Taming New Devices

30 Apr, 2025

Minimal setup, maximum control. Everything I need, nothing I don’t.

macOS: Welcome, Now Let Me Fix You

This is how I set up a fresh macOS install — efficient, secure, and stripped of anything unnecessary.

Setup Wizard: Only What Matters

No Migration Assistant – I prefer starting from scratch, not dragging over legacy issues.
User Account – Created as danish (lowercase), matching the full name.
FileVault – Enabled. Full disk encryption is non-negotiable.
Analytics and Tracking – All turned off. No Siri, no audio recordings, no map data shared.
Touch ID – Three fingerprints: Right index finger twice and left index finger once.

System Settings: The Important Ones

Wallpaper – Default macOS Monterey (Dark mode).
Appearance – Scrollbar behavior set to Jump to the spot that’s clicked.
Desktop & Dock – Click wallpaper to show desktop: Only when using Stage Manager.
Displays – Scaling set to More Space.
Internet Accounts – Connected Google and work accounts only.
Keyboard – Input sources edited to disable predictive text and text replacement.

Most default setting choices are a joke by apple, I swear.

Removing the Bloat

Stock Apps – Hidden or removed as much as possible.
Siri – Disabled entirely.
Spotlight Suggestions – Turned off. Using Raycast instead.
Notifications – All system and app notifications disabled from System Settings.

Terminal Setup

Homebrew – Installed immediately.
Dotfiles – Pulled from my repository and applied.
Shell Config – Custom aliases and settings loaded to match my workflow.

terminal

vim and neovim suck

Essential Apps Only

Browsers – Safari (default) and Chrome (fallback).
Code Editors – Zed and Cursor.
Terminal – Ghostty for a fast, GPU-accelerated experience.
Window Management – Rectangle.
Utilities – Stats, HazeOver.
Dev: Unity, Blender, Fusion 360

Final Steps

Menu Bar – Cleaned up. Only essential indicators remain.
Backups – Local, frequent, and manual via external hard drive.

Because the only thing worse than bloatware is uncurated defaults.