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Joel Lau
Joel Lau

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Setting Up a Mac in 2022

System Preferences

  • Disable "Natural" Mouse Scoll Direction
    • System Preferences > Mouse > Uncheck Scroll Direction: Natural
  • Use function keys without fn key
    • System Preferences > Keyboard > Check Use F1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys
  • Remove text replacements
    • System Preferences > Keyboard > Text > Remove “omw”, Uncheck everything on the right
  • Remove all items from dock
    • Right-click app icon > Options > Uncheck keep on dock
  • Hide dock
    • Right-click on empty space on the dock > turn hiding on
  • Show file extensions
    • Open finder (open any directory) > cmd + , to open settings > advanced tab > check show all filename extensions

Homebrew (Package Manager)

  • follow instructions on brew's home page
    • run the following in the terminal:
    • /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Install and Replace Default Applications

  • Section TL;DR
brew install alfred iterm2 brave-browser visual-studio-code
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Replace Spotlight Search with Alfred 4

Alfred is an ... app which boosts your efficiency ...

  • Install Alfred 4
    • brew install alfred
  • Change Spotlight's default hotkeys
    • Open Spotlight
    • default: cmd + space
    • Open Spotlight-specific preferences
    • cmd + ,
    • Go to shortcuts page
    • click Keyboard Shortcuts...
    • Change shortcuts for "Show Spotlight Search" or disable it (I use cmd + shift + space)
  • Setup Alfred
    • Open Alfred
    • type alfred in spotlight search
    • Go through setup, give it appropriate permissions
    • Change Alfred hotkey to cmd + space
    • in alfred, hit cmd + , to open settings
    • in general tab, click on Alfred Hotkey:
    • Add Downloads directory to config
    • in Alfred, go to Features tab
    • in Search Scope, click the + button near the bottom-right

Replace Terminal with iTerm2

  • Install iTerm2
    • brew install iterm2
    • iterm2 > preferences (cmd + ,) > keys > Check show/hide all windows with a system-wide hotkey

Replace Safari with Brave

  • brew install brave-browser

Replace TextEdit with Visual Studio Code

  • brew install visual-studio-code

Terminal Setup

  • remove last login message
    • touch ~/.hushlogin
  • replace default zsh
    • brew install zsh
  • install zsh theme manager (oh-my-zsh)
    • sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)”
  • remove default theme
    • comment this (line 5): # ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell”
  • install theme (powerlevel10k)
    • brew install romkatv/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k
  • apply theme
    • append to bottom: source /usr/local/opt/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme
  • restart terminal (IMPORTANT)
  • powerlevel10k should take you through its wizard, and install a powerline font (MesloLGS NF)
  • apply new font to iTerm
    • open iTerm (cmd + space, if following previous setup)
    • open settings (cmd + ,)
    • profile > text > font > click change font ... > select MesloLGS NF
  • apply new font to Visual Studio Code
    • open Visual Studio Code
    • open settings (cmd + ,)
    • scroll to font and type MesloLGS NF
  • Setup zsh autocompletions, syntax highlighting
    • brew install zsh-autosuggestions
    • brew install zsh-syntax-highlighting
    • add to bottom of zshrc
      • source /usr/local/share/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
      • source /usr/local/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
    • configure suggestion strategy (append anywhere on zshrc)
      • ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY=(completion history)

Misc

Git

node / nvm

fast version manager (alternative to nvm)

  • Install
    • brew install fnm
  • Make avaialable to zsh
    • append to zshrc: eval "$(fnm env)"
  • Show available node versions
    • fnm list-remote
  • Install a node version
    • fnm install <node-version>
  • Make a version of node the default
    • fnm default <node-version>
  • Check if node was install correctly
    • node --version

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