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YOUR new iMac setup procedures

D

Dwhite78

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 30, 2010
153
0
So now that people are starting to get their macs. I'd love to hear from other folks what you personally do to your OS when you start personalizing it.


My preferences for setting up a new Mac under OSX Snow Leopard.


Finder Preferences


Modify finder preferences pane to disable warning when you change file extensions. Change the spotlight folder search to search within current folder.

Apps to Install

Growl
Dropbox
Shovebox
VLC
Flip4Mac
GIMP
Handbrake
MPEG Streamclip

Configure Exposé/Spaces

6 Spaces windows
Activate Screen Corners
Upper Left: Activate Spaces
Lower Left: Reveal Desktop
Upper Right: All Windows
Lower Right: Dashboard

Look and Feel

Modify Time and Date preferences to show, Day, date and time in the menu bar
Disable Bluetooth, and uncheck show in menubar
Modify dock size to be small and centered in middle of bottom screen. Apx 75px tall

Browser Preferences


Install the following Safari Extensions:
Facebook Cleaner
Gmail Counter
Google Search Cleanup (Puts google search back to what it used to look like)
Old Google Image Search (Same as above, but for GIS)
Adblock
Install Click2Flash
Set Safari as Default browser, and homepage to blank with Google as default search engine





That is, in a nutshell everything I do to a new mac. This does not take into account other software or games that I use. Simply items that I feel make the Mac experience “better”.-
 
tomorrow to do list

hi im also getting a new imac heres my to do list as soon as i get it.

1.-first thing im going to do is change the dock to a 2d dock i just cant stand the 3d duck it looks horrible.

2.- install a bunch of apps
-Soulver (for spenses calculation, kind of an spread **** but waaay better).
-tinkertool (mod some stuff)
-GeekTool- (getting widgets on desktop)
-Better TOuch Tools (improve magic Mouse gestures)
-cinch (aero snap)
-Adium (mensager)
-LiteIcon (managing icons)
-Monolingual (erease lenguages i dont use)
-Xslimmer (slims programs freeng memory and making them faster)
-AppZapper (completely ereasing apps)
-IceClean (System Maintenance and Optimization Tool)
-Caffeine (wont let mac go to sleep-great for when watching movies)
-AppFresh (updates all your apps)
-iClip (lets you save lots of copy-paste info)
-Quicksilver (easy search engine)
-NeoOffice (free office look alike)
-Canybar/ducker/superdocker (dock & icon pimping)
-TaskList A+ (to do list)
-Spotify (free music server)
I´ve done my research :D

Then Install Windows 7 and start playng The Witcher Enhaced edittion directors cut. ;)
 
I'll be getting my first ever Mac next week, so I imagine my start up routine will be something like this:

- turn iMac on
- clean up drool
- complete standard set up
- curse the machine, becuase it's the iMac's fault I don't know how to use it!
- check this thread for the software/apps I need to install (already planning on Gimp, pixelmator, Kompose amongst others)
- clean up drool again
- rip music and photos on to the HDD (once I figure it out)
- plug iPad and iPhones in, wait hours for it to sync/back up
- sit there and think "right what do I do now" - then maybe go make a sandwhich
- come back and ponder whether I should install Windows or not (incase I miss the random system crashes)

:D


great thread by the way, shame not many people have used it - I would have liked to have seen more peoples set ups
 
:Dhahaha
well i finnally got my imac wich i had loooots of plans for... heres how it went:

-yeeeey, i finnaly got a nice computer, im installing lots of stuff its going to be amizing.

i load all my images from a cd, put them on iphotos.
-well glad thats over, this pictures looks amaizing im going to put it as a wallpaper,
left click ... looking at opcion.....(theres not set as wall paper opcion)... 30 min later.... SAME WALLPAPER as the begining jajajajaja

stupid, stupid iMac i paid a lot for you, you should know exactly what i want and do it... bad a bad imac ....

well thsts pretty much how it went last night, but im back trying to control this beast of a computer i have, but loving it never the less the screen on its own is just mind blowing and the imac well i could sit infornt of it all day without even turning it on its just so beautifull.
 
newmacnooby said:
:Dhahaha
well i finnally got my imac wich i had loooots of plans for... heres how it went:

-yeeeey, i finnaly got a nice computer, im installing lots of stuff its going to be amizing.

i load all my images from a cd, put them on iphotos.
-well glad thats over, this pictures looks amaizing im going to put it as a wallpaper,
left click ... looking at opcion.....(theres not set as wall paper opcion)... 30 min later.... SAME WALLPAPER as the begining jajajajaja

stupid, stupid iMac i paid a lot for you, you should know exactly what i want and do it... bad a bad imac ....

well thsts pretty much how it went last night, but im back trying to control this beast of a computer i have, but loving it never the less the screen on its own is just mind blowing and the imac well i could sit infornt of it all day without even turning it on its just so beautifull.
Click to expand...

Try some of the beginners guides found herehttps://forums.macrumors.com/forums/78/
 
newmacnooby said:
:Dhahaha
well i finnally got my imac wich i had loooots of plans for... heres how it went:

-yeeeey, i finnaly got a nice computer, im installing lots of stuff its going to be amizing.

i load all my images from a cd, put them on iphotos.
-well glad thats over, this pictures looks amaizing im going to put it as a wallpaper,
left click ... looking at opcion.....(theres not set as wall paper opcion)... 30 min later.... SAME WALLPAPER as the begining jajajajaja

stupid, stupid iMac i paid a lot for you, you should know exactly what i want and do it... bad a bad imac ....

well thsts pretty much how it went last night, but im back trying to control this beast of a computer i have, but loving it never the less the screen on its own is just mind blowing and the imac well i could sit infornt of it all day without even turning it on its just so beautifull.
Click to expand...

Do you use a spellcheck?....
 
Hermes Monster said:
I'll be getting my first ever Mac next week, so I imagine my start up routine will be something like this:

- turn iMac on
- clean up drool
- complete standard set up
- curse the machine, becuase it's the iMac's fault I don't know how to use it!
- check this thread for the software/apps I need to install (already planning on Gimp, pixelmator, Kompose amongst others)
- clean up drool again
- rip music and photos on to the HDD (once I figure it out)
- plug iPad and iPhones in, wait hours for it to sync/back up
- sit there and think "right what do I do now" - then maybe go make a sandwhich
- come back and ponder whether I should install Windows or not (incase I miss the random system crashes)

:D


great thread by the way, shame not many people have used it - I would have liked to have seen more peoples set ups
Click to expand...

Got my iMac last week, and the set up went scarily like I said - absolutely loving it though!
 
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