I just got my first macbook M3 pro 14 so exciting I come from a strong background using windows and Linux
What is one setting you would change right away after getting a new mac device I want to set things up to get the most out of it and I am curious what you all recommend
I would really like to hear from the experienced folks
Don’t try to make macOS like Windows Embrace the Command key Use CMD-W to close a window and CMD-Q to quit an app Take advantage of being able to drag and drop almost anything
But like others have said get a window manager There are great free ones but I really like BetterTouchTool and/or BetterSnapTool because they do so much more
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
This is exactly what I was looking for getting these installed right now
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
This is exactly what I was looking for getting these installed right now
Kitty is another nice terminal replacement
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
I started using Warp terminal a couple of weeks ago and I really like it But iTerm2 works great too
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
I will always do on any new Mac
Macs don’t remember your settings and preferences like when you swap for a newer iPhone I just have my first mac and I’m curious
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
I will always do on any new Mac
Macs don’t remember your settings and preferences like when you swap for a newer iPhone I just have my first mac and I’m curious
You can transfer all your system settings apps app preferences documents and desktop from your old Mac or a Time Machine backup of it which is better since hard drives are usually faster than most WiFi when you set up a new one:
Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant
Scout said:
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
I will always do on any new Mac
Macs don’t remember your settings and preferences like when you swap for a newer iPhone I just have my first mac and I’m curious
You can transfer all your system settings apps app preferences documents and desktop from your old Mac or a Time Machine backup of it which is better since hard drives are usually faster than most WiFi when you set up a new one:
Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant
True I just like a new experience out of the box and set everything back the way I want but that’s just my preference I manually transfer my files and documents with a fast external SSD
coming from an Intel MBP to M2 air I had some Intel specific apps I didn’t want to risk corrupting or messing with
but for someone new to Mac it won’t change much
Gentry said:
Scout said:
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
I will always do on any new Mac
Macs don’t remember your settings and preferences like when you swap for a newer iPhone I just have my first mac and I’m curious
You can transfer all your system settings apps app preferences documents and desktop from your old Mac or a Time Machine backup of it which is better since hard drives are usually faster than most WiFi when you set up a new one:
Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant
True I just like a new experience out of the box and set everything back the way I want but that’s just my preference I manually transfer my files and documents with a fast external SSD
coming from an Intel MBP to M2 air I had some Intel specific apps I didn’t want to risk corrupting or messing with
but for someone new to Mac it won’t change much
Yeah no thanks
I’m not spending time reinstalling apps and setting them up the way they were manually copying documents and so on when I can just let the computer do it for me With Time Machine restores you literally pick up right where you left off with everything where it was as if nothing happened It’s a big time saver with no real downsides
But you do you
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
How do you add the file path view I always just use the function button or whatever it is to see the additional options
Phoenix said:
Depending on what you like tap to touch on the trackpad setting is something I change first
Apps:
“rectangle” helps a lot with the poor window management it’s free and just add it to start on startup
Since you mentioned coming from Linux I would recommend “Item2” terminal for anything you want to do in terminal
In Finder add the file path view and extension
Remove the useless apps from the dock by dragging them to the desktop and I personally turn off “recent apps” showing on the dock
I’m not the most tech savvy but it’s something I always do on any new Mac
How do you add the file path view I always just use the function button or whatever it is to see the additional options
Here’s a link (sorry it’s in French but the menu should be the same “view” show file path or something like that
Everyone has their own preferences but since you just came from Windows/Linux there are two apps I would install right away Rectangle and Linearmouse
Rectangle gives you the window snapping features like the ones in Windows and most Linux distros
Linearmouse helps you tweak macOS’s strange mouse acceleration for external mice I just turn acceleration off completely You can change scroll behavior for external mice too which you can’t do in macOS settings It’s almost unusable without adjustments
Nova said:
Everyone has their own preferences but since you just came from Windows/Linux there are two apps I would install right away Rectangle and Linearmouse
Rectangle gives you the window snapping features like the ones in Windows and most Linux distros
Linearmouse helps you tweak macOS’s strange mouse acceleration for external mice I just turn acceleration off completely You can change scroll behavior for external mice too which you can’t do in macOS settings It’s almost unusable without adjustments
I felt so weird about the mouse acceleration and window snapping This will definitely help me stick with my new computer Thanks a lot
Install AltTab AppCleaner Rectangle and The Unarchiver I think this is a good starting point
Spotlight learn it love it
Kim said:
Spotlight learn it love it
Raycast is even better than spotlight
Ray said:
I just got my first macbook M3 pro 14 so exciting I come from a strong background using windows and Linux
What is one setting you would change right away after getting a new mac device I want to set things up to get the most out of it and I am curious what you all recommend
I would really like to hear from the experienced folks
Good tips here I would just add check out iStat Menus
Ray said:
I just got my first macbook M3 pro 14 so exciting I come from a strong background using windows and Linux
What is one setting you would change right away after getting a new mac device I want to set things up to get the most out of it and I am curious what you all recommend
I would really like to hear from the experienced folks
I use bettertouchtool and set three finger click to open a new tab in my browser and three finger swipe left/right to shift between tabs
Ray said:
I just got my first macbook M3 pro 14 so exciting I come from a strong background using windows and Linux
What is one setting you would change right away after getting a new mac device I want to set things up to get the most out of it and I am curious what you all recommend
I would really like to hear from the experienced folks
I just got an M3 pro too Try Arc it’s a fun little browser compared to Safari and the rest