31–40 of 78 posts
I don't actually bother installing much desktop software these days. Just a good text editor, browser, subversion...
That's where I'm at, too--just keep it simple. vim, svn, FoxBug, and I'm all set. I believe simplicity correlates with productivity.
I would also tinker with Apple's Automator (a built-in application) and look at the Finder's Folder Actions (which Automator supports). With surprisingly little effort, you can create some very powerful commands to use when right-clicking desktop items.
Finally, perhaps the Mac equivalent of a "registry hack" is the command-line "defaults" program (also built in). It allows you to explore and change the preferences of many programs. You can turn on hidden features and other cool stuff that way.
First, the basics: Signup with the Apple Developer Connection (ADC)[1]. After that you will want to install XCode. You can get that from the ADC or from the install cd. You should then install macports[2] so that you can easily get BSD tools and utilities. There is also a friendly GUI shareware app called Port Authority[3] you can use to maintain your ports tree. [1] - http://developer.apple.com [2] - http://www.macp…
I installed macports. Before I get to deep into this, is this error obvious to anyone? Note--I do see it's a missing folder, but what is unclear is why I don't have it, and whether it's a part of something larger I'm missing. When I run: sudo port install putty ------------ Error: Target org.macports.extract returned: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org…
Ryan Schmidt suggests:
Please verify whether you have /usr/bin/gnutar. If you do not, then your Mac OS X installation is incomplete. I believe gnutar is provided by either BaseSystem.pkg or Essentials.pkg from the Mac OS X DVD, both of which are quite essential to Mac OS X's functioning.
Honestly, I would hold off installing a bunch of software until you have a need for it – or at least until you can appreciate the problem it solves. OS X comes with a lot of tools out of the box, and I think it'd be better to stick with that stuff until you outgrow it or are no longer satisfied with it. For example, people will recommend the VLC player, but QuickTime with the Perian plugin is what I use: more stable…
Oh I completely disagree about the Spotlight menu being as fast as Quicksilver for launching apps but even besides that Quicksilver can do so much more. You can: set global shortcuts for damn near anything you'd want to do; add a line to a text file (for quick note taking); send a quick email; move files... And for the Quicktime+Perian vs VLC thing, Quicktime will be decent enough for xvid or divx (though you'll take…
http://paulstamatiou.com/2008/03/06/how-i-got-a-macbook-air-...
I spent a long time looking for a decent, free text editor. I eventually found two: Komodo Edit and Text Wrangler. The only reasonable terminal program is iTerm, although I'd give it up to get a Mac port of PuTTy.
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I find Colloquy is fine (though it has a bad habit of pinning the CPU every now and then...), but there's nothing special about it. I'd switch in an instant if someone suggested a superior alternative. What do you suggest for an OSX IRC client?
X-Chat Aqua is good, though unmaintained.
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Rather than rearranging everything to be like Windows, maybe you should learn to use things the way they are on Mac. Just consider that every hack and customization you make will make it that much harder to use another Mac without all your Windows-y adjustments. For example, on Mac you navigate around text with the Command and arrow keys. So: Win Mac Beginning of line Home ⌘← End of line End ⌘→ Beginning of doc Ctrl-…
I have had that thought, but I find the positioning of the apple key awkward. Also, 95% of my productivity is determined by how fast I get around my own machine, and also it's unavoidable for a while that I will be using my mac and other people's pcs. Thanks for the translations.
It does suck though to be using something so unfamiliar.