What is the first thing you do when setting up a new computer?

When you get a new computer, what are the first things you do? Whether it's:

• Installing programs
• Adding shortcuts
• Disabling certain options
• Setting up new preferences
• Etc.

I'm eager to hear what you'd consider the must-do "first steps" for a new machine.

Comments

[Mike Bybee]

Linux. Or occasionally another Unix-based OS I'm not supposed to put on it 😉 (but usually that just goes in KVM).

[Mark Wragg]

I recently set up Windows on a new laptop and tried to install as much as I could via Chocolatey, so I guess install Chocolatey is now the first thing I do :).

This is my choco install list currently:

choco feature enable -n allowGlobalConfirmation 

choco install googlechrome

choco install vscode
choco install git
choco install powershell-core
choco install az.powershell
choco install service-fabric-sdk
choco install sql-server-management-studio

choco install adobereader
choco install notepadplusplus
choco install winrar
choco install keepassxc

choco install skype
choco install microsoft-teams
choco install slack

[Necmettin Begiter]

I wrote an install-on-setup script that installs homebrew, ohmyzsh, ~40 apps, fonts, and my own keyboard layout (that I created for coding in PHP). Also symlinks all my settings back to their latest, puts my SSH keys backs, and sets my Apache vhosts.

Also, two hidden gems for Mac users: Apptivate (lets to assign any key combo to any app, folder, or file) and Shuttle (lets you create a menu for scripts you run often).

[Robby Russell 🐘🚂]

are you using a Brewfile?

[Necmettin Begiter]

No, simple brew install and brew cask install commands.

[Elsa Gonsiorowski]

I download my dotfiles and install them... that repo includes a “setting up a new computer” checklist. It’s surprising how often it gets used (and invaluable every time it does) 😅
Check out my dotfiles repo

[katy lavallee]

Change keyboard, trackpad, and display preferences.

I keep a list here so I don’t forget stuff: github.com/katylava/dotkyl/blob/ma...

[Dan Keefe]

Remove all the bloatware.

[⠀]

• Install programs

• Setup by development environment using dot files I created

  • those include neovim, vscode, alacritty (terminal I use on both Linux and Mac), tmux, zsh
  • on Linux machine, I also spent few hours to setup my i3wm

[Rob OLeary]

I have a folder of portable app that has most of the apps/programs/utilities I need, I copy this and I can be productive without needing to install too much myself. I will build a chocolatey (or similar) config to handle the rest next time I need to setup a new box

[Gabriel Guzman]

Wipe the hard drive and install OpenBSD.

[Daniel Ziltener]

I install OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with KDE on it, then I install Syncthing, Emacs, OpenJDK and KeePass XC as the first programs. The rest comes as needed.