This is a collection of settings that I usually use on my Mac to make them more geek and programmer friendly. They have been last tested on Mac OS 10.9.1
Feel free to use, copy, modify, distribute and critique.
If you have any additions, improvements or corrections, send them to macconfig at umeshunni dot com.
— Umesh Unnikrishnan
Configure spaces
System Preferences -> Mission Control
Enable ‘Displays have separate spaces’
Change date/time in menu bar to include date
Preferences -> Date and Time Preferences -> Date Options : check ‘show day of the week’, ‘show date’
Change some annoying defaults
Run these commands in Terminal:
# Automatically hide and show the Dock defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true # Show indicator lights for open applications in the Dock defaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool true # Don’t automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use defaults write com.apple.dock mru-spaces -bool false #Disable the ‘Show dashboard as a space’ setting defaults write com.apple.dock dashboard-in-overlay -bool true #Disable ‘this file was downloaded from the Interwebs are you sure you wanna open?’ dialog defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool NO
# Disable ‘smart quotes’ defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false # Save screenshots to the desktop defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "${HOME}/Desktop" # Save screenshots in PNG format (other options: BMP, GIF, JPG, PDF, TIFF) defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png" # Enable subpixel font rendering on non-Apple LCDs defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2 # Enable HiDPI display modes (requires restart) sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool true # Finder: show path bar defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true # Finder: allow text selection in Quick Look defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool true # Show the main window when launching Activity Monitor defaults write com.apple.ActivityMonitor OpenMainWindow -bool true # Visualize CPU usage in the Activity Monitor Dock icon defaults write com.apple.ActivityMonitor IconType -int 5 # Show all processes in Activity Monitor defaults write com.apple.ActivityMonitor ShowCategory -int 0 # Sort Activity Monitor results by CPU usage defaults write com.apple.ActivityMonitor SortColumn -string "CPUUsage" defaults write com.apple.ActivityMonitor SortDirection -int 0 # Use plain text mode for new TextEdit documents defaults write com.apple.TextEdit RichText -int 0 # Open and save files as UTF-8 in TextEdit defaults write com.apple.TextEdit PlainTextEncoding -int 4 defaults write com.apple.TextEdit PlainTextEncodingForWrite -int 4
Common 3rd party software
Install Chrome:
cd ~/Downloads curl -O https://dl.google.com/chrome/mac/stable/GGRO/googlechrome.dmg open googlechrome.dmg sudo cp -r /Volumes/Google\ Chrome/Google\ Chrome.app /Applications/
Configure Chrome:
Settings -> Personal Stuff -> Set up sync Keyboard Shortcuts -> Applications -> Chrome -> map “command-u” to ‘view source’
Install and configure iTerm2:
Install iterm2: http://www.iterm2.com/#/section/downloads
#Download a decent theme for iTerm2
curl -O https://codeload.github.com/mbadolato/iTerm2-Color-Schemes/legacy.tar.gz/master
Go to Preferences > Profiles > General and mark the “ssh” URL scheme in the dropdown at the bottom. You’ll be prompted to confirm changing the default handler and you should be good to go.
Pick the homebrew theme.
Set window transparency to 25%, window size to 120×50
# Don’t display the annoying prompt when quitting iTerm
defaults write com.googlecode.iterm2 PromptOnQuit -bool false
add the following to ~/.inputrc to enable ctrl-left/right to move words
"\e[1;5D": backward-word "\e[1;5C": forward-word
Install Sublime Text 2
Install XCode command line
xcode-select --install
Set up HomeBrew
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" brew doctor
Install some useful ports
# ImageMagick - manipulate image files from the command line brew install ImageMagick