To have multiple windows, run,
open -n /Application/VLC.app/
Note, the playlist tends to go over the same place so it's not obvious sometimes if it worked. Figure out a parameter to fix this later.
- Clear recent files in dock
- Possibly remove the function of recent files in dock (still to try)
- Microsoft Office - Yeah you can't avoid it and using it since 2010 have not run into compatibility issues.
- Kuvva (yet to try) - Wallpaper changer that pulls down nice wallpapers.
- Secure Delete - Built into OS, drag files into garbage, then hold down apple key and right click, select "Secure Empty Trash".
- Avaste Free Edition - As of 2012 top ranking antivirus for my use (but I do not rely on on-demand checking). Downside is no scheduling but not intrusive.
- Avira Free Edition - As of 2012 2nd top ranking antivirus + can do automatic scheduled scans. Downside is disabling on demand keeps on resetting in Windows.
- Resize Browser Window - Useful for consistent screenshots.
Essential Utilities
- Better Snap Tool (App Store $2) - Get Windows 7 like snapping in addition to being able to use keyboard shortcuts to snap windows wherever you want. Also has loads of other features. Went through lots of tools like SizeUp before getting to this one. I use the following options,
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Winkey-Left = put window of left half
- Winkey-Right = put window on right half
- WinKey-Up = center on screen using custom "snap area" of x=480, y=158, w=1,600, h=1,190 and move snap area to bottom right beside trash, click colour and make snap area invisible
- WinKey-Down = restore to previous position
- Additional customize,
- Extras - Double-click a windows titlebar - maximize
- Customizations - Uncheck "Restore old window size if window is dragged away again"
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Keyboard Maestro(App Store $36) - Powerful shortcut utility. Very useful for me because I use an IBM keyboard. Common things I setup,
- Ensure Engine is set to run even if editor exists and also go back in and checkbox engine to start on login.
- Tin's OS Controls Group - Configured for everything except Terminal (want CTRL-C to work normally)
- CTRL-V - clear out formatting before pasting | Filter Clipboard with Remove Styles, Type the Apple-V
- Since I use Windows Virtual Machine at the same time so often)
- CTRL-C = copy
- CTRL-Z = undo
- ... plus I go crazy and do more like CTRL-LARROW, END ect.. (will create detailed page on this)
- Pause - IBM keyboard; I wanted Winkey-Home - increase brightness (contacted author and he may eventually fix)
- ScrLk - IBM keyboard; I wanted Winkey-End - decrease brightness (contacted author and he may eventually fix)
- Spark with the Plain Clip Plug-in - Free but less powerful version of Keyboard Maestro.
- The Unarchiver@ (App Store) - handles common formats such as rar that the built in compression software does not.
- Araxis Merge 64-bit - Best diff tool I have ever found. (disable Ribbon Interface, check do not show splash window, add folder filter to ignore .svn folders and make the default encoding UTF-8 No BOM). If you have a Windows license you can use it on the Mac too. http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com/ is in beta but it also looks like a very good alternative if you did not buy Araxis yet.
- VMWare Fusion - allows you to virtualize operating systems. If you do not know what this means you are missing out.
- To allow HoeKey to work - Preferences, Keyboard & Mouse, Key Mappings and uncheck ⌘-V.
- To allow CTRL-Click to work in Windows 7 - Preferences, Keyboard & Mouse, Mouse Shortcuts and uncheck everything
- TinyCal (App Store) - yet to try but it looks like what I want... simple visual calendar integrated with Google Calendar.
- Go2Shell (App Store) - quickly jump to command line in viewed folder - when dragging to toolbar keep ⌘ key down
Fix Home and End Key
Yet to try. This absolutely drives me nuts as a programmer. Home should go to the beginning of the line and end to the end of the line. On the Mac OS home takes you to the beginning of a document and end to the end of a document.
Yes, you can use Apple Key left Arrow and Apple Key Right Arrow (but I override this to move my Windows). However, as a programmer using SHIFT to highlight it starts becoming awkward.
One solutions is to use key mappings but it does not work across multiple applications.
If you used the gui to add any custom key bindings the ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict will already exist. Otherwise create it by launching Terminal,
cd ~/Library/ mkdir KeyBindings touch DefaultKeyBinding.dict
Create the file or add to the file (if it already exists),
{ /* Remap Home / End to be correct :-) */ "\UF729" = "moveToBeginningOfLine:"; /* Home */ "\UF72B" = "moveToEndOfLine:"; /* End */ "$\UF729" = "moveToBeginningOfLineAndModifySelection:"; /* Shift + Home */ "$\UF72B" = "moveToEndOfLineAndModifySelection:"; /* Shift + End */ }
This fixes things for more editors and applications. However, Browsers have their own wrinkle.
Torrent
Transmission - used in Ubuntu for a long time and it works great. Also nice is a web interface to manage your torrents from other computers or devices.
RDP
Microsoft has a free RDP program for the Mac to connect to your Windows systems.
CBR - Comic Book Reader
Simple Comic - This is the first one I found. Really nice and simple app. However, found a bug in how it handles splash pages due to numbering in the CBR community. See bug filed here https://github.com/arauchfuss/Simple-Comic/issues/20. Somebody please let me know of an alternative.
ComicZeal describes this bug well and fixes it. Unfortunately it is only for the iPad.
Jomic - Their revision history v0.9.9 shows compensation feature for splash pages. Needs Java, has a bad interface and it does not fix the page re-ordering.
ComicBookLover - tried it, does not fix the issue. I sent them an email, Nov 2011 asking them to fix this.
Control Multiple Systems
ShareMouse* - Looks better than Synergy. Took 5 minutes to setup... but when I tried, Oct 2011 still buggy.
Afloat - Keeps windows on Top
Afloat is a program that can keep your windows "afloat" on top of other windows. Mac OSX lacks this functionality and Afloat does a great job of keeping windows always on top. You can also play with transparency settings. What this program really does it install a SIMBL Plugin. If you want to uninstall it, simply locate /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins and remove it.
It doesn't work very well (rather its not that compatible) with OSX Lion. I find that it really only works with Chrome and a few other windows. Hopefully future updates will make it more compatible but for the programs it does work for, it does it well. You can press Control, ⌘ + A to toggle sticky window on or off. Control, ⌘ + PLUS or MINUS to change transparency on the fly.
Secure Your Data
KeePassX * - a central place to keep your important data with one master password or master key file. If you are using the Windows version at the same time, you will want to make sure to pick an older version of KeePass that matches KeePassX's data format. As of March 10, 2013 my version of KeePassX uses KeePass KDB (1.x).
Communication Utilities
Lacking here. What I'm looking for.
Terminal Manager as good as Putty Connection Manager but leveraging the existing Mac Terminal Program - would be nice to get putty functionality like right-click to paste and keep on top.
Something as nice as BitVise Tunnelier for port forwarding.
ExpandDrive (create a map drive over SSH for easy development). ExpandDrive hands down is the best tool I found yet for Mac and Windows.
Developer Utilities
...
Graphic Design
Napkin (appstore) - Looks like a good Page Annotation utility with nice call-out features.
Power User
Homebrew - package manager to download Linux command line tools in a controlled manner (it does not put things everywhere). After Homebrew is setup (put instructions when using normal accounts), I install,
- wget
Mac OS X Native Terminal Commands
caffeinate - disable sleep until CTRL-C is pressed
SSH Server with Key Based Authentication
Tested on OS X 10.9.3
Edit /etc/sshd_config,
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
No need to restart ssh daemon. New sessions will require a key. However as a note,
sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist; sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist
Determine Mac Build Date
You can determine your Mac build date and a bunch of other information by using your serial number and hitting various websites that provide this service,
- http://www.powerbookmedic.com/identify-mac-serial.php - Works well.
- http://appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php - Works but seemed to report wrong maximum RAM allowed and you are only allowed 2 queries per IP Address every 24 hours.
Alternatively you can download the application coconutID.
Clear or Disable Recent Items in Lion's Dock
If you right-click on your dock you will notice a history of recent items even if you set the application to clear or not retain history. Simon Heimlicher wrote a good article.
Make Bootable Mountain Lion Disk
http://www.cultofmac.com/180925/how-to-make-a-bootable-disk-or-usb-drive-of-os-x-mountain-lion/
Rejected Application
http://appzapper.com - I went to delete Transmit and it still left files in /Users/tinpham/Library/Application Support/Sparkle. Not impressed.
Evaluating and Searching
Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.
Editor like Notepad++
Notepad++ is the BEST general purpose fast loading editor to replace notepad that I have ever used. Unfortunately, it is built only for Windows. Here are the key features I use and looking to replicate on Mac OS X,
- Fast load with drag and drop - remember this is supposed to be a Notepad replacement not a full IDE like Eclipse.
- Box selection - this feature is really useful for parsing data in a pinch.
- Syntax Highlighting for XML ect...
- Auto Formatting of XML, HTML, XHTML etc...
- Search inside of files with a good GUI.
- Match tags
- UTF-8 with BOM and no BOM.
- Free (would be nice).
- Collapsible Text aka Folding based on selection
- Collapsible Text based on code blocks
- Create bookmarks.
- Indent - remove indents.
- Code Completion for my favourite languages (HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, JSP, Java, Perl).
- Smart Spell Checker that ignores code
- Match brackets
Nice to have
- Load large files
- Customizable menu
- Cross Platform
So I am building a list starting from Alternative To and Google. Will test each of these out and see if they meet my above requirements.
Trying Out
Sublime - well they has a very slick website. Trying out Jan 16, 2013 version 2.0.1 Build 2217,
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (tested html mixing in javascript), 14, 15
4(but you can quickly set it... maybe they did this to speed up load time), 6 (looks like there's a plugin, 8 (but one license for all platforms)
UltraEdit - I remember it back in the day. Not as fast as NotePad++ at the time but it was just as feature rich.
TextMate - recommended by what appears to be a hard core developer. Trying out Jan 16, 2013 version 1.5.11 Build 1635,
- Loaded html file which it did not recognize to load appropriate syntax highlighting. Almost automatic fail. Went to look for setting it manually took too long.
Text Wrangler and the Commercial version BBEDIT - Recommended by this blogger with comments suggesting others too. Trying Jan 16, 2013 BBEDIT version 10.5.1 Buiild 3250,
- Stopped at 1. Not able to drag and drop in new files. Also don't like the interface.
Editra - showed up in more than one review.
JEdit - Used to use this a far back as 2000. Being Java based it was slow, however, maybe it's fast now on modern iMac.
Komodo free and Paid Version - Looks promising.
Emerald Editor - Successor to Crimson Editor.
Notepad++ Port - Well it uses WINE so it's not native code... try if I can't find an equivalent.
Did Not Pass
Coda - Not designed as a fast light weight editor.
CSS Editor
MacRabbit Espresso looks promising.
NTFS Write
All solutions listed so far seem to have chances of corruption or losing data.
http://www.paragon-software.com/ntfs/ufsd.html - not sure if free.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24481/ntfs-3g - free and commercial version with more features (used by Cheryl).
Remap Keys
Looking at more utilities to take advantage of my keyboard shortcuts,
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=2008110213334872 - this one lists Griffin Proxi as a verified solutions to remap keys and a few others.
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=ukelele - this might allow me to remap keys and take advantage of my ibm keyboard.
http://jdwyah.blogspot.com/2008/03/mac-leopard-os-x-windows-convert-color.html - fixing the end key
SSH Manager
I am not happy with any options so far. So I have been using the command line ssh client with the config file. Maybe I need to write my own.
http://www.lightnetcom.eu/products/remote-connections-manager.html - Looks promising with a tree view. Does not look like I can customize the shells. Unable to open multiple connections at once. The interface was clunky. Not impressed.
http://www.grepsoft.net/index.php - this one I can customize the shells, but the bookmark + groups instead of tree view does not look as nice.
Mounting SSH as a Drive
Expand Drive - Is the best one out there right now for the Mac. As of Expand Drive 2.3.1 and Transmit 4.1.7 we found Transmit to be slow in comparison. Also your Expand Drive license works for both PC and Mac.
Comparative Analysis
Open Source Programs
Recommended by Garth for command line tools - http://www.macports.org/
Dock Enhancement
http://kapeli.com/dockview/ - get live preview when hovering over dock icon like Windows 7.
Website Editors
Coda - Tried version 1.7.5 in 2011. By same makers as Transmit. Has really nice interface and uses Transmit for mapping. Has almost everything except ssh client windows are not embedded in the editor.
Configuration Tips
Here are the configuration changes I mace to the Mac OS X.
Enable Dock Modification
Apple Menu - Dock - Turn Magnification On
Adjust Finder
View - Show Path Bar
View - Show Status Bar
View - Customize Toolbar and then drag the "New Folder" icon onto the toolbar. Click Done.
Adjust Expose
Control-UpArrow - Show all open Windows which I remap to CTRL on right side of keyboard.
Must Used Shortcuts
Here are the shortcuts I use the most.
Windows Management
Control-UpArrow - Show all open Windows which I remap to CTRL on right side of keyboard.
Contrl-DownArrow - While on an active Application Window will show only the Windows for that application
WinKey-BrowseLeft/BrowseRight - Near my IBM's arrow keys allows me to switch browser tabs.
Text Editing
AppleKey-RightArrow - Jump to End of a line. In browsers this acts as forward in history.
AppleKey-LeftArrow - Jump to Beginning of a line. In browsers this acts as backward in history.
Download Sites
Read a few reviews and they seem decent and interesting - http://mac.appstorm.net/category/reviews/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/ - Apple's official store has both free and commercial software.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/29983/remote-connections-manager - has reviews.
http://alternativeto.net - this looks promising not only for Mac software.
http://www.oakinnovations.co.uk/blog/2007/01/14/5-reasons-why-osx-is-an-unbeatable-web-development-system/ - looks like a good list.
Good roundup of products - http://mac.appstorm.net/category/roundups/
Developer's roundup - http://www.rockettheme.com/blog/75-mac/499-essential-apps-for-mac-based-development
Pretty nice list presented well - http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/productivity-roundups/30-great-apps-for-developers/