Macbook Air install log
This is what I do with a new Mac or MacBook based on my experience and needs.
Last update: 2013-2014.
- Open the box, unpack stuff, got upset that the power supply has a new MagSafe adapter - this means my old power brick will not serve without an adapter.
 - Charge the battery. Set up the basics and register the Mac.
 - Log in for the first time. Change the background, make the dock smaller.
 - Set the trackpad to the tap mode - I prefer light tapping to strong clicking.
 - Remove some apps from the dock that I rarely use: the stock email reader, FaceTime, Contacts, etc. Many of these are integrated in Google apps.
 
Tweaks
- Fix Safari (and Chrome) settings to not save passwords, and start with my favorite start page.
 - Move Terminal shortcut to the Dock
 - Terminal->Preferences->Settings->Shell-> change "When the shell exits:" to "Close if the shell exited cleanly"
 - Terminal->Preferences->Settings->Window change width to 120 - I wan to see long messages.
 - System Preferences -> Languages and Text; also in Keyboard, and add and enable options for Latvian text input support.
 
AppStore
Install some apps from the AppStore:
- TextWrangler - the text editor
 - Evernote - take notes, save in cloud
 - Numbers, Pages, Keynote - Apple office
 - MplayerX - play videos nicely
 - SmartConverter Pro - convert most any video formats to common target formats
 - The Unarchiver - easy zip file management
 - Caffeine - Turn off screen saver
 - Sketchbook Express - drawing program by AutoCad
 - Kindle - read books from Amazon
 - Xcode - for development and command line tools
- Xcode->Preferences->Downloads-> install Command Line Tools
 
 
Other Apps
Install some apps from other sources, or directly from the developer.
- Google Chrome
 - KeyRemap4MacBook - to rearrange the keyboard
 - Winebottler - like Wine on Linux
 - DropBox
 - TotalFinder - makes the Finder suck less
 - CyberDuck - for SFTP and other file transfer protocols
 - X11 by XQuartz - X-windows (that are NOT bundled with OS X since Mountain Lion)
 - Sketchup - easy 3D modeling
 - CoolTerm - serial port terminal
 
- Homebrew - the missing package manager for OS X
 
- LeapMotion - because I have the gesture input gadget
 
Wine / Windows apps
- Irfanview - the easiest photo editor and viewer
 
Experimental
There are a few things I am not sure will stay long term, but anyway, there they are:
- nginx - webserver for development needs. Yes, Mountain Lion still has Apache somewhere within, although the enabling checkbox has been removed from the system settings. So, I will try the nginx.
 - node.js - for some experiments.
 
ToDo
- Microsoft office
 - Parallels
 
- Handbrake
 - Python Launcher?
 - Keyspan Serial Assistant
 - Gimp
 - Google Drive
 - Arduino, Tinkerkit
 - Waspmote?
 - smcFanControl
 - VirtualBox?
 - VLC?
 - EagleCAD
 - DiskRing?
 
To-not-Do
There are some things that I have decided to stay away based on previous experiences or storage and other restrictions.
- No MacPorts for now. Will see, how long can I stay this way.