Ask HN: Tips for first time Mac buyer | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Tips for first time Mac buyer

3 pointscodegeek6 comments

Just ordered my very first Mac (Macbook Pro). I used to think that Macs are for hipsters but after repeated feedback from my friends/family that Mac have one of the best hardware etc, decided to give it a try.

But I am a Mac noob. What are some of the important tools that I should use specially for developer stuff ?

Any tutorials (I hope I don't need one though :) for some shortcuts etc will help.

View on HN

I made the switch to mac in 2014. It's definitely one of the things I wish I'd done sooner.

Using Vagrant, Node, Git etc . . . just work on OSX.

You're going to love it.

Working on windows I always seemed to run in to obscure bugs/issues when following a tutorial. I could run the same tutorial on my wife's macbook and it would work without a hitch. That's when I decided to move over.

OSX just works for development.

I use:

Terminal of course. Virtual Box (Laravel Homestead) Mamp sublime text for my editor. SourceTree for Git GUI Sequel Pro for MySQL GUI Filezille for FTP Adobe Photoshop

Mac App Store:

Magnet (resize app windows when you drag them over to the edge)

Frank DeLoupe (Color Picker)

Skitch (Screen Shots)

Magnet solved the only feature I was missing when first moving over. The Finder and everything else will feel pretty familiar. You'll be productive (maybe more productive the first day).

You can listen to this: http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/episodes/episode-185-m... It's starting to get a little dated but still good.

The trackpad is really good, you won't need a mouse.

Think about getting an external monitor and stand/trackpad/keyboard for a desktop setup:

On Amazon

ASUS VS247H-P 23.6" Full HD 1920x1080 2ms HDMI DVI-D VGA Back-lit LED Monitor(they have a few sizes/price points)

mStand Laptop Stand

Apple Wireless Track Pad and Wireless Keyboard (new versions just came out)

The mStand is definitely worth it to elevate/line up the displays.

It feels like a desktop setup and it's nice to be able to grab the macbook and work in multiple locations.

Enjoy.

It depends what you do, and what type of workflow you're used to.

Can you tell us more about that, so we can do a better job of helping you?

Thx. Primarily for web development including using Vagrant, PHP, Node, git etc. Also what about some gotchas compared to Windows ?

I cant think of many gotchas. Just don't fall into a trap of trying to customize everything right away. Also, take advantage of the best trackpad you can find, especially the multitouch shortcuts. :)

Software I use often: SublimeText, iTerm, Chrome & Chrome Canary, SourceTree, npm, FileZilla, Adoce CC, Keka (zip/archives), Airmail, Sequel Pro (Great GUI for browsing/managing MySQL databases), Sip (color picker).

Also, MS offers VirtualBox images with Windows and a bunch of IE versions, for testing. Here's a quick tool to get them up and running fast: https://github.com/xdissent/ievms

Thx for your awesome advice. Yes, loving it already. It is a breeze with the hardware and 16GB RAM. No more damn fan noise :). Homestead took minutes to setup. The terminal and Xcode..just works.

Step 1) Install HomeBrew Step 2) Profit

Reply on news.ycombinator.com