How have you customized your Mac? (Any OS, really)

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Any Mac, any OS - really.

I'm curious to know what programs that came w/ your comp you ditched - why? What other tweaks you've done to get it to be just right for you.

Right now I'm making a list of every program and what it does - and what I would end up using it for (purpose and my use are sometimes different) ... then I'll look over this list and figure out what can stay and what can go.

I don't like clutter - I don't want anything on my Mac that I don't use or want. So - Massive organization of every program, file, picture, song, etc etc...First thing to go is the Iphoto duplicate system - I prefer backing up all my originals rather than stashing them on the hardrive.

When I bought my Mac I decided that this time around I'd do things differently - I would put all my money to use and get familiar with every aspect of my computer. Every program and quirk.
 
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Silverfroth said:
I don't like clutter - I don't want anything on my Mac that I don't use or want. So - Massive organization of every program. . . .
The first thing I did four or five years ago was get rid of the dock — or at least get it out of the way. I use the shareware application Classic Menu, mostly because my work habits were formed in the olden days, running System 6. I pulled a few items from it for the picture.

The dock is a clumsy work-around (hurrumph!) and reminds me too much of the Windows task bar. A lot of the original Apple Menu stuff had to remain, anyway. Much of it is under Go. The last time I used Go . . . wait, I don't think I've ever used Go.

I also got rid of the Spotlight icon. The search function still works when using Cmd-F, but I prefer to use the freebie EasyFind, anyway. (It's one of the items in the Finder sub-menu at the top of the list in the picture.) Also at the top are Restart and Shutdown. The normal Restart and Shutdown work, but the AppleScripts perform 22 or 23 other actions each time I restart the machine or shut it down. (These scripts could go into the dock, of course.)

I also bought the shareware preference pane ASM, or Apple Switcher Menu, the icon at the top right in the menu bar. It replaces the application switcher that Apple killed. I use ASM out of habit, though. OS X's command-tab replaces the switcher, but tell that to my fingers. (I also got rid of the Spotlight icon because it shoves the ASM icon over to the left. I kept starting Spotlight instead of switching apps. :)) I still use System 9, so the habits are even harder to break (two System 9 partitions, one very small to keep the main one in order). The main System 9 partition's Apple menu is nearly identical to this one.

The menu item named Control Panels is a folder full of preference-pane aliases. I can go to each one separately instead of opening the whole thing. You could do that with a folder in the dock, too. But that, along with all the other extras piled upon extras I have in the Classic Menu's submenus would bloat the dock with a ton of folders.

Phone numbers is two folders, A — M and N — Z, full of folders with names and phone numbers as their titles. Nothing is in them. These same folders are in the System 9 Apple menu, as is Photoshop (7).

Startup Discs are scripts, so I can boot into either of the 9 partitions and restart automatically without having to use the Startup Disk pane. A script in the 9 partition reboots the machine into X.

Bookmarks Transfers, in the Net submenu, are AppleScripts that transfer the Mozilla browsers' bookmarks.html files to the two other Mozilla browsers I have, one of them in the 9 partition. The same bookmarks work in all three, so they're always up to date. In the 9 partition, AppleScripts transfer the bookmarks the other way.

Trash, at the bottom of the menu, is an AppleScript that opens the trash window and places it at the bottom of the screen in list view, so I can haul stuff out if need be.

All this means the desktop is without clutter, bare even of icons (and black is the new black).
 
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Things I do to make my computer mine:
Download MenuMeters (shows all information about the computer in the menu bar)
Download QuickSilver (a perfect way for launching programs, perfect supliment to spotlight)
Download AdiumX (replaces aim and other messenger services)
Install Growl (works with adium to notify you)
Set up Growl notifications for certain groups or people in adium
Rename Terminal to myTerminal to prevent automated start up of terminal from any future maliccoius code
Run clear dock to make my dock clear
Turn dock hiding on
Install my applications and put them in the dock
Put the applications folder in the dock
Set up my security options (password, firevault, firewall, etc)
Download other applications (acquisition, flip4mac, stuff it, etc.)
Then I change my icons, I like to have the Macintosh HD the kind of computer I am on, and then I also change the name of the HD
Run software update.
Repair Permissions
Then I feel the computer is mine.
 
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PowerBookG4 said:
Rename Terminal to myTerminal to prevent automated start up of terminal from any future maliccoius code
I just did that after seeing your post. I wonder, though, if that's enough. Would any such code use the name Terminal or access it some other way, by number, or something?
 
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I don't think so, if you wanted I guess you could move it to a completely different location and change the name, but the code would most likely just point to the terminal application, by changing th ename, to "myTerminal.app", it will not be able to find it if it was pointed to "terminal.app".
 

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