Setting up a new Mac

Whenever I get a new Mac, I start with a clean install and re-build and re-install everything from scratch. This is decidedly not the easiest path but it’s one that helps me think about what I need and also avoid the cruft accumulated from a year or two of use.

Here is the list of apps I install when setting up a new Mac. The latest of these was in August 2017 when the drive on my iMac died.

• Install Dropbox
• Install 1Password
• Install Alfred
• Install TextExpander
• Install Arq Backup
• Install Chronosync
• Install Tinderbox
• Install BBEdit
• Install Curio
• Install The Brain
• Install Plex
• Install iTerm2
• Install Setapp
  • Install Ulysses
  • Install Renamer
  • Install Squash
  • Install Sip
  • Install CleanMyMac
  • Install Gemini
  • Install Marked
  • Install iStat Menus
• Install Day One
• Install Slack
• Install DEVONthink
• Install Things
• Install Transmit
• Install Keyboard Maestro
• Install Affinity Photo
• Install VueScan
• Install MacTeX
• Install Xcode
• Install Monosnap
• Install Droplr
• Install ScanSnap Manager
• Install Private Internet Access
• Install Reeder
• Install Homebrew
  • Install oh-my-zsh
  • Install Neovim
  • Install Git
  • Install Pandoc
  • Install GnuPG
  • Install wget
  • Install exiftool
  • Install GoPass
  • Install Hugo
  • Install Emacs
  • Install Go

That’s about it. It’s always a longer list than I think it’s going to be. Then I end up spending a day tweaking preferences and things like…

• Make sure all the right dotfiles are symlinked to where I keep them in Dropbox.
• Configure and make sure my backups are in order.

After this most recent re-install I swore that next time I’ll just use a Time Machine backup. Then again, I say that every time.

September 1, 2017 apple workflow software Reply by email